Matthew Shafner

Matt Shafner of New London, Connecticut, was a nationally recognized lawyer in the fields of asbestos injury, personal injury, maritime injury and workers compensation. He was admitted to practice in Connecticut, the Federal Courts of Appeals in the 1st and 2nd Circuits and the U.S. Supreme Court. His reported decisions have been published by the Appellate Court, Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals in the 1st and 2nd Circuits.

Attorney Shafner was a graduate of the University of Connecticut with a BA in 1958 and law degree in 1959. He was a founder with John C. O’Brien of the law firm of O’Brien, Shafner, Stuart, Kelly & Morris from 1966 to 2008 in Groton, Connecticut and is now a partner with Suisman, Shapiro in New London, CT.

Attorney Shafner was a past president of the New London County Bar Association, on the Board of Governors of the Connecticut Trial Lawyers Association and past State Delegate to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America where he lectured on topics related to trial practice, workers’ compensation and occupational disease.

His lectures included an address to the XI Triennial World Congress of Pathology in Jerusalem, 1981 on the legal aspects of asbestos disease. Matt Shafner was awarded the first Paul Tremont Award for Advocacy recognizing the first asbestos litigation in the Northeast filed in 1975, as well as other achievements. Attorney Shafner was a member of the Million Dollar Advocate Forum.

Attorney Shafner has handled some of the most interesting cases in Southeastern Connecticut and the state. Attorney Shafner initiated the first asbestos litigation in New England in workers’ compensation claims against General Dynamics/Electric Boat Division in Groton, CT in 1973 and then in lawsuits against the asbestos suppliers in 1975.

Shafner was an attorney with Richard Alexander and Amanda Howes of California representing 82 brain cancer cases of the aircraft workers at Pratt and Whitney exposed to solvents, degreasers and radioactive metals. They occurred mostly in the North Haven, East Hartford and Middletown plants. They are all pending in the Workers’ Compensation Commission in Middletown, CT.

Education:

• University of Connecticut School of Law, Hartford, Connecticut, J.D. – 1959
• University of Connecticut, Storrs, Connecticut, B.A. – 1958