Nathan StuckeyFounder of
The Stuckey Firm

Growing up, Nathan Stuckey knew exactly what misfortune felt like.

As a kid, his house burned down – twice. His family lost everything. And more than that, Nathan remembers feeling the disorientation, the powerlessness, and the sense that the world moves on even when yours falls apart.

Yet, it’s often said that it doesn’t matter if you fall…only if you get back up. And years later, navigating that adversity would shape his career and life’s purpose as founder and trial attorney at The Stuckey Firm.

“That experience gave me the perspective of what my clients are going through with the tragedies they face,” says Nathan.

In fact, those tragedies were a large part of why Nathan walked away from a secure job at a large, corporate law firm to build his own contingency fee law firm. Not only was it a smaller and more radical cause, but it was also a law firm rooted in compassion, designed to serve ordinary people harmed by extraordinary negligence.

“The practice of law means a lot to me,” Nathan reflects. “I’m a competitive person, and [the law] gives me the opportunity to fight for others and do something for my community that will leave it safer than how I found it.”

After parting with the corporate firm, Nathan’s vision was clear as day: go all in for his clients, even when the odds were against them. Specifically, his law firm would take on truck crashes, catastrophic injuries, and wrongful death cases – complex, high-stakes work with no guarantee of pay without a victory.

“I have a passion for people. It gives me the chance to represent those who may not have the ability or resources to fight for themselves.”

That ethos became the foundation of The Stuckey Firm – and eventually, its growth engine.

Expanding in People, Place, and Purpose

While The Stuckey Firm got its start in Springfield, Ohio, its reputation started to grow along with its reach. What Nathan wanted was a multifaceted expansion, adding square footage while simultaneously deepening impact. That’s when he enlisted Sydney McLafferty, an experienced trial lawyer and former president of the Ohio Association for Justice, to open and lead The Stuckey Firm’s Columbus office.

“My area of law gives everyday citizens equal footing with large corporations and insurance companies,” Sydney explains. “They don’t have the resources or know-how to [pursue] these things, and we give them that opportunity.”

With Sydney’s leadership came a new, fresh dynamic to Nathan’s solid vision – sharp legal strategy paired with a relentless drive to protect those with the fewest resources. But Sydney’s interest in becoming a civil leader and lawyer started far before her time at The Stuckey Firm.

“[In high school,] I shadowed my parents’ attorney, and I loved it so much and found it so interesting that I ended up working for them for two years,” remembers Sydney.

That early experience of watching attorneys interact with clients and seeing advocacy in action confirmed Sydney’s ambitions. And over time, they became a clear purpose.

“The driving force behind becoming an attorney was [helping] others,” Sydney says. “Helping people feel heard and feel secure is the most rewarding thing I could possibly imagine doing.”

Now, alongside Nathan, the two have become their own civil justice force, serving communities all across Appalachia. Now, from Columbus to Wheeling, WV, The Stuckey Firm focuses every new hire and new office around the people – not a price tag.

The Damage of Distracted Driving

While trial lawyers aren’t driven by the size of a verdict, they know that fair compensation is often the only way to restore dignity and security to clients whose lives have been devastated.

“Our efforts, on a daily basis, provide closure in the lives of the families we serve,” Nathan says. “Providing that service allows them to move forward with their lives, even though they have gone through something as tragic as losing a loved one.”

As a personal injury firm, this is unfortunately a common reality of their casework. Still, it never gets easier, and in fact, some cases stick with Nathan years after they’ve closed. One such case occurred in 2019, where a young girl was killed in a head-on collision with a semi-truck, just weeks after her high school graduation.

The driver, who survived the accident, claimed he swerved to avoid an oncoming truck that was veering into his lane. In doing so, he lost control of the truck. Additionally, he claimed to be adhering to the speed limit at the time of the crash, and also that he was not distracted.

Further research and footage from his dashboard camera proved otherwise. Seconds before impact, the driver was seen talking on a hands-free headset, driving with only one hand on the steering wheel, exceeding the speed limit, and not following standard commercial driving practices like checking mirrors and keeping proper hand positioning.

“The driver didn’t have the experience or requisite knowledge on how to operate that truck and [make appropriate steering corrections],” remembers Nathan.

The video also didn’t corroborate the driver’s claim that an additional truck had entered his lane. Instead, it showed the driver off the roadway, failing to make timely and appropriate steering corrections.

Ultimately, the driver oversteered left and failed to countersteer, causing the truck to cross the centerline and strike the victim’s vehicle, killing her instantly. All in the span of only eight seconds.

“[In court], the trucking company and insurance company were [making] excuses, blaming the roads and other conditions rather than taking responsibility,” Nathan recalls. “But as a result of our experience, efforts, and willingness to fight for that family, we were able to make a difference.”

During the trial, The Stuckey Firm argued that the driver’s actions (and lack thereof) represented a clear breach of professional responsibility that led directly to the fatal outcome. Not only that, but the firm also noted how the accident was a symptom of a larger systematic failure to adhere to professional and company-specific safety guidelines required of a commercial driver.

Advocacy Beyond the Courtroom

For both Nathan and Sydney, the courtroom is just one arena in their fight for justice. The other is the Statehouse, where they continually work to protect the rights of ordinary Ohioans against the steady push of tort reform.

“It’s something [trial lawyers] have battled for decades, and it continues to come at us in every political cycle,” Sydney notes. “It’s important not only to do the trial work, but to do the legislative work to protect the laws [of] the civil justice system – laws that are under attack every single day.”

Tort reform is any legislation that seeks to limit a person’s ability to sue for damages when they’ve been harmed through negligence. Typically, it caps the amount of money someone can recover and makes it harder to pursue certain types of cases.

“In Ohio [and] West Virginia, we are constantly fighting big business, fighting against the insurance companies who are trying to keep us from serving our clients,” says Nathan. “It’s geared for profits over people; focused on dollars and cents.”

Though tort reform supporters purposefully argue that it’s a solution to “frivolous lawsuits” and unnecessary business expenses, in practice, tort reform inhibits those who have suffered serious injury, lost loved ones, or faced life-changing harm from getting enough compensation to cover medical bills, lost wages, or long-term care.

“Instead of focusing on [public safety] and ensuring that tragedies don’t occur, [tort reform] allows tragedies to continue,” Nathan states. “A friend of mine once told me, ‘tort reform has never saved a life.’”

With such a risk to their profession, The Stuckey Firm will continue to challenge tort reform and illuminate how it actively shifts the balance of power and justice away from people and further toward corporations and insurers.

Better Bank, Wider Reach

Taking on deep-pocketed corporations, and even the complex issue of tort reform, requires more than just courtroom skill. It demands substantial capital and resources from a contingency fee law firm.

“We take on hospitals, health networks, insurance companies – big corporations that have unlimited resources to fight these cases,” Nathan says. “Our clients don’t have that advantage. They depend on us to be their voice and to bring resources to the table that they would have never had otherwise.”

For contingency fee law firms, the model is simple: the firm only gets paid if they win for their client. However, that simple concept introduces tremendous financial complexity – like shouldering all case costs up front, sometimes over the course of several years.

Without a financial backing to cover expert witnesses, complex investigations, and years of litigation, even the strongest case can collapse under the weight of corporate delay tactics. Unfortunately, it’s something traditional banks have never been able to understand and navigate – let alone lend against. So, for Nathan and Sydney, finding partnership in Esquire Bank was the difference between their clients facing the system’s imbalance alone – or with force.

“With these huge corporations, you know they’re going to have every expert they can hire, and they’re going to do whatever they can to make it hard on your client,” Sydney says. “Esquire Bank allows us to level that playing field.”

It’s a banking relationship built on shared values – standing with those who’ve been wronged and refusing to be intimidated by deep pockets or powerful names. With Esquire in their corner, The Stuckey Firm can take on any fight, no matter the size of the opponent, and see it through to the verdict their clients deserve.