When I began practicing law, I soon learned through my dismay that personal injury lawyers, like Rodney Dangerfield, get no respect. For instance, a medical secretary said to me, "I hate lawyers." When I was single, a medical school intern said to me, "I would never date a lawyer." I received lesser, negative reactions at parties, not to mention lawyer jokes of which we all are well aware.
Fortunately in 2002, I become acquainted with the National Crime Victim Bar Association (NCVBA), a group affiliated with the non-profit group, National Center for the Victims of Crime. They define their mission as providing "technical support to attorneys representing crime victims in civil actions, referring crime victims to lawyers in their local area, and working to increase general awareness about the availability of civil remedies for victims of crime." The group holds annual conferences and CLE courses in Washington DC which provide almost the entire yearly CLE requirements for Pennsylvania. The curriculum benefits any personal injury lawyer with a general personal injury practice.
My attendance at the first conference changed my legal career. Subsequently, I attended many conferences and met the following NCVBA members and guests whose lectures inspired me to develop a crime victim practice: Jeffrey Anderson, who is credited with exposing the Catholic Church molestation scandal, Herbert Friedman, a lawyer who represented the family of the victim portrayed in the movie, "Boys Don’t Cry," Douglas Fierberg, who represented the victims of the Columbine, Virginia Tech, and other high profile Campus crimes, Keith Franz, who represented victims of 9/11, L.Lin Wood, who represented falsely accused such as John and Patsy Ramsey and "Olympic Bomber" Richard Jewell, and Kim Goldman, whose story about avenging her brother, Ron Goldman’s loss at the hands to O.J. Simpson taught me that a crime victim attorney can empower a victim in ways a district attorney can not.
Other attorneys also taught me through war stories and lectures that trial lawyers can creatively use basic legal theories of negligence to financially compensate the most injured and needy in society - victim’s of crime. Through attending and participating in these conferences, I began seeing my potential in this area of law.
Philadelphia is noted for being a violent city given its crime statistics. Each crime produces a victim. Most of these victims are unaware that there are civil attorneys who could represent them. In closing, it is refreshing to practice law apart from the public’s stereotypical disdain of personal injury attorneys. I feel honored to be member of the National Crime Victim Bar Association. I encourage you to join.
G. Lawrence DeMarco, LLM
Philadelphia Bar Association Solo Lawyers Web Site, August 21, 2009