Douglas E. Fierberg

Over three decades ago, Douglas E. Fierberg expanded his commercial trial practice in Washington D.C. to establish the only national legal practice focused on representing school violence victims and survivors nationwide. The work began on behalf of a high school student who survived brutal sexual assaults in Washington, D.C. by two assailants, and a college student hospitalized after being hazed at Omega Psi Phi Fraternity at the University of Maryland. From there, the practice went to Texas on behalf of 4 college students killed outside a fraternity house whose chapter president ignored a direct warning from the police the night before to make their operations safer before someone was killed. What became clear quickly is that misconduct underlying such tragedies – sexual assaults, brutal hazing, uncontrolled drinking, gun violence – had many things in common: toxic masculinity, insular and unsupervised male groups, and delusions grounded in a patriarchy experienced in shaming survivors and defending perpetrators, conspirators, and negligent institutions in shameful ways. Today, the firm and its attorneys constitute the premier national trial practice that serves victims, families, and survivors. Mr. Fierberg was also lead counsel for twenty families whose loved ones died or suffered catastrophic injuries because of the April 2007 mass shooting at Virginia Tech. The result was a historic settlement with the Commonwealth of Virginia valued at more than $11 Million. Since then, he has successfully represented persons killed in mass shooting incidents at schools and workplaces in Alabama, Washington, D.C., and Missouri. Mr. Fierberg also served as the lead trial attorney for Rolling Stone Magazine and its founder in defending multiple defamation lawsuits filed against them arising out of an article Rolling Stone published about sexual assaults at college fraternities.