Over three decades ago, Douglas E. Fierberg expanded his trial practice in Washington D.C. beyond vehicle accidents, premises liability, and catastrophic personal injury cases, to establish and include the only legal practice 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 young man hospitalized after being hazed at Omega Psi Phi Fraternity in Maryland. From there, the practice next went to Texas on behalf of 4 college students killed outside a fraternity house and Indiana on behalf of two women who were branded with cigarettes by their sorority members. Today, the firm and its attorneys constitute the premier national trial practice dedicated to serving victims, families, and survivors. Achievements include:
· Settlements and trial verdicts against fraternities, colleges, schools, students, perpetrators/rapists, and other wrongdoers in excess of $365 Million;
· Success representing students and others killed or wounded in mass shootings and women sexually assaulted by powerful persons in the entertainment industry and professional, amateur, college, and high school athletics;
· Victories in Title IX and related proceedings causing rapists to be expelled and resulting in specialized accommodations for survivors necessary to protect their educational rights; and
· Establishment of legal precedent in state and federal courts to hold colleges, schools, and fraternities responsible for campus violence.
Mr. Fierberg was 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: 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.
Since the inception of his practice, Mr. Fierberg has continually represented local and national businesses in various areas covering transactions and litigation. This includes such things as employment discrimination and wrongful terminations, real estate and other forms of commercial fraud, and corporate and not-for-profit governance and transactions.
Education:
· J.D., The National Law Center, George Washington University, With Honors
· Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, University of Michigan, Class Honors
Lectures and Professional Presentations:
· Fordham University School of Law, The Law and Neuroscience of Mass Shootings: The Law, Ethics, and Psychology of Mass Shootings (November 2022)
· Harvard Law School, Sports, Sex and Equality on Campus: Litigating the Title IX Case (October 2021)
· Miami University, Building a Better Campus Community: Understanding the Principal Dynamics Underlying the Deaths, Injuries and Sexual Violence in the Greek Community (March 2021)
· Harvard Law School, Gender Violence, Law, and Social Justice: Litigating Against Fraternities, Schools, and Students in Cases of Sexual Violence, Hazing, and Other Deadly Misconduct (March 2018; March 2015)
· Cornell University, Student Rights and University Responsibilities: Fraternities, Sexual Violence, and Other Wrongdoing on Campus.edu (September 2018)
· National Center for Victims of Crime: Third Party Liability in Cases of Sexual Violence and Other Deadly Misconduct in Schools (December 2015)
· Miami University, Campus Sexual Violence: Student Rights, University Responsibilities, and Legal Liability in the Hunting Ground (March 2020, October 2016)
· Chrysalis Network: Campus Sexual Violence: Student Rights, University Responsibilities, and Legal Liability in the Hunting Ground (December 2016)
· National Center for Victims of Crime: Holding Universities, Campus Institutions, and Students Accountable for Mass Violence, Campus Crimes, and Other Wrongdoing: Civil Justice for Victims of Campus Crime, Sexual Assault and Other Wrongdoing (2011 National Conference)
· National Legal Aid and Defender Association: Holding Universities, Campus Institutions, and Students Accountable for Mass Violence, Campus Crimes, and Other Wrongdoing: Civil Justice for Victims (2010 National Conference)
· American Association for Justice: Holding Universities, Campus Institutions, and Students Accountable for Mass Violence, Campus Crimes, and Other Wrongdoing: Civil Justice for Victims at Virginia Tech and Other Schools (2009 National Conference)
· American Trial Lawyers Association: School Safety: Threat Assessments, Rapid Response, and Lockdowns (2008 National Conference); Student Victims: Strategies and Issues for Successful Civil Litigation (2007 National Conference)
· American Trial Lawyers Association: Student Victims of Sexual Assault: An Overview of Administrative and Legal Remedies (2006 National Conference)
· National Student Legal Services Association: Student Victims: An Overview of the Problem, Civil Litigation, and Related Proceedings (2005 National Conference)
· American Trial Lawyers Association: The Greek Industry: Strategies for Litigating Claims Involving Serious Injury, Death, Hazing, and Alcohol Misuse (2005 National Conference)
· American Trial Lawyers Association: Fraternity Litigation: A Basic Primer on the Status of Violence, Injury, Death, Alcohol Misuse, and Litigation Involving the Fraternity Industry (2004 National Conference)
Media Features:
Mr. Fierberg’s expertise, cases, and clients have been featured multiple times on/in:
· ABC News Studios Docuseries: Death in the Dorms, Episode 4: Michael Deng (Streaming on Hulu)
· CNN Film: The Hunting Ground
o Fierberg is a man of obvious and deep intelligence, comfortable—in the way of alpha-male litigators—with sharply correcting a fuzzy thought; with using obscenities; with speaking derisively, even contemptuously, of opponents. He is also the man I would run to as though my hair were on fire if I ever found myself in a legal battle with a fraternity, and so should you. – Caitlin Flanagan, The Atlantic
· CNN Special Report: Deadly Haze: Inside the Fraternity Crisis
· NBC Today Show
· ABC 20/20
· CNN
· BBC
· The New York Times
· The New York Times Magazine
· The Washington Post
· Time Magazine
· Sports Illustrated
· USA TODAY
· Los Angeles Times
· Various Other Media Outlets
Professional Organizations:
· American Association of Justice: Founding member and chair of the Litigation Group, Schools: Violence, Misconduct, and Safety
· National Crime Victim Bar Association: Past President of the Advisory Board
· DC Trial Lawyers Association (“DCTLA“)
· Michigan Association for Justice (“MAJ”)
· National Trial Lawyers Association (“NTL”)
· Reproductive Justice Lawyers Network (“RJLN”)
· Women’s Resource Center in Traverse City, Michigan: Board Chair 2023
Publications:
· Hazing: Destroying Young Lives; Chapter 9, Universities and College Groups Must Begin Disclosing Threats of Sexual Assault and Other Campus Violence (Author, Hank Nuwer, Indiana University Press 2018)
· Victim Advocate: Representing Victims of Hazing and Other Group Violence on Campus (Vol. 3, No. 2, Fall, 2001)
· Synthesis: Law and Policy in Higher Education(Vol. 10, No. 3, Winter, 1999)
· The School Administrator: Hazing Prevention Deserves Attention, Too (Vol. 57, No. 9, October 2000)
Bar & Court Admissions:
· District of Columbia
· Maryland
· Michigan
· S. District Court for the District of Maryland
· S. District Court for the Western District of Michigan
· S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
· S. District Court for the District of Columbia
· S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois
· S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
· S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit
· S. Court of Appeals for the DC Circuit
· Numerous other state and federal courts across the country by permission to represent individuals and families on specific cases
Mr. Fierberg has been recognized by Super Lawyers as one of Washington DC’s Top Schools & Education Lawyers, The National Trial Lawyers Top 100, a professional organization composed of premier trial lawyers from across the country who exemplify superior qualifications as civil plaintiff or criminal defense trial lawyers, and by The National Association of Distinguished Counsel, which less than 1% of practicing attorneys in the United States are members of the “Nation’s Top Attorneys”.
