Douglas 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. Cases successfully handled by the firm that exemplify such issues include:

• Freshman high school athletes hazed and sodomized by upperclassmen;
• Women sexually assaulted in fraternities that labeled them as “rape bait,” kept scorecards of women assaulted, and advised members to “use more alcohol” to disable women to gain sex;
• Universities that exposed males to dangerous fraternity rituals by tolerating these rituals under the guise that “boys will be boys,” while meting out harsh penalties to sororities that engaged in hazing;
• Celebrities and esteemed members of the clergy who used their power to groom and assault vulnerable women and men;
• Women sexually assaulted at schools by athletes who were allowed to remain on campus afterward; and
• Groundbreaking claims – establishing compelling precedent – against fraternities circumventing the maze of corporate structures and insurance exclusions specifically implemented to deprive victims and survivors of the financial justice they deserve.

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, liars, and other wrongdoers in excess of $375 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, universities and schools to be held financially liable to survivors, and resulting in specialized accommodations for survivors necessary to protect their educational rights; and
• Establishment of legal precedent in state and federal courts across the country to hold colleges, schools, fraternities, and other wrongdoers 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 as trial counsel to protect them in transactions and litigation.

Mr. Fierberg is a member of the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Michigan Bars.