Fine, Paul R.

Marc Fiedler is one of the preeminent appellate lawyers in the metropolitan Washington, D.C. area. He handles a wide range of personal-injury and wrongful-death cases, including medical malpractice, product liability, premises liability, governmental negligence, workplace accidents, and toxic torts. A graduate of Harvard College and Harvard Law School, Mr. Fiedler served as a law clerk to the Honorable James A. Belson of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals before joining our firm in 1985. He has been a partner with the firm since 1994.

Mr. Fiedler has won several important cases that have resulted in not only substantial monetary recovery for our clients but also the establishment of legal principles favorable to other personal-injury victims. For example, in one landmark case Mr. Fiedler successfully persuaded the District of Columbia Court of Appeals to recognize the right of workers to recover the full measure of their damages, including pain and suffering, for their work-related injuries caused by someone other than their direct employer. Recently, Mr. Fiedler has prevailed on appeal in cases involving:

• a youngster whose legs had to be amputated below the knee because his doctor negligently failed to diagnose his serious illness;
• a motorist who incurred permanent neurological injury after crashing his van while avoiding a collision with
• a negligently operated Metrobus;
• an office worker who suffered sick-building syndrome due to carelessly performed building renovations that exposed her to contaminants at her workplace;
• a patient who permanently lost sensation and control of bodily functions because his neurosurgeon negligently severed some of his nerves during back surgery;
• a patient who died from a blood clot because the orthopedic surgeon who treated him for a ruptured Achilles tendon neglected to prescribe necessary blood-thinning medication;
• a blind man who fell from the platform at a Metro subway station and was run over by a train driven by a careless operator;
• a painter who fell and was seriously injured while working atop an unsafe scaffold at the direction of a negligent general contractor; and
• a worker who was severely burned while removing asbestos from a high-voltage underground electrical cable that the utility company neglected to de-energize.

Read a summary of Mr. Fiedler’s appellate victories.

In appreciation of his numerous successes at the appellate level, the Trial Lawyers’ Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. in 1989 honored Mr. Fiedler as Lawyer of the Year. He has been recognized repeatedly as a leading practitioner of personal-injury litigation and appellate law by The Best Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, and Washingtonian Magazine. He has garnered an AV rating from Martindale-Hubbell Peer Review Ratings, which signifies the highest level of professional excellence.

From 2001 to 2002, Mr. Fiedler served as President of the Trial Lawyers’ Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C. For many years he has chaired that organization’s appellate-advocacy committee. He has also served as Co-Chairman of the prestigious appellate-advocacy committee of the American Association for Justice.

Mr. Fiedler is a long-time advocate for the rights of people with disabilities. Mr. Fiedler himself is quadriplegic and uses a wheelchair. Nationally recognized as an expert in disability law, Mr. Fiedler has successfully sued several major businesses in the District of Columbia for discrimination against individuals with disabilities. His efforts have been written up in the Washington Post, Washington Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today. He has appeared on the Today show, CNN, CBS and Evening News, all the local television stations, many local radio stations, as well as National Public Radio and Voice of America. Mr. Fiedler is Chairman of the Disability Rights Council of the Equal Rights Center, an organization that educates about and presses vigorously for enforcement of the civil rights of persons with disabilities. In 2002, the Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs bestowed on him its distinguished Alfred McKenzie Award in honor of his outstanding contribution to the cause

of disability rights. That same year, the District of Columbia Courts honored him with its inaugural Trailblazer Award for his efforts to improve courthouse access.

Mr. Fiedler works in our D.C. office and resides in the District.