For New PaAJ President, Giving Back Is Part of Agenda
The Legal Intelligencer
By Leo Srupczewski
September 28, 2009
When he first started representing victims of drunken driving accidents, Kevin Marciano began the practice of accompanying his clients to the criminal court proceedings.
And each time he went, he said, he would run into a volunteer from Mothers Against Drunk Driving.
The person would be there to also support his client, and Marciano would find himself in conversation. Often, the discussion centered around the organization's "budgetary issues," Marciano said, and an idea occurred to him.
"I became a member and started adding settlement and my own money," he said. "I didn't so much as think, 'Why should I be giving my money?' but, 'Shouldn't others be giving money, too?' and 'Geez, the bar is the one that made the mistake. Maybe they should be giving money.'"
And so it was a natural progression.
Over the years, Marciano said, he has donated money from drunken driving and dram shop verdicts to MADD. He has also worked to have the bar in question donate its own money during settlements.
Now, nearly three months into his term as president of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, Marciano has highlighted his relationship with the nonprofit and used his position to advocate the practice.
"It serves a whole lot of different purposes," he said. "The bar made a mistake, maybe they'll do a better job next time. It's not just the insurance company who is paying. You're also turning something negative into a positive and also you're helping out this wonderful organization."
As the legislative portion of his agenda remains on hold because of the state's budget impasse, Marciano has taken to stressing his other points of emphasis.
Chief among them is his work to speak out against drunken driving and underage drinking.
Through MADD and PaAJ, Marciano, a partner at Cherry Fieger & Cherry P.C. in Media, PA., has been organizing mock trial assemblies for schools throughout Southeastern Pennsylvania. The events, he said, will go statewide this year.
At the assembly, MADD and PaAJ bring in a judge to hold a mock trial for someone who drank underage and a doctor to discuss the effects of doing so.
"We show the kids how devastating it can be," he said. "That's something that I think is going to be very effective."
'Only Hope'
With the state's budget seemingly addressed, lobbyists will again have lawmakers' attention.
For Marciano and PaAJ, that means continuing the association's recent history of taking a more proactive approach to achieving advancement in "victims rights." Marciano said the association will take a stand against the Pennsylvania Bar Association's push for a constitutional review commission and speak out against abolishing the state's MCARE fund, something that has been discussed. Marciano also said the association will be pushing for higher automobile insurance minimums, mandatory liquor liability coverage for restaurants and bars that serve alcohol and a "plain language" bill for insurance policies.
"The way these insurance policies are written, you need to have, like, a degree from Harvard to read them and most people aren't that educated," he said. "Some attorneys have trouble. You need to make it plain language so the ordinary person can review it."
The lack of liquor liability coverage, Marciano said, is more frequent than people believe.
"Most of the time, when I get involved in the case, someone is dead, paralyzed or severely and permanently injured. More than 50 percent of the time, there is no insurance at all. It's catastrophic."
Coverage isn't expensive, Marciano said, and requiring it would provide victims with "access to the courthouse steps."
"I know it's cliché, the David versus Goliath," Marciano said. "But you are your clients' only hope to be victorious."
The Challenge
And it's that knowledge, that knowing a trial lawyer is a person's last hope for recovery, that motivates him, Marciano said.
It's the part of the job he remembers hearing about since he was a boy and a close family friend, Philadelphia attorney Jim Mundy, would stop by his home and recount stories of helping people, he said.
There was a pleasure in that, Marciano said. And it has continued.
Now 42, Marciano worked at both a midsized and large law firm before becoming a partner at a smaller firm. The experiences and the challenges may change from place to place, but the work does not.
"It gets me out of bed in the morning," he said. "While I'll say it's work, it's work that I, for the most part, enjoy. I'm passionate about it. I'm proud of my job."
There is, though, work to be done for the profession, Marciano said.
It's well known that the state's population of trial lawyers lacks diversity, and Marciano said he will continue the PaAJ's efforts to bring more minorities into the ranks.
The key, he said, is changing a firm's practice when it comes to searching for new hires.
"It's something we look for, we strive for," Marciano said. "But sometimes it's difficult. You have to reach out. We're not like the bigger firms. They have hiring periods, personal injury firms normally don't. If you need somebody, it's, 'OK, who does someone know?'"
"I think we're working on it, but I think it's easier said than done," he continued. "You have to break the cycle."
No Special Treatment
While Marciano knows the strengths of the judicial system and supports the work of his fellow attorneys, he recognizes the stain that is being left by the federal corruption probe in Northeastern Pennsylvania.
"Obviously, we support lawyers and judges following the law," Marciano said. "Anyone that breaks the law should be punished. There shouldn't be any special treatment at all."
"It's important to ferret out people who are breaking the law," he added. "We have to try and restore what's left up there and bring it back to where it should be."
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