Aaron J. Freiwald

For me, the courtroom is the place where David really can stand up to Goliath.

My clients, individuals and their families, have gone up against the largest health systems, the biggest insurance companies, the most bad-ass chemical company, the richest pharmaceutical company, and even the United States government.

After college, I started as a foreign correspondent and then an investigative journalist. For each article, I would conduct interviews and often review reams of documents. Often, my stories were about those in powerful positions who had misused those positions. Those skills gave me a taste for cross-examination.

For my final project as a journalist, I wrote a historical account of the Nazi war crimes trials in Germany, told through the story of one of the last major Nazi figures to stand trial. (For more on that, here is a write up on the book.) I attended the trial in Stuttgart, Germany and listened to the stories of Holocaust survivors who testified to the crimes the Nazi officer had committed. I saw just how much the law matters, how the law really is a means to a measure of justice.

When my book manuscript was completed and off to the publisher, I turned to the law myself. I found a way to channel my experiences and skills – writing, investigating, questioning, challenging – so that I, too, could help people achieve a measure of justice.

The cases I take often involve complex issues of medicine and science. A medical procedure that went bad. A devastating medication error that caused a brain or spinal cord injury. A toxic exposure that caused cancer. A product or drug that was defective and caused a serious loss or permanent injury. Of course, the goal is to obtain maximum compensation for the serious wrongs my clients have suffered. We have won millions of dollars in jury verdicts and have obtained millions more in settlements to achieve that goal. The goal also has to be to help the client achieve a measure of justice, to restore dignity and respect.

From the first meeting I have with a new client until the moment that person’s case is completely resolved, I always try to remember the road that led me to where I am and the reasons I do what I do.

Achievements & Case Highlights:

• A multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of a groups of individuals who are part of a residential brain tumor cluster in Northern Illinois. The case involved allegations of cancer-causing chemical exposure from historic plant operations and dumping. In a related matter, Mr. Freiwald also negotiated a multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of a class of residents in the community who required monitoring for brain tumors. As a result of the monitoring program that followed, two former residents were diagnosed with early-stage brain tumors.

• A $2 million verdict in conservative Montgomery County, PA in a case involving a 37-year-old man who was misdiagnosed in the ER of Pottstown Memorial Medical Center. The ER physician was found negligent for failing to diagnose pericarditis, a heart condition that can be life threatening if not treated in a timely manner.

• A $4.5 million jury verdict in a case where the surgeon operated on the wrong kidney leading to the patient’s death.

• A multi-million settlement on behalf of a woman whose Ob-Gyn failed to diagnose and treat her hyperthyroidism. The woman died during an emergency delivery and her baby was profoundly brain injured.

• A $6.33 million jury verdict on behalf of the parents of a 13-month old baby whose pediatrician failed to make timely diagnosis of bacterial meningitis.

• A $6.4 million jury verdict on behalf of parents of a 19-year old boy who died of liver failure after his neurologist failed to perform routine and required blood tests after prescribing Depakote, an anti-seizure medication.

• A $4 million jury verdict on behalf of a 36-year old mother of three who died of a massive pulmonary embolism following routine knee surgery.

• A multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of a woman who suffered a severe, allergic reaction to an iodine-based contrast dye used during an imaging study. The patient had disclosed her allergy in the “patient information” form, but the physician had failed to review the record. The patient died because the office was not equipped to handle the emergency.

• A multi-million dollar settlement on behalf of a teenage boy whose physicians failed to diagnose a volvulus – a twisted bowel – leading to his requiring multi-organ transplants.

Professional Affiliations:

• Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, Member
• American Board of Trial Advocates, Member
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Member
• Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, member
• Philadelphia Bar Association, Member
• Department of Veterans Affairs Accredited Attorney

Honors:

• Mr. Freiwald has an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell, the organization’s highest rating.
• His peers have repeatedly recognized Mr. Freiwald as a “Pennsylvania Super Lawyer.”
• Mr. Freiwald is a Fellow of the American Academy of Trial Counsel.
• Law Dragon Publications has named Mr. Freiwald to its list of the 500 leading Plaintiff’s lawyers in America.