Cleveland Trial Lawyers Give Back to the Community
The impact of the results that Spangenberg Shibley & Liber lawyers achieve doesn’t end with our clients who retain the firm. It also has a meaningful effect on shaping the law and policy brought about through court decisions where our lawyers have advocated for recognition of individual rights and duties. In addition, the firm continues to make a difference through community involvement and by supporting numerous charitable programs.
“We work in a very cohesive manner to attain the very best results for our clients, and often times, these results contribute to legal precedent in the particular area that benefits other similarly-situated victims,” says Peter H. Weinberger, one of the firm’s five attorneys selected for inclusion in the 2011 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.
Fellow Best Lawyers Peter J. Brodhead, William Hawal, Dennis R. Lansdowne and John D. Liber, and the entire firm have worked on cases whose decisions have impacted how individual or corporate defendants should conduct themselves in the future.
In a case involving an operating room fire, the firm achieved a favorable jury verdict finding a plastic surgeon responsible for causing the fire that resulted in second-degree burns on a young patient.
“This verdict was published across the country, and affected the way that doctors, nurses and staff communicate when using oxygen and combustible sources in operating rooms,” Weinberger says.
Results from Spangenberg have saved taxpayer money by requiring the careless and negligent parties who cause injuries to pay for the medical costs instead of the taxpayer-supported Medicare and Medicaid. The firm’s verdicts and settlements have led to decreases in the cost of health insurance by reimbursing the health care insurers the medical costs paid on behalf of those injured victims by the negligence and carelessness of others.
Spangenberg’s work has resulted in reduced health care costs by holding doctors, nursing homes and hospitals accountable for dangerous practices, which discourages those practices in the future. Finally, the firm’s accomplishments have also caused increased public protection by forcing drug manufacturers to provide dangerous side effect warnings associated with prescription drugs, Hawal says.
“I have come to appreciate the enormous difficulties which disabling injuries and the resulting economic hardships can have on individuals and their families,” Hawal says. “As government assistance is reduced for those in need, charitable giving becomes increasingly important.”
“One of the fundamental principles and core values of the firm has been the sense of obligation and commitment to “give back” to the legal profession and community through providing education and mentoring leadership when asked, and philanthropy when and where appropriate and needed,” Liber says.
“In exchange for being given the privilege of practicing law as a member of the firm, each one has devoted time to educating young lawyers, providing leadership to various bar associations and professional and honorary organizations of the trial bar, and involving ourselves in various community charitable organizations and foundations,” Liber says.
Spangenberg contributes to the United Way of Greater Cleveland, Community Shares of Greater Cleveland, and The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland. The firm is a sponsor of the City Club of Cleveland, and endows its Craig Spangenberg Memorial Forum that brings speakers of note to lecture on topics of general public interest.
An active participant in the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association (CMBA), Spangenberg consistently supports CMBA’s annual “Run for Justice” and “Rock the Foundation” events. Lansdowne also volunteers on the Beck Center Board of Directors, which combines professional theatrical productions with comprehensive curriculum-based arts education. The firm additionaly supported the Circle of Caring gala, affiliated with Hattie Larlham Foundation, which offers health care and social programs for children and adults with developmental disabilities.
In addition, Spangenberg is a sponsor of the Frank J. Battisti Memorial Lecture, which brings distinguished speakers to Case Western Reserve University, Weinberger’s alma mater.
“We measure our success in ways beyond our achievements in court. Our goal is to further the interests of justice for everyone we represent. The skill set which we bring to bear on our cases transfers equally to the important work that many of us do in our involvement with charitable and not for profit organizations,” Weinberger says. “That is why I am proud to serve currently as chair of the Case Skin Cancer Research Advisory Board, and am equally proud to have served as President of the board of trustees of the First Unitarian Church of Cleveland and President of the Chagrin Valley Country Club.”
Brodhead serves as an active Trustee and Committee Chair with North Coast Community Homes, which provides safe and affordable residential housing for individuals with disabilities. The law firm supports the Trial Courtroom Project Fund at his alma mater, Cleveland State University’s Cleveland-Marshall College of Law, where he serves as a member of the Cleveland- Marshall Visiting Committee. Brodhead also serves on the board of the Cleveland Institute of Music, and lends his keyboard talents to the No Name Band, which plays for charity and non-profit organizational events at no charge.
“Serving on non-profit boards and committees allows me to meaningfully connect with our community through the many gifted professionals who quietly and tirelessly devote their lives to these worthy causes,” Brodhead says. “I am humbled by their noble work and hope that, in some way, I have become a better and more compassionate citizen though this experience.”
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–Ashley Cisneros
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Ashley Cisneros is a co-founder of Chatter Buzz Media, an Orlando Internet marketing firm that helps companies and organizations engage with their target markets through inbound marketing via the Internet. Chatter Buzz Media, which won the Social Madness competition for the Orlando small business market, is a full-service digital marketing firm specializing in website design, search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing and content creation. Prior to founding Chatter Buzz, Ashley worked as a newspaper reporter, magazine editor, technical writer, marketing manager, public relations practitioner and freelance journalist. To see Ashley’s content writing, visit www.ashleycisneros.com. You can also reach Ashley on her Google profile.
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