As the firm with the largest number of clients, Ross Feller Casey played an integral role in finalizing a global $59.7 million settlement package with Penn State.
While the individual settlement amounts remain confidential, Penn State confirmed that after lengthy negotiations with founding partners Joel Feller and Matt Casey, several of the firm’s clients were placed in the top monetary category of the 31 claims against the university.
Ross Feller Casey represented the men identified as Victim 2, Victim 3, Victim 7 and Victim 10, Sandusky’s adopted son, Matt Sandusky, as well as others.
In October 2013, as the university confirmed the settlement totals with 26 young men, Casey was interviewed by CBS Evening News with Scott Pelley.
Casey told the national CBS broadcast that the settlements represent “a remarkable achievement by courageous young men.” (see video to the right)
Ross Feller Casey’s involvement in the case dates back to 2011. When the scandal broke, local and national media quickly sought out Casey and Feller as the leading legal experts on child abuse cases. The Harrisburg Patriot-News, which broke the child sex abuse story and won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage, called Casey “one of Pennsylvania’s leading civil attorneys.”
Sandusky, a former assistant football coach, was convicted on June 22, 2012 of 45 counts of sexual abuse against 10 boys, and top Penn State administrators are facing criminal charges for allegedly lying to authorities.
As Sandusky’s October 2012 sentencing approached, three major Pennsylvania newspapers published a profile of Casey and Feller describing them as “two of the most prominent personal injury attorneys” in Philadelphia and noting that they represent more of Sandusky’s victims than any other firm – read the story below:
On July 12, 2012, when the long-awaited investigative report on how Penn State failed to prevent the sexual abuse was released, news outlets from across the nation and oversees again turned to Feller and Casey for reaction.
They were quoted extensively in national newspapers, such as USA Today, and appeared on numerous TV and radio broadcasts from NPR’s All Things Considered to WITF’s Radio Smart Talk program to the BBC News.
On July 23, 2012, the NCAA, college athletics governing body, announced major sanctions against Penn State for the university’s handling of the Sandusky matter, including a $60 million fine and a four-year ban from bowl appearances. Casey and Feller were interviewed by TV, radio, and print reporters in the shadows of Penn State’s Beaver Stadium soon after the announcement.
On Oct. 9, 2012, Sandusky was sentenced to 30-to 60-years behind bars. Casey and Feller were inside the courtroom to hear Sandusky plead his innocence. Outside, the media again sought them out for reaction to what effectively was a life sentence for the 68-year-old.
Ross Feller Casey handled the Sandusky cases as part of a legal team that also includes State College-area attorneys Andrew Shubin and Justine Andronici.
National estimates suggest that one in four girls and one in six boys will be sexually assaulted before they turn age 18. Often, they fall prey to people close to them and figures of authority.
The Sandusky scandal brings this fact home in all-too-vivid detail.
Philadelphia child abuse attorneys at Ross Feller Casey have successfully litigated a wide variety of child sexual abuse and related lawsuits.
Feller is currently litigating a case where physicians failed to report suspected abuse resulting in a young child suffering a devastating brain injury. He also successfully handled a case in which a young woman was raped outside a tavern.
Casey is litigating a case involving a crime that occurred on a Pennsylvania college campus where the institution failed to take proper action to remedy a dangerous condition.
He is also litigating a separate case involving a sexual assault and rape of a woman that occurred as a result of negligent oversight of a premises.
Contact us today for a free consultation from one of our child abuse attorneys in Philadelphia.