By The Schenk Law Firm
Trial Atty, Ex-Rep. Sister And Son Trio Start San Diego PI Firm
A longtime San Diego trial attorney is teaming up with his son and his sister, a former California congresswoman, to start a new law firm focused on personal injury, business and mass tort law, the firm said Monday.
Frederick Schenk, who has practiced in a range of plaintiff’s work at personal injury firm Casey Gerry Schenk Francavilla Blatt & Penfield LLP for over four decades, is starting fresh, launching The Schenk Law Firm in San Diego with the help of his son Benjamin, a trial lawyer at Fell Law, and his sister Lynn Schenk, a corporate lawyer who represented a San Diego-area district in the U.S. House from 1993 to 1995 and later served in several roles in the California government.
“My dad has trial expertise, my aunt has this political expertise, and then I have the financial expertise,” Benjamin Schenk told Law360 Pulse on Tuesday. “We bring three unique vantage points from an abilities perspective.”
Frederick Schenk, who began at Casey Gerry in 1983, has been involved in a variety of high profile litigation in the California region, from suing the NFL over a player’s brain trauma to going after a tobacco company on behalf of the family of the late Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Gwynn.
He said in a LinkedIn post that he’s recovered more than $25 billion on behalf of clients over the years.
More recently he has been a part of the trial team representing plaintiffs in multidistrict litigation against a slew of social media companies like TikTok Inc. and Meta Platforms Inc., saying that the addictive properties of the apps are fueling a childhood mental health crisis.
He said in a statement on Monday that this was the ideal time to start a new chapter in a long career.
“We are thrilled to combine our extensive experience, complementary strengths and considerable resources and leverage our skills as consumer advocates to protect our clients’ rights and provide legal services to those who have been physically injured or financially damaged,” he said. “As dedicated trial lawyers, we are passionate about giving a voice to those who have been harmed through no fault of their own or taken advantage of by corporate misconduct.”
The firm will focus on representing single-incident personal injury, business loss and mass tort victims, Frederick Schenk said on LinkedIn. Lynn Schenk will serve as of counsel, advising on government and public policy. In addition to her term in the House, in which she was, according to the release, the first woman ever elected to Congress south of Los Angeles, Lynn Schenk also was chief of staff to Gov. Gray Davis from 1998 until Davis was recalled in 2003. She was then commissioner of the California Medical Assistance Commission until 2006.
Lynn Schenk also sits on a number of boards, including for the UC San Diego Foundation, the California High-Speed Rail Authority and the San Diego Consortium for Regenerative Medicine. She is also a pioneer for women in law in Southern California, founding the Lawyers Club of San Diego, a network aimed at promoting the status of women in law.
Benjamin Schenk said that his aunt’s position as a legal trailblazer helped to elevate the firm in its launch.
“If we’re starting The Schenk Law Firm, what better way to come together as a family and solidify our disparate kind of reputations that we built as individuals, but with a shared value structure under one entity?” he said. “And so when I approached my aunt, it just felt right, and I was very grateful that she agreed.”
Schenk, who will stay on as of counsel at Fell Law, said he initially didn’t want to follow in his dad’s footsteps. Although he gained his law degree at University of San Diego School of Law in 2020, he said he was more interested in working in investment. While in law school he founded The Civic Group LLC, a commercial real estate investment and asset management firm, which he still runs today.
But he said he soon became inspired to take his father’s path, initially learning from one of San Diego’s top trial lawyers Bibi Fell and now embarking on a new adventure with his father.
“I give him all the credit in the world for being in his phase of life and being open to starting anew in many respects,” he said. “He has this incredible track record, but this is starting a new chapter together. You don’t have the comforts of a large firm like Casey Gerry, so I give him a lot of credit for really investing in that process.”
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