La Jolla resident David Casey Jr. and Frederick Schenk, longtime partners at San Diego-based CaseyGerry, received top honors at the recent American Association for Justice annual convention in Baltimore, with Casey receiving the AAJ New Lawyers Division Defender of Justice award and Schenk earning recognition as a diplomate of trial advocacy.
Casey’s award notes his defense of the rights of others, in particular his work in helping form Trial Lawyers Care, the largest pro-bono effort in American jurisprudence history. In his role as association president and vice president, he helped create an effort in which more than 1,000 attorneys secured awards of more than $2.5 billion for families of 9/11 victims. He currently serves on a steering committee helping to oversee litigation against the National Football League and works with CaseyGerry in helping to attain a $5 billion verdict for fisherman – after 21 years of litigation – following the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
Schenk was honored with diplomate status for his commitment to improving practical knowledge of trial skills and substantive law and for his dedication to pursuing advanced legal education. To receive the designation, Schenk completed more than 400 hours of jury trial training with association education programs, including an advanced trial skills seminar at Harvard Law School.
CaseyGerry was established in 1947 and is the oldest plaintiffs’ law firm in San Diego. As the world’s largest trial bar, the American Association for Justice (formerly known as the Association of Trial Lawyers of America) mitigates large injury cases.