Geoffrey Fieger is an Americanattorney based inSouthfield, Michigan.[1] Fieger is the founder of thelaw firm Fieger Law, and is an occasional legal commentator for NBC and MSNBC. His practice focuses on personal injury, civil rights litigation andmedical malpractice cases.
On March 1, 2024, Fieger's wife released a statement saying he was diagnosed with a heart condition that required surgery, and afterward he suffered a stroke. His long time law partner James Harrington is currently running Fieger Law, while Fieger is recovering and in rehabilitation.
Fieger and his wife Kathleen have three children and live inBloomfield Hills, Michigan. Fieger is the older brother ofDoug Fieger, lead vocalist of the late-'70s/early-'80s rock groupThe Knack, best known for their hit song "My Sharona" in 1979.
Fieger has been involved with a variety of high-profile or controversial cases. In 1994, he representedJack Kevorkian in the first of several doctor-assisted suicide trials. Kevorkian was acquitted in that trial and all subsequent trials where Fieger represented him. (Kevorkian was convicted when he represented himself in his last assisted suicide trial in 1999.) These events were made into a movie,You Don't Know Jack, aired on HBO, in which Fieger was portrayed by actorDanny Huston.
Ralf Panitz, accused of killing his ex-wife Nancy Campbell-Panitz in July 2000, following their appearance along with Panitz's new wife, on a segment ofThe Jerry Springer Show. Panitz was convicted in 2002.[5]
The family ofAiyana Jones, a seven-year-old girl who was shot during a police raid in 2010, conducted while a crew was doing a taping of theA&E reality showThe First 48.[6]
A lawsuit against theMichigan State Police on behalf of the family of 64-year-old Jacqueline Nichols, a pedestrian who was killed when a cruiser crashed into her during a police chase inFlint on July 3, 2014.[7] The state agreed to settle the suit for $7.7 million.[8]
A $100 million lawsuit in regards to the2021 Oxford High School shooting was filed by Fieger againstOxford Community Schools on behalf of a 17-year-old student who was shot in the neck and her sister who was walking next to her as she was shot. The suit claims that the girls are experiencing PTSD and that the school failed to protect the students by allowing the shooter to return to class after they had direct information that he was exhibiting homicidal ideation.[11][12]
In 1998, Fieger ran unsuccessfully as theDemocratic nominee forGovernor of Michigan. During the campaign Fieger made several inflammatory and controversial comments and statements, including
an assertion that his opponentJohn Engler was the product ofmiscegenation between humans and barnyard animals;[13]
a claim that "rabbis are closer to Nazis than they think."[14]
the observation that, "in 2,000 years we've probably made somebody who is the equivalent of Elvis into God, so I see no reason why not to believe that in 2,000 years Elvis will be God. Probably if we went back 2,000 years, and they said, you know, we think Jesus is God, and Jesus is just some goofball that got nailed to the cross."[15]
a radio appearance characterizing Michigan appellate judges as "jackasses" for overturning a 15 million dollar medical malpractice judgment he had won. (A lower court reprimand based on these comments was eventually upheld by the Michigan Supreme Court.)[16]
In 1997, Fieger donated four million dollars to the Detroit College of Law, now theMichigan State University College of Law, to start the nation's first trial practice institute for law students, which was named the Geoffrey Fieger Trial Practice Institute.[17]
In August 2007, Fieger wasindicted on federalcampaign finance charges; theU.S. government alleged that Fieger had illegally funneled $127,000 toJohn Edwards'2004 presidential campaign. Fieger was defended by famed defense attorneyGerry Spence, who announced this would be his last case. A juryacquitted Fieger of all 10 charges, and Fieger's co-defendant and law partner Ven Johnson on five charges, on June 2, 2008. Johnson stated that the charges were politically motivated.[18]
^"Michigan Review". Archived from the original on September 5, 2008. Retrieved2009-06-03.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
