George Patterson

George P. Patterson is a Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney by the National Board of Trial Advocacy and a partner at Sasscer, Clagett & Bucher. Mr. Patterson has been lead counsel on hundreds of trials, recovering millions of dollars on behalf of his clients. He has successfully handled over a dozen wrongful death cases along with hundreds of cases involving permanent personal injuries. He is rated as a "superb" attorney by Avvo, an attorney rating service and has been honored as a Rising Star by Super lawyers. "Superb" is the highest rating issued by Avvo. Mr. Patterson presides over a diverse personal injury practice that not only focuses on litigation and medical malpractice, but on the investigation of complex medical conditions such as traumatic brain injuries, complex bone fractures, laminectomies, disc fusions, growth plate fractures, carpal tunnel surgeries, fibromyalgia and whiplash injuries. He is widely recognized for his ability to obtain substantial settlements for his clients across a broad spectrum of practice areas. In cases where insurance companies have refused to offer their policy limits, Mr. Patterson has obtained verdicts in excess of the insurance policies at trial. Early in Mr. Patterson's career as an attorney hired by several major insurance companies, he obtained dozens of defense verdicts in personal injury jury trials. He has built on this experience to properly present plaintiffs' claims and to avoid tactical mistakes made by plaintiffs' attorneys. Some of his more noteworthy cases include: In a Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy (RSD) case, Mr. Patterson was able to obtain a resolution in the case in Federal Court for $587,500. The defense questioned the seriousness of the disorder but was persuaded by a report from an internationally renowned expert on (RSD) hired by Mr. Patterson. In a wrongful death case, Mr. Patterson was hired by a family who lost their son in a tragic single car accident. The son was a passenger in the car that had only $20,000 in coverage. The family's insurance company then refused to honor a claim for underinsured motorist benefits, claiming the family had only purchased minimum coverage. Mr. Patterson investigated the insurance records and discovered the company had failed to obtain a signed waiver for the reduced coverage. As a result, Mr. Patterson obtained a $500,000 recovery. Mr. Patterson obtained a $310,000 settlement on behalf of a client who sustained a neck injury requiring surgery. The settlement was obtained after the defendant retained a medical expert to argue that the neck surgery was due to a pre-existing condition. Mr. Patterson resolved a fall case for $140,000. The client fell at a grocery store and broke her knee cap. The client had medical bills of approximately $14,000. There was no offer prior to filing suit. Many people attempt to resolve personal injury cases on their own hoping that the insurance companies would treat them fairly. Recently two such people came to Mr. Patterson after concluding that the insurance companies would not fairly evaluate their claims without the assistance of an attorney. Mr. Patterson represented a client who suffered a facial laceration in an automobile accident. The insurance company offered the unrepresented man a final settlement of $20,000. Mr. Patterson was hired to take over the case and received a settlement of $75,000 for his client. Mr. Patterson represented a client who initially tried to settle his case on his own and was offered a final settlement of $10,000 with less than one week before the statute of limitations was set to expire. Upon being retained, the insurance company increased the offer to $25,000. Mr. Patterson filed suit and attained an award of just under $45,000. Mr. Patterson represented a client who checked into a hotel only to be awakened in the middle of the night by an intruder who had previously worked for the hotel and entered with a room key. His client successfully attacked the intruder without sustaining any injury other than some sore knuckles. Mr. Patterson obtained a $75,000 settlement on behalf of his client. Mr. Patterson represented a client in a low-impact crash with minimal damage. The insurance company offered the client $181.50 to settle the case. Mr. Patterson took the case to trial and his client was awarded $18,000. Mr. Patterson graduated from DePauw University with a double major in economics and philosophy and magna cum laude from the Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law. While attending Catholic University George Patterson published an award winning legal analysis of a Supreme Court ruling. That publication has since been cited in several legal publications including the Yale Law Journal, Villanova Environmental Law Journal, The Virginia Tax Review and the book Bittker on the Regulation of Interstate and Foreign Commerce. Current Employment Position(s): Partner Areas of Practice: Personal Injury Auto Accident Litigation Truck Accident Litigation Premises Liability Products Liability Bar Admissions: District of Columbia, 2005 U.S. District Court District of Maryland, 2004 Maryland, 1996 Education: Catholic University of America, Columbus School of Law, Washington, District of Columbia, 1996 J.D. Honors: Magna Cum Laude Honors: American Jurisprudence Award for Contract Law Law Review: Catholic University Law Review, Note and Comment Editor, 1994 - 1996 DePauw University, Greencastle, Indiana, 1993 B.A. Honors: Dean's List (1990-1993) Honors: Little 500 (1991-1992) Major: Economics Major: Philosophy Published Works: Note, Does the Commerce Clause Value Public Goods, 44 Cath. U. Law Rev. 3, 1995 Representative Clients: Allstate Insurance Kidsco Inc. Metropolitan Towing, Inc. Marlboro Towing, Inc. Avis Classes/Seminars Taught: Investigating and Deposing Personal Injury Healthcare Providers, Allstate Insurance Company, 2000 Honors and Awards: Board Certified Civil Trial Attorney by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, 2009 Rising Star, Super Lawyers, 2010 Award for the Best Catholic University Law Review Note of 1995 American Jurisprudence Award for Contract Law Professional Associations and Memberships: Maryland State Bar Association Member Maryland Bar Foundation Fellow Prince George's County Bar Association Member Past Employment Positions: Conroy, Ballman & Dameron, Law Clerk, 1995 - 1996 Maryland Court of Appeals, Judge Irma Raker, Intern, 1995 Sussman & Simcox, Law Clerk, 1994 - 1995 Fraternities/Sororities: Phi Gamma Delta