Terry Birkel considers himself a “victim’s lawyer”. He has aggressively represented wronged people during his 37 year career in Washington private practice, obtaining recoveries exceeding $50 Million in litigated and negotiated awards for plaintiffs in employment, securities, business tort and personal injury matters. Mr. Birkel receives referrals from throughout the country and has entered into strategic alliances with attorneys to try cases in Dallas, Detroit, New York, Tampa, Los Angeles, Chicago, Charlotte and Newark.

 He has successfully handled over one-hundred arbitrations before the American Arbitration Association, NASD, FINRA and the CFTC. He has obtained numerous six and seven figure recoveries in such diverse areas as retaliation claims under The False Claims Act, executive option grants, professional malpractice, employment discrimination, insurance coverage and lender liability.

He has represented employees in wrongful termination, executive options rights, severance and discrimination claims and negotiated numerous severance agreement for executives. He has handled civil litigation in state and federal courts and arbitrations involving commercial torts, including claims of fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, defamation, RICO, civil conspiracy and tortious interference with contract.  He has conducted business litigation practice, involving shareholder disputes, environmental claims, and real estate premises liability and breach of

Mr.  Birkel is an “AV Rated” practice by Martindale-Hubbell, the authoritative source for information on the worldwide legal profession, indicating “very high to preeminent legal ability and very high ethical standards as established by confidential opinions from members of the bar.”

• Mr. Birkel graduated with high distinction from the University of Virginia where he was chosen for Phi Beta Kappa
• He is a 1973 cum laude graduate of the Harvard Law School where he was Comment Editor on the Harvard Civil Rights- Civil Liberties Law Review and a member of the Harvard Legal Aid Bureau.
• Mr. Birkel is a member of the Bar of the Distinct of Columbia and also on occasion practices in federal and state courts in Virginia and Maryland, affiliating with local counsel. He has been admitted to practice in the U.S. District Courts of Maryland, Virginia, New York, New Jersey, California, Delaware, Pennsylvania and Florida.
• Partner, Law Offices of Walter G. Birkel, P.C:  2008 to present
• Partner, Tighe Patton Armstrong Teasdale, PLLC, head of litigation section, 1995-2008
• In private practice in Washington D.C. 1972 to present, achieving over $50 Million in litigated and negotiated damages for victims.
• Arbitration and mediator, District of Columbia Superior Court 1995 to present
•  Speaker to ABA  and other professional programs on retaliation under the False Claims Act, and attorney for plaintiff/realtor in  the precedent setting decision  in Ackley v. IBM,  F   (1980) expanding whistle blower claims in Maryland
• Recently obtained damages in excess of $1.5 Million in 14 related FINRA arbitrations on behalf of some 50 wrongly terminated brokers, and exculpation of defamatory Form U-5 comments
• Prosecuted one of  the first successful business interruption case arising from smoke damage caused by the World Trade Center collapse, and settling the case for $600,000 in damages
• Obtaining $15 Million in damages against a national brokerage companies in arbitrations before the Financial Industry Regulatory Association
• Recovering wrongly denied option rights of over $5 Million for executives from settlement, arbitration or jury verdicts
• Achieving precedent setting decisions and the award of damages to terminated whistleblowers under the False Claims Act
• Obtaining   awards and settlement in over 150 matters for wronged  investors in arbitrations before CFTC, NASD, and FINRA,

 Mr. Birkel has lived in Washington, D.C. for over 30 years is married and has three adult children. He has been an active member of the community. He has been an Advisor Neighborhood Commissioner for Glover Park, has worked on various mayoral campaigns, and been engaged in homeless housing initiatives and the mentoring of disadvantaged youth.  He is a past Board Member of the National Association of Children of Alcoholics, and was the chairman and 12 year member of the D.C. Bar’s Lawyer Counseling Committee, providing career and personal counseling to law students and practitioners.  He is involved in community outreach through Foundry United Methodist Church and through participation in a number of D.C. based  not for profit organizations and has been long standing fund raiser for the University of Virginia, St. Albans School and the National Cathedral School. Mr. Birkel is an avid sport enthusiast, having completed over 12 marathons, and still plays competitive baseball in several adult leagues.

SOLUTIONS, NOT COMPLICATIONS

A common complaint about lawyers is that they look for problems and complications (and outsized fees) rather than solutions.  Terry Birkel has spent 35 plus years doing things differently and in advancing his client’s interests interests and goals at each and every juncture. We provide clear and practical advice and help our clients achieve their objectives. Those objectives are paramount and determine our approach to each matter.

We also recognize that the successful resolution of disputes requires effective communication with our clients. We take great care in maintaining close contact with our clients to keep them fully informed regarding the progress of their matters and to aid us in obtaining the best possible outcome.

We actively manage each matter to obtain a favorable resolution at a reasonable cost, and are committed to utilizing the latest in technology to enhance our ability to deliver pragmatic, cost-effective and efficient services to our clients.