Profile
Leonard Paul Buscemi, born December 18, 1953 in Niagara Falls, New York, received his Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University in 1976 and a Doctor of Jurisprudence degree from Antioch School of Law in Washington, DC in 1980.
Antioch Law School was created in 1972 by Yale law graduates, Edgar S. and Jean Camper Cahn, who championed the rights of low-income people and minorities. The school was committed to training public interest lawyers and pioneered a comprehensive clinical legal education model adopted now, in small part at least, in nearly every law school in America. This tradition is carried on today by its successor, the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law.
Mr. Buscemi's courtroom experience began at Antioch in 1978 when he participated in the D.C. Law Student in Court Program representing indigent clients in juvenile, family, immigration, and disability law cases.
In 1979, he was selected by Judge Leonard Braman of the District of Columbia Superior Court to intern in a Felony II rotation. That same year he worked as a criminal investigator in District of Columbia Superior Court under the Criminal Justice Act investigating assault, armed robbery, and arson cases for Washington, D.C. for criminal defense attorney Richard Stern.
In his senior year of law school (1979), Mr. Buscemi was appointed Special Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Columbia where he prosecuted misdemeanor cases in the District of Columbia Superior Court. In the thirty substantive hearings and five trials he represented the United States, the rulings made by the court and the verdicts returned were all in favor of the government.
In his final semester of law school, Judge Braman, who was then assigned to Superior Court's most complex civil cases (Civil I Rotation), invited Mr. Buscemi to return for an internship managing cases, writing, researching, and participating in all court and chamber proceedings. The value of this legal experience can be appreciated by those who know Judge Braman, a distinguished jurist of great intellect and exacting standards.
By the time he graduated from law school in 1980, Mr. Buscemi had already clocked over 2,000 hours of courtroom experience. Immediately following graduation from law school, he began working for the law firm of Koonz, McKenney & Johnson in Washington, D.C., first as a law clerk for the senior partner in the corner of his private office where like an apprentice he watched, listened, researched, wrote, and assisted in the preparation of the firm's most challenging cases.
In June 1981 Mr. Buscemi became an associate attorney with the firm. From June 19, 1981 to July 2, 1985 he acted as sole counsel for hundreds of clients in injury, malpractice, product liability, and disability cases.
On July 2, 1985, Mr. Buscemi established his own law practice, The Law Offices of Leonard P. Buscemi. All tolled, Mr. Buscemi has represented clients in over 1,200 cases as lead counsel, and in most instances, sole counsel for the plaintiff in trials, hearings and appeals involving complex facts and notable legal issues against large corporations and law firms.
In addition to malpractice, product liability, and other accident/injury cases, Mr. Buscemi has lead a wide variety of other civil litigations such contracts, trusts, estates, etc. Practice / Cases
Mr. Buscemi has been rated "AV", as possessing the highest level of experience, skill, integrity and professional excellence by Martindale-Hubbell, the nation's premier peer review attorney rating system. Peer Rating
Several of his cases have been reported by the news media and legal journals.
- WUSA Channel 9, April 24, 1987
Television interview and story/passenger injured
WMATA bus door - defective safety device - The Washington Times, July 31,
1987
David beats Goliath third time. - D.C. Legal Times, August 3, 1987
Ups and Downs - D.C. Legal Times, October 15,1990
Million-Dollar Verdict - The Washington Times, May 1,1992
Dental suit yields $4 million - The Montgomery Express, May 5,
1993
Chevy Chase dentist to pay $3.2 million suit - Virginia Lawyers Weekly, October
12, 1994
Will Contest - Limitations - Unsound Mind - Daily Washington Law Reporter,
April 19, 1996
Negative Evidence - The Hagerstown Herald-Mail, November
15, 1997
Dentist Sued Over Alleged Nerve Damage - Virginia Lawyers Weekly, June
2, 2003
Medical Trust - Fiduciary Duty -Disabled Adult - Medical vs. Custodial Care - Metro Verdicts Monthly, Volume
2, No. 2, p. 41, September 1989
Premises Liability - Office Plaza - Detached Door - Federal Center Plaza - Metro Verdicts Monthly, Volume
2, No. 4, p. 163, November 1989
Auto/Truck Accident -Rear-End - Stopped at Light - Metro Verdicts Monthly, Volume
2, No. 9, p. 354, September 1990
Autp Pedestrian Accident - Crossing Outside Crosswalk - Metro Verdicts Monthly, Volume
2, No. 12, p. 470, October 1990
Worksite Accident - Maintenance Workers - Burns - Metro Verdicts Monthly, Volume
4, No 6, p. 204, March 1992
Assault & Battery - Altercation at Health Spa - Metro Verdicts Monthly, Volume
4, No.7, p. 243, April 1992
Dental Malpractice - Injection - Nerve Damage - Metro Verdicts Monthly, Volume
5, No. 8, p. 289, April 1993
Dental Malpractice - Injection - Loss of Speech - Metro Verdicts Monthly, Volume
6, No. 1, p. 3, August 1993
Elevator - Sudden Acceleration & Stop Maintenance
Mr. Buscemi is a member in good standing of the following:
- United States Supreme Court
- District of Columbia Court of Appeals
- Supreme Court of Virginia
- Maryland Court of Appeals
- United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit
- United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
- United States District Court of the District of Columbia
- United States District Courts of Virginia: Eastern & Western Divisions
- United States District Courts of Maryland: Northern & Southern Divisions
- United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Virginia
- Trial Lawyers of Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC
Mr. Buscemi has appeared as lead counsel in the following courts:
- District of Columbia
Superior Court of the District of Columbia - Virginia
Arlington County
City of Alexandria
City of Richmond
Essex County
Fairfax County
Fauquier County
King George County
Loudon County
Northumberland County
Prince William County
Williamsburg- James City County - Maryland
Anne Arundel County
Baltimore City
Montgomery County - Federal
Alexandria, Virginia
Baltimore, Maryland
Greenbelt, Maryland
Roanoke, Virginia
Washington, D.C.
Prince George's County
Washington County
Appeals
Grayson vs. District of Columbia Dept. of Employment Services,
516 A.2d 909 (D.C. App. 1986.)
Otis Elevator Company vs. Robinson,
U.S. Court of Appeal for the D.C. Circuit, No. 86-7010
Otis Elevator Company vs. Elsbery,
U.S. Court of Appeal for the D.C. Circuit, No. 87-7210
Henderson vs. Charles E. Smith Management Co,
567 A.2d, 462 (D.C. App.1988)
Baker & Botts, et al, vs. D.C. Department of Employment Services
D. C. Court of Appeal, Appeal No: 95-AA-460
Hummer vs. Levin,
673 A.2d 631 (D.C.App.1996)
D'Souza vs. Burns, and Burns vs. WMATA,
114 F.3rd 219 (D.C. Cir.1997)
Panizza vs. Funkhouser,
Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 97-0371
Sines vs. The Price Company, et. al,
Supreme Court of Virginia, Record No. 98-1596
Schafer vs. D.C. Department of Employment Services,
D.C. Court of Appeal, Appeal No: 99-AA-376
Trial Court Opinions
Panizza vs. Funkhouser, et.al.,
Virginia Lawyers Weekly, October 12, 1994 (094-8-336, 3 pp).
Will Contest - Limitations - Unsound Mind
Beek, et. al. vs. Speakman ,
57 VA. Cir. 501 (Fairfax County Circuit Court 2000)
Will Contest -Undue Influence - Testamentary Capacity
Suntrust Bank vs. Children's Nat. Medical Ctr., et.al.,
Virginia Lawyers Weekly, June 2, 2003 (VLW 003-8-114-115).
Medical Trust - Fiduciary Duty -Disabled Adult - Medical vs. Custodial Care
Personal Background
Leonard Buscemi was born and raised in Niagara Falls, New York, and has lived in the Washington D.C. area since 1974 when he began attending Georgetown University. In 1978, he married Francesca, his childhood sweetheart, a former language teacher and the law office's bookkeeper since its inception. They have two children, now fine young adults, they raised in the home where they still live today — just a few blocks away from the law offices.