Leonard Paul Buscemi, the founder and sole proprietor of The Law Offices of Leonard P. Buscemi, is admitted to practice before all state and federal courts in Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia.
Mr. 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.
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.
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
Rockingham County
Williamsburg- James City County
Maryland:
Anne Arundel County
Baltimore City Montgomery County
Prince George's County
Washington County
Federal:
Alexandria, Virginia
Baltimore, Maryland
Greenbelt, Maryland
Roanoke, Virginia
Washington, D.C.
