On April 11, 2023, the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023 was passed to eliminate the statute of limitations for adult survivors of sexual abuse to bring forth civil lawsuits against their alleged abusers. The new law will take effect in Maryland on October 1, 2023 and allows victims to come forward, have their voices heard, and receive fair and adequate compensation. The law applies to all accused sexual abusers from coaches, scout leaders and others including clergy. Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. is the leading Maryland medical malpractice, personal injury and civil litigation law firm and will represent numerous victims bringing lawsuits forward against their abusers.
Jonathan Schochor is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University (1968), and the American University School of Law (1971), where he was Associate Editor-In-Chief of the Law Review and has practiced law continuously since 1971. He has served as a Board Member, Secretary, Vice President, and President of the Maryland Trial Lawyers Association, and has further served as the Maryland State Delegate and Maryland State Governor of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America.
Mr. Schochor has focused his practice on the preparation and trial of medical negligence cases for 48 years. Over that period of time, he and his firm have been involved in the investigation of claims and/or representation of plaintiffs in thousands of medical malpractice cases. He and his firm have recovered well over a billion dollars on behalf of his clients and have prepared and filed more medical malpractice cases than any other lawyer or law firm in Maryland. Mr. Schochor is frequently asked about his success and the success of his firm. Suffice it to say, there have been so many successes – too numerous to recount here. In fact, our success rate is approximately 95% for our clients. As examples, two cases stand out because of their national significance. The first is the Levy Class Action case. Mr. Schochor was the Chairman of the Steering Committee in the Levy Class Action against Johns Hopkins Hospital. Nikita Levy, M.D. was an OB/GYN who secretly videotaped and photographed his patients. He was additionally guilty of boundary violations.
After 8 months of negotiation, the Levy litigation was certified as a Class Action in Baltimore, Maryland in October of 2013. After appropriate Notice of the Class was furnished, approximately 8,000 of Dr. Levy’s patients came forward to actively participate. After ongoing negotiation, Mr. Schochor spearheaded settlement of the case for 190 million dollars. That case was reported to be the largest, single perpetrator, sexual abuse settlement in United States history, at that time. And it stands as the largest Class Action settlement in Maryland history. Also of national significance, Mr. Schochor led the litigation in the Almaraz case – which pioneered a new legal concept. In that litigation, a breast surgeon failed to inform his patients that he had contracted HIV prior to performing invasive surgery upon them. Mr. Schochor sued Dr. Almaraz and his hospital. The hospital claimed that there was no “cause of action” for the doctor’s failure to inform his patients of the HIV. At that time, there was no case law providing a cause of action for the doctor’s conduct. Through that litigation, a new legal precedent was established — that health care providers have a duty to inform patients of their positive HIV status before performing any invasive procedures in the State of Maryland. “I am proud to say that the new case law was adopted not only in Maryland, but in many other states across the country.”
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Teresa Lancaster is an attorney and nationally recognized advocate for victims of sexual abuse. She is known for her story being featured in The Keepers, the seven-part documentary on Netflix, which examines decades old sexual abuse cases in Maryland within the Archdiocese of Baltimore. Lancaster was the second sexual assault victim to come forward against the Archdiocese of Baltimore for sexual abuse she suffered from a priest while a student at Archbishop Keough High School in the 1970s.
Later in life, Lancaster received her bachelor’s degree in Social Work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and worked as a social work intern at the Baltimore Public Defender’s Office in the Juvenile Division where she advocated for juvenile offenders. She later graduated from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law and dedicated herself to representing survivors of child sexual abuse seeking justice. As an advocate, Lancaster also worked for years to help pass the bill in the Maryland General Assembly to eliminate the statute of limitations to file lawsuits against alleged sexual abusers across the state.
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About Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A.
Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. has been fighting for patients’ rights as a leading medical malpractice law firm since 1984. Additionally, the firm is a recognized leader in sexual abuse cases as well as class action and mass tort litigation. Schochor, Staton, Goldberg and Cardea, P.A. has offices in Baltimore and Washington, D.C. Its lawyers are licensed to practice in Maryland and the District of Columbia, and they have been specially admitted on a case-by-case basis by courts in Florida, Nevada, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, North Carolina, West Virginia and other states. On special motion and with approval of courts elsewhere, the firm’s lawyers are available to participate in cases throughout the United States. To learn more, call 1-888-234-0001 or visit: sfspa.com.
David Nevins is president & CEO of Nevins & Associates, a highly regarded strategic communications company and proactive public relations partner. The firm’s regional and national client base is a unique mix of organizations across a variety of industries including: healthcare, professional service firms, finance, not-for-profits, distributors, state agencies, national media companies, technology, political and grassroots campaigns, real estate development, sporting events, and more.
With more than 30 years of experience in marketing, public relations, and community and government relations, David is a talented and seasoned executive. Prior to founding Nevins & Associates in 1983, David served as the Director of Marketing for both Towson University and the Baltimore Symphony Orchestra. In 2001, he was tapped by the CEO of Comcast to employ his marketing expertise as President of the company’s regional sports network, Comcast SportsNet Mid-Atlantic. David is a Past President of the Board of Governors for the Center Club and is a former Chairman of the Board of Regents for the University System of Maryland, a position to which he was appointed by the Governor of Maryland. David has chaired the Maryland Public Broadcasting Commission and the Maryland Higher Education Loan Corporation, served as President of both the Jewish National Fund and the Towson Business Association and was a member of the PNC Bank board.
David is highly involved in the business, civic, and political communities, and his many years of active leadership in numerous organizations have built a network of contacts that he regularly puts to use for the firm’s clients. For more information, visit www.nevinspr.com.
