Famous Cases

Destined to become one of the most successful trial attorneys in the country, Geoffrey Fieger wasted no time hitting the $1 million mark in his first case, Katz v. Oakland Medical Center.

Destined to become one of the most successful trial attorneys in the country, Geoffrey Fieger wasted no time hitting the $1 million mark in his first case, Katz v. Oakland Medical Center. While still in law school, Fieger learned that a friend’s mother ended up in a psychiatric hospital while taking major tranquilizers that created a condition later diagnosed by him as a movement disorder known as “Tardive Dyskinesia.” Geoffrey learned of this condition after reading a New York Times article. He filed suit against the State of Michigan, the doctors and the drug companies and won his first $1 million dollar verdict for the suffering of Anita Katz. Rumor is that Geoffrey mortgaged his first house to pay for the research in the case!

One of Geoffrey Fieger’s best-known clients is Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the man who became known as “Dr. Death” in the 1990s as a result of helping more than 100 chronically ill patients end their suffering through assisted suicide.

One of Geoffrey Fieger’s best-known clients is Dr. Jack Kevorkian, the man who became known as “Dr. Death” in the 1990s as a result of helping more than 100 chronically ill patients end their suffering through assisted suicide. Fieger successfully defended Kevorkian through seven murder trials, and became nationally known for his tireless, pro bono work on behalf of the doctor and his cause, citing the right of all Americans to end their suffering if mentally competent. Kevorkian later chose to represent himself in his last trial and went to prison for nine years. Fieger and Kevorkian kept in touch until his death in 2011.

In 1999, Geoffrey Fieger obtained a $25 million jury verdict for the family of Scott Amedure against The Jenny Jones Show and Warner Brothers in Oakland County Circuit Court.

In 1999, Geoffrey Fieger obtained a $25 million jury verdict for the family of Scott Amedure against The Jenny Jones Show and Warner Brothers in Oakland County Circuit Court. In that case — which was nationally televised daily on Court TV — Scott Amedure was shot and killed three days after appearing on The Jenny Jones Show, where producers had enticed him to reveal a “secret crush” he had on his male friend Jonathan Schmidt. The jury found that The Jenny Jones Show was negligent in how they deceived show guests and incited strong emotional reactions to be revealed on live TV. Schmidt was so humiliated by the show that he killed Amedure in cold blood upon returning to Detroit.

In 1999, Geoffrey Fieger represented Nathaniel Abraham, the youngest person ever tried for first-degree murder as an adult in Michigan.

In 1999, Geoffrey Fieger represented Nathaniel Abraham, the youngest person ever tried for first-degree murder as an adult in the state of Michigan. The case gained national attention. Only 11 years old at the time of his arrest, his case spotlighted the controversial issue of trying juvenile offenders in adult court. He received a verdict of second-degree murder. After trial, the court sentenced Abraham as a juvenile and sent him to a detention center until the age of 21. He was released in January of 2007 but returned to jail two years later after pleading guilty to drug charges.