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Faces of Public Justice

Gladys Mensing

Gladys Mensing has diabetes. When her doctor prescribed the drug Reglan to treat some of her symptoms, she began taking its generic equivalent. Four years later, Mensing developed a severe neurological disorder caused by the long-term use, which went unwarned on the generic drug’s label.

Read Gladys Mensing's story.

Andrea Felts

Andrea Felts was going through a costly divorce and needed some extra money to make ends meet. So she took out three online loans. When the lenders began charging illegally high interest rates, Felts filed a lawsuit and Public Justice joined her lead counsel.

Read Andrea Felts' story.

2009 Champion of Justice Award

DEMPSEY, GWILLIAM HONORED AS PUBLIC JUSTICE FOUNDATION'S 2009 'CHAMPIONS OF JUSTICE'

California attorneys Thomas Dempsey of Beverly Hills and Gary Gwilliam of Oakland have each received the Public Justice Foundation’s “Champion of Justice Award” for their leadership of and inspiring accomplishments in public interest law.

Dempsey, a sole practitioner, is known for winning or settling “eleventh hour” cases, requiring him to quickly assess the facts and applicable law, assemble expert witnesses, and cultivate a meaningful rapport with the client.

Named a “Super Lawyer” every year since 2004, Dempsey is on the executive committee and the board of governors of the American Association for Justice. He is a past president of the Consumer Attorneys Association of Los Angeles and former vice president of the Consumer Attorneys of California (CAOC).

Gwilliam, a partner in Gwilliam, Ivary, Chiosso, Cavalli & Brewer, has tried 150 jury cases across the gamut of consumer law. A noted lecturer and motivational speaker, he has conducted seminars and workshops throughout the country, including a popular ethics seminar, “How to Get a Winning Verdict in Your Personal Life.”

A former president of the CAOC, Gwilliam was named California Lawyer’s “Attorney of the Year” for employment law in 2001. His recent memoir, “Getting a Winning Verdict in My Personal Life: A Trial Lawyer Finds His Soul” (Pavior Publishing, 2007), has been acclaimed for its insight and candor.

Both Dempsey and Gwilliam are former presidents of the Public Justice Foundation and sit on the organization’s board. Both have been co-counsel with Public Justice on socially significant civil rights cases.

Public Justice Foundation supports the work of Public Justice, P.C., the Washington, D.C.-based law firm with the widest-ranging docket of any public interest law firm in the country. Its leadership and members comprise some of the most successful and prominent trial lawyers in the U.S.

Emphasizing access to the courts for all Americans, Public Justice’s key practice and project areas include class action preservation, mandatory arbitration abuse prevention, environmental protection, civil rights and liberties, workers’ rights, fighting court secrecy and consumers’ rights.