Donald Matusow

Donald E. Matusow is a well-known and highly respected attorney who over three decades has earned a reputation in the Philadelphia region as a leading warrior in the fight to protect the rights of seriously injured victims.

Matusow began representing victims in 1971 with the firm of Litvin, Blumberg, Matusow & Young, which handled cases involving a wide array of personal injury litigation. But it was in the legislative corridors of the state capital in Harrisburg where Matusow carved out his status as a front-line advocate for victims' rights.

His steadfast dedication to the rights of victims led to his receiving the prestigious Justice Michael A. Musmanno Award in 1995 from the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association. The award is targeted in part to citizens – judges, lawyers, legislators and others – who “look out for the little guy.” Other recipients of the award have included Sen. John Edwards, Ralph Nader, noted anti-discrimination attorney Morris Dees, Rep. Richard Gephardt, Sen. Arlen Specter and James Beasley.

Matusow continues to try cases in court, most recently serving as co-counsel with Shanin Specter in a medical malpractice trial that resulted in a $20 million award for a six-year-old-boy left blind after birth. Over more than five years, Matusow served as attorney for little Emmitt Lee and much more, taking him to the zoo and on other outings. He examined Lee on the witness stand in the November 2006 trial that produced one of the largest-ever personal injury verdicts in Montgomery County. (See The Lee Case.)

As an advocate for victims, Matusow works to defeat attempts by special interest groups to enact legislation that would limit the rights of victims to full compensation for their injuries. Over the years he has been involved in helping to shape product liability law as well as the effort to prevent the tobacco industry from stripping away the rights and remedies of people injured by unsafe products. He has also played a leading role in the ongoing battle against caps on non-economic damages for victims or their families in Pennsylvania.

Matusow is actively involved in a number of professional organizations. He was elected to the Board of Governors of the Philadelphia Bar Association in the early 1980s and has served as a member and chairman of the Hearing Committee of the Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Board.

He has lectured at the Temple University School of Law. Matusow was inducted into the International Society of Barristers in 1995. He was also co-chairman of the Medical Malpractice Committee of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association (now the Pennsylvania Association for Justice) and has served as chairman of the organization's Legislative Policy Committee.

Matusow attended Temple Law, where he was named the Barenkopf Scholar. He served as the executive editor of the Temple Law Quarterly and graduated first in his class. He then served as law clerk to the Honorable Alfred L. Luongo of the United States District Court.

To contact Donald Matusow, email him at