About Sheila F. Fleshman

Sheila F. Fleshman has tried and/or handled hundreds of cases over the course of her 20 + year career as a trial attorney.  Her trial experience has enabled her to recover over a million dollars collectively for her clients who have been injured as a result of someone else’s negligence.  She handles a multitude of cases involving those who have been injured as a result of motor vehicle accidents, dog bite wounds, and slip and fall accidents, etc.

Sheila Fleshman is a member of five (5) bars, which include the State of Maryland, the District of Columbia, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (*inactive), the United States District Court for the District of Maryland (Federal), and the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.  Early in her legal career, she participated in oral argument in a case which resulted in a victory for a disabled individual who had previously been denied disability benefits.  Ms. Fleshman has also appeared and argued cases before the District of Columbia Court of Appeals, the Court of Special Appeals in Maryland and the Untied States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Ms. Fleshman’s trial skills were initially developed during her tenure as an Assistant State’s Attorney for Prince George’s County, Maryland where she handled a variety of different cases, including homicides, drug offenses, and other crimes against persons.

While Ms. Fleshman’s past and present trial results speak for themselves, her accomplishments as a trial attorney earned her an Honorary Governor’s Citation for her work.  In addition, in the civil area, some of Ms. Fleshman’s cases have been the subject of published reports in various Jury Verdict Reporters and in the official published opinions for the Maryland Court of Special Appeals and in the Untied States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.

Some individual and businesses prefer to utilize a mediator or arbitrator to resolve their disputes.  Ms. Fleshman is available and has previously acted as a civil mediator and/or arbitrator in order to resolve legal disputes outside of a courtroom setting.  Fellow lawyers and associates, who consider Ms. Fleshman’s record of success in the courtroom to be impressive, frequently refer cases to her to try.  Ms. Fleshman whole-heartedly recognizes the entitlement of all members of the community to quality legal representation regardless of racial, economic, social, or religious background.  Ms. Fleshman prides herself on being considered a “Go to” lawyer for personal injury cases by certain colleagues and former clients.  * See her AVVO client ratings on line.

Some of her more noteworthy jury trials and settlements include the following:

• Ms. Fleshman represented a client who was permanently disabled and disfigured after she sustained serious spinal cord injuries in a motor vehicle collision.
• Ms. Fleshman represented a client who was seriously injured and disabled from returning to work in her former work capacity due to significant back and shoulder injuries that she sustained while she was a passenger in an automobile.  The client underwent surgery to her low back and to her shoulder area.  The insurance company only offered approximately $8,000.00 to settle the case, claiming the client’s injuries were pre-existing.  Ms. Fleshman fought the case for her client and the jury awarded over $280,000.00 in damages.
• Ms. Fleshman represented a client who was injured when a portion of a ceiling collapsed and fell on her head, neck and shoulder area in the laundry room of an apartment complex.  The apartment complex denied any prior knowledge that the ceiling had ever been in a dangerous or defective condition.  The apartment complex’s representatives also argued that the client was not injured to the extent that she claimed based in part on the fact that she had previously undergone neck surgery.  Ms. Fleshman was able to fight the apartment complex’s claim that it had no prior notice of the ceiling being in a dangerous or defective condition.  An independent search by Ms. Fleshman revealed that there was indeed a prior record of the defective condition of the ceiling area in the apartment laundry room.  As a result of Ms. Fleshman’s ability to locate these prior records, the case settled for nearly $300,000.00.
• Ms. Fleshman successfully resolved to the client’s satisfaction a case where the client and her dog were attacked and sustained serious injuries by a neighborhood dog.  Although more than one person/ entity was potentially liable for the attack, Ms. Fleshman was able to achieve a settlement agreement and the party that the client believed to be the major cause of the incident.  The case settled for about $100,000.

Ms. Fleshman attended Sidwell Friends High School in Washington, D.C., Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, and the George Washington University School of Law in Washington, D.C.