William P. Lightfoot

Biography

“...few personal injury lawyers are more effective at winning big judgments for their clients.” -Washingtonian Magazine

William P. Lightfoot, managing partner at Koonz, McKenney, Johnson, DePaolis & Lightfoot, LLP, devotes his professional and political careers to improving our community. Whether representing the people of Washington, D.C. as clients or as constituents, Mr. Lightfoot has successfully made the metropolitan area safer for everyone.

For eight years, Mr. Lightfoot served as an at-large member of the Council of the District of Columbia, where he chaired the Committee on the Judiciary. During his tenure on the Council, he continued to practice personal injury law.

For more than twenty-nine years, Mr. Lightfoot has had experience working as a Washington DC personal injury lawyer. He has had notable success not only in securing compensation for burn victims and but also in reforming negligent industries. After a series of successful recoveries for children disfigured by scalding water, Mr. Lightfoot’s efforts persuaded utility companies, manufacturers, and landlords to lower temperatures on water heaters and to warn consumers about the risk of burns from scalding water. As a result of his work on behalf of a boy severely burned in a house fire, he received a U.S. Patent for developing a label on an air conditioner. He dedicated the use of the patent to the public.

The National Safe Kids Campaign, a non-profit organization dedicated to the prevention of unintentional childhood injury, cites Mr. Lightfoot’s cases as influential in preventing injuries to children.

Recent successes for individual clients have led to changes in the construction industry and in hospitals. For example:

• A utility company has changed the procedure used to detect energized electrical lines.
• A doctor’s office reformed the way it keeps medical records.
• Workers are now required to wear safety harnesses in elevated work platforms.

In 2008, Mr. Lightfoot received the Attorney of the Year “Good Scout” Award from the National Capital Area Council of the Boy Scouts of America in recognition for his work to better our community.

Recognition of Mr. Lightfoot's contributions and professionalism often appears in the media. Since 1992 the Washingtonian Magazine has regularly selected Mr. Lightfoot as one of the best lawyers in the District of Columbia, and he is often quoted on matters of law and politics in the Washington Post and on MSNBC as well as on local television and radio stations.

Recently in a Washington Post article discussing challengers for Mayor Adrian Fenty’s re-election, Mr. Lightfoot, chairman to Mayor Fenty’s re-election campaign, provided his own insight:

“There is no reason to vote him out of office.  He's made visible improvements. Everyone in the city can see improvements in schools. For any politician, that's gold. The people dissatisfied with Fenty represent a minority of longtime residents who had grown accustomed to the old, patronage-fueled style of politics in the District.”

Mr. Lightfoot is a graduate of Howard University and Washington University School of Law. He is admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and the United States District Court for the District of Maryland. The National Board of Trial Advocacy certifies him in the field of civil trial advocacy, and he is a Diplomat of the National College of Advocacy. Martindale Hubbell gives him the highest rating as an attorney. He has been married to Cynthiana for thirty-five years and they have two children, Ariana and B.J. Mr. Lightfoot was born on January 3, 1950.

Recent Honors

• Co-Chair Committee to Re-Elect Mayor Adrian Fenty 2010
• Chair Judicial Tenure and Disabilities Committee 2005-2009
• July 2009, Lecture to the Virginia Trial Lawyers Association Annual Advanced Auto Retreat, topic “Using Motive to Win Negligence Cases”.
• July 2008, Lecture to the American Association for Justice Annual Convention, topic “Jurors’ attitude that Stuff Happens”.
• July 2008, Lecture to the American Association for Justice Annual Convention, topic, “Captivating the Jury”.
• March 2008, Lecture to the Maryland and DC Trial Lawyers Association, topic “Overcoming Juror Bias”.
• November 2007, Lecture to the American Association for Justice, topic “Examples of Identifying Norms for Plaintiffs and Defendants in a typical auto crash trial”.
• Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, D.C.
  Trial Lawyer of the Year, 2003
• Leadership Washington
  Community Service Award, 2002
• Local Politics and Community Activities
• Committee to reelect Phil Mendelson to the D.C. Council
  Chairperson, 2002
• Committee to Reelect Adrian Fenty to the D.C. Council
  Chairperson, 2003
• Children’s Advocacy Center
  Board of Directors
• District of Columbia Judicial Tenure and Disabilities Commission
  Member
• ABA-ALI Restatement of the Law
  Member, 1994-(present)
• D.C. Jury Project
  Member, 1998 to 2000
  Chairman, Juries 2000 (committee oversaw the implementation phase of project)
• Martindale Hubbell Peer Review Rating
• Selected to be included in ”The Best Lawyers in America 2006”

Significant Cases

• Product Liability: Gomez & Maddox cases, $6 million & $15 million
  Children scalded by unsafe water produced by water heaters with inadequate warning and temperature limiting devices
  (reported on television, radio and the Washington Post, Wednesday, May 27, 1992 & June 27, 1997)
• Premises Liability: House Fire cases, $2.3 million, $4.5 million & $3.5 million
  Family devastated by a house fire caused by a defective heater, a boy severely burned in a house fire and a woman severely burned in an apartment building fire
  (reported in The Washington Post, August 7, 1986)
• Premises Liability: Williams v. Casino Royale, $1 million
  Firefighter died in the line of duty
  (reported in The Washington Post, February 4, 1987)
• Premises Liability:  Johnson v. Hechinger, $2 million
  Attorney suffered a brain injury when he fell in a hardware store
  (reported in The Washington Times, October 27, 2000)
• Malfunctioning Car case, $3 million
  Woman was burned when her car malfunctioned
• Brain Injury case, $2.8 million
  Worker suffered a brain injury when overcome by poisonous fumes
• Construction Site cases, $2 million, $1.5 million & $1.5 million
  Construction worker lost his leg when he was struck by falling steel, construction worker injured when a hoist broke on a bridge, and a carpenter injured his leg on a construction site when safety regulations were violated by a supply company
• Worker Termination case, $1 million
  Worker fired from a heath care facility because she testified the facility committed medical malpractice

Recent Teaching Activities

Mr. Lightfoot is dedicated to improving the legal profession. He is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America. He frequently lectures to attorneys around the country about personal injury law and trial advocacy. He also conducts continuing legal education programs for the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, National Institute of Trial Advocacy, the District of Columbia Bar, and numerous state trial associations.

• National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, June 2000
• National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Georgetown University, Washington, DC, June 2001
• National Institute of Trial Advocacy, Washington, DC, “Trial Advocacy Course,” June 2002
• Association of Trial Lawyers Annual Convention, Chicago, Ill, “Use of Medical Literature in Trial,” July 2000
• Association of Trial Lawyers, “Case Workshop,” Boston, Mass. September 2000
• Association of Trial Lawyers, “Weekend with the Stars -Use of Technology at Trial,” NY, NY, December 2000
• Association of Trial Lawyers, “Medical Skills College,” Miami, Fl. January 2001
• Association of Trial Lawyers Annual Convention “Use of Focus Groups,” Montreal, Canada, July 2001
• Association of Trial Lawyers, “Case Workshop,” Chicago, Illinois, September 2001
• Association of Trial Lawyers of America Annual Convention, Atlanta, Ga., “How to Effectively Use Focus Groups to Plan Your Case,” July 2002
• Association of Trial Lawyers of America Annual Convention, San Francisco, Cal, “Nonverbal Influence,” presented at the. July 2003
• DC Bar, Principles of Civil Litigation, “Preparation and Presentation of Experts,” August 2001
• DC Bar, “Expert Witnesses Testimony,” Washington, DC, August 2000
• DC Bar “Finding and Choosing Expert Witnesses,” August 2002
• DC Bar “Using Technology to Present Damages,” April 2003
• DC Bar “Persuasively Presenting Damages in Closing Arguments,” April 2003
• Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC, “Themes in Opening Statements: Optimizing Damages,” April 2002
• Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC, “A Formula for Winning Minor Impact Soft Tissue ‘MIST’ Cases,” November 2002.
• Trial Lawyers Association of Metropolitan Washington, DC, “Strategies and Practice Tips for Utilizing Evidence in Opening Statements,” March 2003
• Maryland Trial Lawyers Association “Arguing Damages to the Jury,” December 2000
• Maryland Trial Lawyers Association “Persuasive Use of Technology at Trial,” June 2002
• Delaware Trial Lawyers Association “Arguing Damages to the Jury,” Rehoboth, Del., June 2001
• National College of Advocacy, Los Angeles, Cal “Case Workshop,” September 2002
• Canadian Trial Lawyers Association “A Formula for Winning Minor Impact Soft Tissue ‘MIST’ Cases,” December 2002
• Kansas City, Kansas Trial Lawyers Association “The Ethical Personal Injury Lawyer,” December 2002
• Metropolitan Washington Employment Lawyers Association, “Maximizing Compensatory & Punitive Damages,” March 2003

To learn more about Mr. Lightfoot, contact our Washington DC personal injury attorney today.