University of Tulsa College of Law
Dan Smolen may well be the only attorney to spend a decade fighting for permission to search a police storage facility for a rape kit deemed permanently lost.
The evidence belonged to the case of William Henry Jamerson, who spent 24 years in prison for a rape conviction. Upon his release in 2015, Oklahoma law required him to register as a sex offender, so he contacted Smolen & Roytman to clear his name. “I could tell within five minutes of our first meeting that he was innocent,” Smolen recalls.
A $26.25M Find
Still, after receiving permission to search for the DNA evidence, rooting around a refrigerated storage facility with 20 officials for the proverbial needle in a haystack proved daunting. “I didn’t have a lot of confidence that we would find DNA that multiple people said was destroyed,” says Smolen. After five hours, however, Smolen and his team located their “holy grail.” Two years later, he negotiated a $26.25M settlement on Jamerson’s behalf.
An Early Advocate
Smolen’s penchant for the underdogs took root in childhood. He recalls a time in high school when a shy student shared a very personal story in English class, and a classmate mocked her. “I told him to shut up and let her finish,” Smolen recalls. “I was an emotional kid, and I got upset about even minor injustices in the classroom or on the playground.”
After graduating from the University of Tulsa with undergraduate and law degrees, Smolen found the local firms that employed him “archaic and antiquated.” “The work was very old fashioned, and the lawyers there did not seem happy,” he recalls.
The Most Dangerous Phrase
Still, whenever Smolen floated the idea of launching a plaintiff-side firm focused primarily on medical-related jail deaths, mentors told him to forget it. Smolen, however, subscribes to the philosophy that "the most dangerous phrase in the language is: 'we've always done it this way’.” “No one thought there was value in the work we were doing or that there was a way to make a living,” he says. “But these families deserved an advocate and needed a voice.”
The Verdicts Speak
In 2004 and the ensuing years, the fledgling firm tried nearly every case on its docket. “The defense counsel didn’t put value on the lives of our clients, because they’d been in jail,” says Smolen, adding that the opposing side rarely settled. “We ended up getting unanimous verdicts, because if you work hard to present solid evidence, it doesn’t matter what someone’s background is.”
Smolen’s gamble paid off. With over $500M in verdicts and settlements, his bona fides include several of the largest verdicts in their categories at both the state and national level and span civil rights violations, personal injury and wrongful death, employment discrimination and class action litigation. Smolen attributes much of this success to his litigation skills. “I make sure that a jury sees the most authentic version of me,” he says. “I’ve spent 20 years finding my voice and I’ll fight to the end of the road for my clients.”
Dan Smolen may well be the only attorney to spend a decade fighting for permission to search a police storage facility for a rape kit deemed permanently lost.
The evidence belonged to the case of William Henry Jamerson, who spent 24 years in prison for a rape conviction. Upon his release in 2015, Oklahoma law required him to register as a sex offender, so he contacted Smolen & Roytman to clear his name. “I could tell within five minutes of our first meeting that he was innocent,” Smolen recalls.
A $26.25M Find
Still, after receiving permission to search for the DNA evidence, rooting around a refrigerated storage facility with 20 officials for the proverbial needle in a haystack proved daunting. “I didn’t have a lot of confidence that we would find DNA that multiple people said was destroyed,” says Smolen. After five hours, however, Smolen and his team located their “holy grail.” Two years later, he negotiated a $26.25M settlement on Jamerson’s behalf.
An Early Advocate
Smolen’s penchant for the underdogs took root in childhood. He recalls a time in high school when a shy student shared a very personal story in English class, and a classmate mocked her. “I told him to shut up and let her finish,” Smolen recalls. “I was an emotional kid, and I got upset about even minor injustices in the classroom or on the playground.”
After graduating from the University of Tulsa with undergraduate and law degrees, Smolen found the local firms that employed him “archaic and antiquated.” “The work was very old fashioned, and the lawyers there did not seem happy,” he recalls.
The Most Dangerous Phrase
Still, whenever Smolen floated the idea of launching a plaintiff-side firm focused primarily on medical-related jail deaths, mentors told him to forget it. Smolen, however, subscribes to the philosophy that "the most dangerous phrase in the language is: 'we've always done it this way’.” “No one thought there was value in the work we were doing or that there was a way to make a living,” he says. “But these families deserved an advocate and needed a voice.”
The Verdicts Speak
In 2004 and the ensuing years, the fledgling firm tried nearly every case on its docket. “The defense counsel didn’t put value on the lives of our clients, because they’d been in jail,” says Smolen, adding that the opposing side rarely settled. “We ended up getting unanimous verdicts, because if you work hard to present solid evidence, it doesn’t matter what someone’s background is.”
Smolen’s gamble paid off. With over $500M in verdicts and settlements, his bona fides include several of the largest verdicts in their categories at both the state and national level and span civil rights violations, personal injury and wrongful death, employment discrimination and class action litigation. Smolen attributes much of this success to his litigation skills. “I make sure that a jury sees the most authentic version of me,” he says. “I’ve spent 20 years finding my voice and I’ll fight to the end of the road for my clients.”
