Having spent 10 years as a writer and editor for business and news publications, winning several journalism awards along the way, Daniel Bencivenga knew he wanted to make a more profound impact in helping people injured by corporate misconduct. He decided to do it through the law and attended Widener University School of Law in the evenings while writing for a series of medical magazines during the day.
After graduating from law school, Mr. Bencivenga began his career as a labor and employment attorney, representing both individuals and unions in complex cases. During this time, Mr. Bencivenga represented hundreds of steel workers in labor disputes resulting from the shutdown of Bethlehem Steel, where 10,000 people would ultimately be displaced as their jobs were moved overseas or to nonunion states. Working with individual clients, Mr. Bencivenga helped shape interpretations of key discrimination statutes including the Americans with Disabilities Act—establishing that the law protects those who have conventional disabilities as well as those who don’t, like burn survivors.
Several years into his career, Mr. Bencivenga began working with the firm’s Martin K. Brigham, representing individuals catastrophically injured both inside and outside the workplace. The two helped bring national attention to legal issues affecting the burn community—through successful representation of seriously burned individuals and through the publication of articles relating to the rights of burn survivors.
