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Kerry D. Staton
By Special to The Daily Record
//May 15, 2018
Kerry D. Staton
Founding Partner
Schochor, Federico and Staton
When Kerry D. Staton was asked in the early 1980s to become a founding partner at Schochor, Federico and Staton, P.A., his goal was and remains to establish an institution.
“A firm that will outlive me and my partners and go on to thrive and remain a preeminent firm in Maryland and, in fact, the country in plaintiffs’ medical malpractice (cases). It is truly a marriage (with his two founding partners). The three of us fit very well together and the three of us recognize that together we are stronger than any single individual and together we created something very amazing.”
The University of Maryland School of Law graduate was working as a staff attorney for The Legal Aid Bureau when his mother suffered a massive brain injury due to negligent surgical care that required her to be placed in a nursing facility for the rest of her life.
Staton researched the basis of their claim and asked another lawyer to take on the case who accepted and gave him a job as well. As an associate at Ellin and Baker for two years, he met fellow attorneys and future partners Jonathan Schochor and Philip C. Federico.
A driving force in his malpractice caseload is knowing that his work, along with other practitioners, affects and improves medical care standards. “We hold negligent hospitals and doctors accountable for their actions,” he said. “…Patient safety is a driving factor that keeps me going.”
For nearly a decade, Staton has served on the board of directors for the Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service, a nonprofit providing civil legal assistance to residents with limited income at low cost.
“I have really been blessed to be where I am today,” he said. “It started out as a personal tragedy for me and it has turned into a wonderful career for me personally (and) for the firm.”
