The 90 Greatest Lawyers
"The 90 Greatest Lawyers of the Last 30 Years" in the 30th Anniversary issue of Legal Times includes only one malpractice and personal injury lawyer—Jack Olender. Chosen by the legal newspaper as one of the "greatest" in D.C.'s Bar of more than 70,000 lawyers, Olender finds himself in good company with legal legends such as Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Ken Mundy, Robert Strauss, Joe Rauh, Jr., Eric Holder, Jr., Judge William Bryant, Judge Patricia Wald, William Coleman, Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Marian Wright Edelman and Edward Bennett Williams.
Selected as a Visionary, Attorney Olender was chosen not only for his groundbreaking legal work and impressive courtroom record, having won or settled more than 200 cases upwards of $1 million each, but also for his tireless efforts to protect the injured and their right to due process. He has devoted countless hours to fighting against legislation that would place limits on damages that the injured could receive due to careless mistakes.
Mr. Olender's reaction to his selection for the honor was, "I'm thrilled and humbled to be placed in the company of many great lawyers I have always looked up to and considered role models and heroes. If I had made the selection, I would have also included Justice Thurgood Marshall, Judge Spotswood Robinson, Dovey Roundtree, Jake Stein, Mabel Haden, Vernon Jordan, Shelley Broderick, and J. Clay Smith."
Jack Olender has served as president of the Bar Association of the District of Columbia, the Trial Lawyers Association, D.C., the American Board of Trial Advocates, D.C., and the George Washington American Inn of Court. He has been named Lawyer of the Year by both the Bar Association, D.C. and the Trial Lawyers Association, D.C. and has been honored with the prestigious Charles Hamilton Houston Medallion of Merit by the Washington Bar Association. He has been inducted into the Hall of Fame of the District of Columbia, the Washington Bar Association and the National Bar Association.
Attorney Olender and his firm, also known as the "heavyweight malpractice law firm" according to the Washington Business Journal, are consistently ranked as leaders in their field. Three of the firm's attorneys are named in Best Lawyers in America and have also been named Washington, D.C. Super Lawyers by Law & Politics Magazine. The senior lawyers with the Olender firm are Harlow Case, Melissa Rhea and Jack Olender. The firm's medical consultant and board-certified pediatrician/lawyer is Robert Chabon M.D., J.D. and the firm's in-house nurse consultant and labor and delivery nurse/lawyer is Lesley Zork R.N., J.D. Jack Olender appears regularly in the Washingtonian's Top Lawyers and is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers, Who's Who in Law, Who's Who in America, and Who's Who in the World.
