The Real Suits: Champions for the Injured – Denise Georges

In this episode, Denise Georges shares how her personal story shaped her path from early family advocacy to high-stakes litigation against corporate giants like Tesla. She discusses the cases, convictions, and life experiences that fueled her commitment to justice, from prosecuting DUI cases in Miami to handling complex medical malpractice and product liability matters in Philadelphia.

Denise opens up about her groundbreaking wrongful death case against Tesla and what it revealed about accountability, safety, and the human impact of legal advocacy. Her journey offers a powerful look at how personal loss, resilience, and purpose can drive meaningful change in the courtroom and beyond.

 

Larry Bendesky
Hello, everybody. I’m Larry Bendesky. Welcome to the Real Suits, Champions for the Injured. We’re here at Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky. We use our platform to talk about the cases we handle, the work we do, and like today, we get to introduce you to terrific people that we work with. It is my pleasure to introduce my friend, colleague, and law partner, Denise Georges, as our guest today. Welcome.

Denise Georges
Thank you, Larry, for having me. Good morning.

Larry Bendesky
So tell tell us about where were you born and raised and your your time growing up.

Denise Georges
So, Larry, I have a unique story of being a first generation Syrian American in this country. My parents came over from the Christian Valley in Syria in the 70s. They came from neighboring villages. And as you can imagine, you’re talking one dirt road in a very small village. They did not know each other until they came over to America, where they met in the 70s.

They are both products of very large families. They were married in Allentown, Pennsylvania. And I am the youngest of three. I have two older brothers, and I came over with parents who were very hardworking. They worked in factories making clothing. They worked multiple jobs in order to raise a family. And very early on.

Maybe it was the language barrier. Maybe because I was the youngest of three with two older brothers, I learned to advocate for myself. And in certain settings, I advocated for my parents at doctor’s appointments or just in the community. And very early on, I learned this skill of speaking up on behalf of others that didn’t have a voice or didn’t have the communication abilities.

I enjoyed communicating and advocating on behalf of others. And I knew in the second grade I wanted to be an attorney and it was rooted in my parents’ immigration to this country.

Larry Bendesky
So so when they came to America, did they speak any English?

Denise Georges
They spoke some English, and I will say that my father spoke more English than my mother, but my mother did not. And Allentown, Pennsylvania has a very large Syrian Christian community. Two towns over in Eastern Pennsylvania, there is a very big Lebanese Christian community. So they were insulated in their community where they didn’t need to learn the language immediately. And it took them some years to learn the language and be able to communicate on behalf of themselves.

Larry Bendesky
And what brought them to America? What was the thinking?

Denise Georges
Better opportunity. Like many immigrants, they see America as a place to be free, a place to raise a family, a place to work, a place to be able to educate their children and provide them with opportunities that they did not have. My mom has a grade school education. My dad has some college when he went to Beirut for a few years before immigrating to Syria, but they did not have nearly the amount of possibilities and opportunities that I have here.

Larry Bendesky
Kudos to them. And you said you knew from a very early age that you were an advocate, that you’re a a fighter. Tell us about your path to law school.

Denise Georges
I remember in reading class, second grade, I was seven years old, Mrs. Lisa Pinter, where I wanted to be an attorney. And maybe it was watching Law and Order on TV. And then again in ’94 and ’95, watching Marsha Clark, who was this district attorney who prosecute prosecuted the O.J. Simpson case and watching it on TV and watching this woman take on Goliath.

It just it inspired me. And I knew from then this is what I wanted to do. I wanted to be a prosecutor. I went through my schooling. I went to Penn State for undergraduate. And then I went to Widener Law just down the road here in Wilmington. And I lived in Philadelphia during that time. And I graduated a semester early in December of 07. I had interned at the Philly DA’s office at the Chester County DA’s office, I wanted to be a prosecutor. I wanted to be a voice for the voiceless. And when I was in college, my junior year, this was March of 2004, I came home for spring break. During that week that I was home, I unfortunately lost my uncle. He was 50 years old at the time, as a result of medical negligence that later went to trial.

And a week after his funeral, four of my childhood friends that I grew up with in this very close-knit, tight Syrian community. Three of the guys were 25 years old. One was a new DA that had just graduated from Temple Law. Another being George Elias, who was 20 years old, who was on a six-week furlough from the army. He had served in the war in Iraq. All four of my friends were killed by a drunk driver just north of the airport in Allentown. And in that moment, our community came together. Four mothers lost their sons. Four fathers lost their sons in a criminal act, and that being a DUI manslaughter. And that week, those events, they inspired me, they motivated me throughout my career. And I knew I wanted to be a prosecutor, but those events inspired me to do more when I did become a prosecutor.

And I just so happened to graduate at a time of our last recession. Philly DA’s office had gone from a tiring freeze to cutting the class. I didn’t get an offer here. And in December, maybe October of 2007, a good friend of mine who was up at Brooklyn Law tells me, Hey, Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office, they historically recruit out of the Northeast. They’re doing these interviews up here. You should apply. I’m gonna apply. And so I did. And I went up to Queens and I met with a senior trial counsel who was a woman, Abby Rifkin, and a division chief at the Miami Dade State Attorney’s Office, who was senior trial counsel. And these two women, they tried death penalty cases. They tried high profile murders. And I sat down with them for an hour.

And I was looking across the table and I said, I want to be you one day. I want to fight the good fight. And they were trial lawyers. They feared no one. They stood in front of juries month in, month out, and they tried cases. I had a second interview in New York, and then I was invited down in Miami in December of 2007. I met with Catherine Fernandez-Rundel, who is still the state attorney down in Miami, and I had a day where I could just like tour the courthouse. And there were trials happening. There were bench trials happening. There were juries in hallways. There was a lot doing in this seven-floor courthouse. And I knew then this is where I want to be. I want to try cases. And so I accepted the offer.

I moved down to Miami in the summer of 2008.

Larry Bendesky
You left your family who was obviously very close knit. That was a a brave thing for you to do.

Denise Georges
It was tough. My father cried every time I got on an airplane to go back to Miami, but it just it was my calling. It was where I needed to be.

Larry Bendesky
You were still the second grader who was was advocating for other people and now you you really had a a true platform in order to to to make a difference.

Denise Georges
I did. And they and they allowed me to try cases. They allowed me to grow in the office. They gave me such wonderful mentors that were saying, you know, along the way, hey kid, you want you want to second share this case with me? I see something in you. And I never said no to a single opportunity. And I would just dig into my cases. And when I graduated through the office.

I was able to elect a specialized unit. And one of them was our traffic homicide unit. And while it was in that unit, I was on call anytime there was a vehicle or homicide, there was a DUI homicide. And Miami is uniquely positioned where there is a great relationship between law enforcement and the office. It was a requirement anytime I was on call for traffic homicide or later on for homicide, that I would have to go out to a scene. And I would get a first-hand perspective of the aftermath of a criminal action. It wasn’t easy.

Larry Bendesky
Surprising that not a lot of district attorney’s offices do that. I mean that has to really kind of resolve you to to working hard and doing a good job because you see the effects of what happens.

Denise Georges
You see the effects. You you meet the family and you meet them early on, and you see how devastated they are. And while sympathy, emotion, it can overcome you. I learned that I had to take a step back. And my job was who committed this criminal action? And also, how did this action occur? And I would have to put pieces of the puzzle together because it was my job as a prosecutor.

And it translates into my role now and has been for the last 10 years being a plaintiff attorney doing catastrophic work of I have the burden of proof. Here are pieces of a puzzle I have to put together to build the best possible case because I owe it to the family.

They have had the worst thing happen to them. And so that experience, these were building blocks. They laid the foundation for what I do today. And I take that with great responsibility.

Larry Bendesky
How long were you a prosecutor down in Miami?

Denise Georges
Just shy of eight years.

Larry Bendesky
And it’s my understanding, and I know you’re modest, but it’s my understanding ⁓ that you were ⁓ named a top lawyer for the ⁓ Cystic Fibrosis Foundation down there. ⁓ And you also received an award. We talked about your friends, your the people that you knew who were killed by a drunk driver and and how their mothers were affected. ⁓ Mothers against drunk driving also provided you with a prosecution of excellence award.

Denise Georges
That’s right. That was a gr great honor to me.

Larry Bendesky
So you made a decision to go from the criminal prosecution work that you really enjoyed and and and got a tremendous amount of satisfaction from. How’d you become how’d you start doing civil litigation?

Denise Georges
It wasn’t a job that I ever applied for. in my role in traffic homicide, I handled a high profile case that occurred on Key Biscayne. And unfortunately, there were a number of cases where cyclists on Key Biscayne were hit, some were killed as a result of drunk driving. I handled a case where a father of two, a husband, was killed by a drunk driver, and his cycling mate was also seriously injured. And it was a case that I handled criminally. It was a case that I investigated from the day it occurred.

Through the day that the defendant pled guilty and went to prison. And on the other end of this case was a civil action. And it was handled by my former firm down in Coral Gables, Colson Hicks Eidson. And after the defendant pled guilty and was pending his surrender to go to prison, a condition of the civil settlement was a meeting between the defendant and the next of kin. And it was a meeting that I was invited to. And it was a very emotional meeting because while the two parties typically see each other in a courtroom, they don’t typically see each other in such an intimate setting. And this was an opportunity for the defendant to truly tell the family how sorry he was.

And that he was accepting all responsibility. And after that meeting, I don’t think there was a dry eye in there, including some of now my former colleagues. After that had passed, I received an email from Dean Colson. And he asked me whether or not I have thought about my future and whether or not I want to talk about my future. And then I was invited to this penthouse in Coral Gables with some really nice artwork. And I met some incredible people who became my family later. And then I got a job offer to come on board.

I did a variety of cases. And then over the years there were some automobile cases, there were some products liability cases. But then I just became fascinated with the medicine. And I started taking on more medical malpractice cases. And after being there for some years, I would say that 95% of my cases were medical malpractice. And I love the science. I love the medicine. I loved reading more medical journals than I did law journals. And maybe that was my science background where, you know, once upon a time I took a AP anatomy and physiology class and I loved it. And I just I love those type of cases.

Larry Bendesky
So before I’m I’m obviously I’m gonna get into the medic malpractice stuff, which you do exceptionally well here and did exceptionally well down in Florida. In terms of the other cases that you handled before you did the vast bulk of your work in Med Mal, it’s my understanding that you tried a case against Tesla. And you were one of the first people to get a verdict against Tesla, right?

Denise Georges
Was the first wrongful death case that was tried against Tesla. And this was a very unfortunate case where two 18-year-olds were driving a 2014 Tesla Model S down A1A in Fort Lauderdale. And my firm represented the driver, Barrett Riley. And this was a products liability case, and it was also a negligence case. And unfortunately, there were several boys in this group who had some fast cars. And specifically here, the Rileys knew that their 18-year-old son liked to drive this Tesla Model S on the fast end. And they took every precaution to ensure that this vehicle could not drive above 85 miles an hour. And they specifically requested a speed limiter to be placed on this vehicle. And while Tesla honored it for a short period of time, there was a technician who removed the speed limiter without parental approval. And this came at the request of an 18-year-old boy who did not own this car and unbeknownst to the parents.

And while he was leaving the Galleria Mall with his friend Edgar Montserrat on that day, they sideswiped a wall on the passenger side, and the car spun out, the battery ignited, and unfortunately, Barrett died as a result of thermal injuries. He didn’t have a single crush injury on his body.

And also the passenger died as a result of a combination of blunt force injuries and thermal injuries. And we brought suit against Tesla for products claim because there was patented technology where the  battery pack itself is supposed to have technology so that if one cell ignites, that the other cells would be protected and insulated.

And they had patented technology that they didn’t use. And here, unfortunately, that battery pack was breached. And there were no protections. And the entire car within a matter of seconds was engulfed in flames. And the driver, Barrett Riley, he did not have an opportunity to get out of that vehicle.

This was a case that was heavily litigated. Dozens of depositions, dozens of motions. There were many experts that were unfortunately precluded. And at the time of trial, we couldn’t go forth on our products case. And we only had a negligence case for the removal of the speed limiter without parental approval.

And as you can imagine, Tesla had a team of lawyers. They had an entire half of a courtroom that was just filled with support staff. And it was it was a tough case to try. And you know, these parents, they they were accused also of not protecting their son and entrusting their son with a vehicle that was too fast for the roadways. But here Tesla had an obligation and they failed. They failed these parents and they failed these eighteen year old boys.

Larry Bendesky
And you got a verdict in that case.

Denise Georges
We got a verdict. However, the driver was 90% negligent based upon his speed.

Larry Bendesky
You took on Tesla. and as a result of that case, have any safety modifications been made by Tesla after that?

Denise Georges
Still doing business as usual.

Larry Bendesky
Did that kind of inspire you to continue to take on Corporations and hospitals and anybody that that truly you feel is are doing something wrong and have harmed others?

Denise Georges
Yes, if there is a bad actor who commits a bad action, I am willing to take them on.

Larry Bendesky
So tell us about how you you told us that you were interested in the the medicine and kind of harken back to your days in school of you know, in your schooling. Tell us how you got into handling medical malpractice cases and and where it’s taken you.

Denise Georges
How I got into it was just a matter of opportunity. opportunity of my phone ringing. people telling me about bad experiences they’ve had at hospitals, people that have been catastrophically injured. And it was just a matter of opportunity plus my interest in the medicine.

I am so fortunate to be at a firm with 50 plus lawyers who specialize in different areas of the law. And medical negligence is very specialized. It’s not one that you can just, you know, dip your toes in today and then do something tomorrow. It is one that you have to learn the medicine. Sometimes I have to take almost like medical courses because if I don’t understand the medicine, I can’t prosecute the cases.

And early on, I took on a birth injury case where there was a delayed order of a C-section where a mom was laboring and there was an umbilical cord wrapped tightly around this beautiful baby girl’s neck. And the midwife didn’t move fast enough. The labor and delivery nurse, who’s supposed to be the eyes and the ears of the provider didn’t move fast enough.

And when this child was born, she was born without a heart rate. She wasn’t breathing. She had to be resuscitated. She had to be transferred to a NICU that was able to cool her brain. And despite that effort, she developed cerebral palsy. She developed Spastic quadriplegia. She had global developmental delays. And she will never have a normal life. She will never be able to walk. She will never be able to talk. She will never be able to play with her brother. In that case, it motivated me. It was

Easy to take dozens of depositions in that case. It was easy to hire the best experts across the country and defend their depositions and to take the defense depositions because the actions there were indefensible. And they had these fetal heart monitoring strips, which were absolute cries for help that were ignored.

And that was a case I took on early in my civil career where I didn’t know much about medical malpractice, but I knew that I have this catastrophically injured little girl and I have these parents who were trying to do their best. And the only thing that they wanted was a better quality of life for their daughter and for their family. And from there I knew this was my second calling. I was no longer the prosecutor, but I still wore the white hat. I still had great responsibility that I took very seriously every day. And that case set the stage for my second half of my career now of doing medical negligence case.

Larry Bendesky
Still putting the pieces of the puzzle together as you did as a prosecutor. So you did that work in Miami. What brought you up here to Philadelphia?

Denise Georges
The pandemic. The pandemic made me sit down. I was no longer traveling the country. Florida in medical malpractice cases is unique, like New Jersey, where you take expert depositions. And for years, I was on and off a plane. I was flying a hundred thousand miles a year. And the pandemic just everything came to a screeching halt.

I missed my dad’s 70th birthday. And I was very emotional about not being able to get on a plane and be with my family. And as I got older, and after, you know, being in Miami for then 15 years, I just learned that my family has taken a backseat to my career. My personal life has taken a backseat to my career. And when I was thinking of what the next 25, 30 years of my career, as humbling it as it would be to start over in Philadelphia, I knew the time came where I had an additional responsibility to be front and center with my family as they aged, considering all the sacrifices they made for me to have these opportunities.

It was time for me to swallow that and move back and be a part of my community, serve my community and play a more active role in my family’s lives. And it was tough. I, you know, it was starting with a new bench and a new bar. And while, you know, my name had recognition and credibility in Miami, if I was walking into federal court or state court, I didn’t have that here, but it’s not a decision that I regret. And now after some three years here, I’m very happy I did it.

Larry Bendesky
And your family’s still in Allentown and you get to see them and you’re here in Philadelphia, which is not that far away.

Denise Georges
No, I Sunday dinners are important. I’d see my family almost every Sunday. But it’s nice for, you know, my brothers to be able to come down or my parents for a day trip. Philadelphia has a lot to offer. If we go to a Phillies game or just walk around Rittenhouse Square, do some shopping, grab lunch, but they get to be a part of my life and I get to be a part of their life.

Larry Bendesky
Tell us about a couple of the cases that you’ve handled here at Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky.

Denise Georges
Many of my cases have clients that have been catastrophically injured. there is a case right now that I am gearing up for trial that is coming up this fall. A woman had been diagnosed with breast cancer, and she went to go see an oncologist about some surgical planning. And while she had cancer in a single breast there was a suspicion that the cancer had spread and metastasized to some lymph nodes. And a decision was made to perform a mastectomy. On the day of surgery, it was explained to her that she would receive nerve blocks. She would receive two in her back, and this was for post-operative pain relief.

And she would also receive nerve blocks to her chest, also for postoperative pain relief. However, the anesthesiologist on that day made a mathematical error. He made a catastrophic error where my client was given a toxic dose of a local anesthetic. And prior to a single cut, prior to the handling of a scalpel, my client went into cardiac arrest. And it took about 50 minutes to resuscitate her. And she suffered catastrophic injuries as a result. She’s now 51 years old. Her life will never be the same.

The case has become very emotional because there is the clinical end where I need to put this case together. I need to understand the medicine of how this happened. There is the human element of it, of regardless of the result, my job is to get accountability, justice, and responsibility for what happened to her. But also the number one issue is how do I improve her quality of life? And she’s going to need care for the remainder of her life.

Often with our cases that have been catastrophically injured and that are still here with us today, a lot of them deal with pain. I’m sure, Larry, you have heard this from many of your clients. There are good days and there are bad days. I think the number one fear for a lot of our clients is succumbing to pain. And that fear of waking up one day and not being able to handle it. This case is one of many where our clients’ lives have changed as a result of a medical mistake.

And there has to be accountability. You know, I have it also a case where, you know, a gentleman just goes in for routine elbow surgery and is decompensating postoperatively and dies within 24 hours. And there are clinicians who have objective medical findings. There are alerts on this electronic medical record system, and they’re just ignored.

And you have spouses and and children who will never be able to see their loved one because of just mistakes and ignoring objective findings. And these families, they they demand justice, they demand accountability. And that’s, you know, these are just two of dozens of cases that I’m handling.

Larry Bendesky
Well, we are so glad here that you are fighting for our clients and are continuing to fight for our clients. So you moved to Philadelphia. I know you’re a huge sports fan. so tell us what you do when you’re not when you’re not working so hard.

Denise Georges
You mean last night watching the World Cup, being on a delay, picking up a book in the interim. I love sports. I love the competitive nature. I love to be able just unplug from our world and just watch the best of the best, but also for my mental health of being able to decompress from the the weight of this job, I love to run. I’ll just put in three miles and just kind of punish my body to release the day or go to a hot yoga class or go to Pilates, just anything that will make my mental health better and also just be able to decompress from a from a heavy day.

Larry Bendesky
I know. I mean, I know you moved from Miami. I’m a Philadelphian, a lifelong Philadelphian. I love the city. I hope I hope you’ve grown to love the city as well.

Denise Georges
I do. It’s such a great food city. I don’t think I’ve had a bad bite. I think for the first year I wanted to sample every croissant in the city. and I have a hard time going into a bakery now and not trying one. But I love the city. I live in the city. I bought a beautiful home 18 months ago that has a gorgeous rooftop and and a view of the city. I’m looking forward to going up there on July 4th and enjoying the firework displays. I love the community. I get to, you know, walk to work. This is my home now, and I love it.

Larry Bendesky
Well, we’re glad you’re here. Is there anything that I missed that you that you’d like to discuss?

Denise Georges
No, Larry, I really appreciate this opportunity here today.

Larry Bendesky
Thank you so much for being here. Thank you for being with us on The Real Suits. If you enjoyed listening to this episode, please press  subscribe button and share this with your family and friends. Thank you very much, and we’ll see you next time.