Attorney Steven J. Kelly Takes His Lifelong Fight for Sexual Abuse Survivors to Grant & Eisenhofer

G&E's new Baltimore-based litigator-advocate has fearlessly held abusers and enablers accountable

BALTIMORE, June 21, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Veteran trial attorney and sexual abuse survivors advocate Steven J. Kelly is the newest partner in the Baltimore Office of Wilmington-based Grant & Eisenhofer. The Baltimore native has devoted his career to fearlessly fighting for justice for crime victims, including those preyed upon by serial sexual abusers enabled by their employers.  Over the past two decades his passionate, skillful representation of the voiceless and vulnerable has resulted in numerous precedent-setting verdicts and settlements in high-profile civil actions, many following prosecutions of perpetrators for an array of felonies, including homicide, child sexual abuse, sexual assault, and child exploitation. Outside state and federal courthouses, Mr. Kelly has been a formidable fighter for the rights of survivors, serving on victims' rights boards and commissions, testifying on proposed legislation before state and federal panels, and training advocates, prosecutors, and judges.

Jay Eisenhofer, G&E's Managing Director and Co-founder, announced the hiring of this "pioneering Partner", who joins the firm's renowned Civil Rights, Sexual Assault / Harassment & Discrimination practice group. "We are incredibly fortunate to add Steve Kelly to our team of immensely talented attorneys whose practices focus on obtaining justice for child and adult victims, survivors of heinous crimes, who deserve the level exceptional experience, skill and determination exemplified by Steve over his distinguished career," said Mr. Eisenhofer. "He is an innovator, in Maryland and nationally, in providing  pro bono civil representation to crime victims during the criminal prosecution of their assailants, and throughout their civil proceedings. As a native son of Maryland, he has been particularly involved in battling for survivors rights there, and transitions seamlessly into new representations, including our work on behalf of countless victims of clergy sex abuse with enactment of the Maryland Child Victims Act of 2023."

Mr. Kelly said recently joining G&E, after several years in the Baltimore office of Sanford Heisler Sharp, where he founded and co-headed its Criminal/Sexual Violence group,  is an incredible honor. "I have been fortunate my entire career, since graduating law school and clerking for a federal judge, to have worked with remarkable professionals from whom I've learned and honed my craft in the service of crime victims, our society's most vulnerable citizens who generally remain a vastly under-represented group. G&E, a firm I've long respected and admired, is an ideal fit for my practice and I'm delighted to report that we've hit the ground running, actually sprinting."

It is well known in legal circles that Mr. Kelly's outspoken brand of informed, activist-advocacy for sexual crime victims is rooted in personal family tragedy; his sister was raped and murdered in 1988 when he was 14. Long before he graduated law school (Georgetown, 2003), he stood up and spoke out for justice for crime victims.

His wide-ranging, often high-profile and highly-impactful outcomes on behalf of survivors/victims, includes:

• A $14 million landmark Title IX settlement against Dartmouth College on behalf of students who were sexually assaulted and/or harassed by a group of professors; besides monetary compensation, the agreement required Dartmouth implement new measures to protect students.
• A $14.25 million settlement for survivors of Rabbi Bernard 'Barry' Freundel, the disgraced former Kesher Israel Synagogue (Washington, D.C.) leader who was convicted of illicitly photographing women they prepared for their religious conversion in his temple's ritual bath.
• Overturning the exoneration of convicted Maryland murderer Adnan Syed, the focus of the Serial Podcast, on behalf of his victim's family who were given no opportunity to participate in the criminal proceedings.
• Leading the first mass action filing under the federal child pornography statute, Masha's Law, against more than 150 perpetrators who possessed, viewed, and distributed images of two very young girls being sexually abused by adult men.

In 2015 Maryland's governor appointed him to serve as the chair of the State Board of Victim Services, the leading advisory board to the governor on issues relating to crime victims. In 2009, the governor appointed Mr. Kelly as a commissioner to the state Criminal Injuries Compensation Board. Mr. Kelly also serves on the Advisory Board of the National Crime Victim Law Institute, the Advisory Board for Maryland's Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) chapter, and has served on the Board of Directors for the Maryland Crime Victims' Resource Center.

SOURCE Grant & Eisenhofer