Montco lawyer suspended for 3 years for misleading clients about settlements that didn’t exist
Brian McCormick, a former Ross Feller Casey partner, was suspended for misleading at least 16 clients. The Philly-based law firm terminated McCormick when the nonexistent settlements were discovered.
A Montgomery County attorney specializing in personal injury claims against large corporations has been suspended for three years following allegations that he misled at least 16 clients on settlement offers that did not exist.
Brian McCormick was a former partner at Ross Feller Casey, a Philadelphia-based personal injury firm. The conduct that led to his suspension revolves around misleading statements to clients he represented in two types of cases.
The first set of clients are those who alleged that using agricultural giant Monsanto‘s weed killer, Roundup, caused their cancer. These cases can be lucrative, as Philadelphia juries returned verdicts against Monsanto for millions, and even billions, of dollars.
Due to the large number of Roundup lawsuits, a federal court appointed a special master who developed a formula to calculate settlement amounts. At least nine of McCormick’s clients rejected the formula-proposed settlement and the attorney claimed he was attempting to obtain, or had obtained, higher offers, according to the suspension order issued last month by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Board.
McCormick went as far as to ask some clients to sign releases to obtain the nonexistent settlements. As his clients waited for their expected checks, according to the order, the attorney reassured them via emails, text messages, and voice messages between 2023 and January 2025 that the delays were part of the settlement process.
“[McCormick] did not settle any of the Roundup cases on behalf of the nine clients who rejected the formula determined settlement amount,” the order says.
Clients suing Monsanto weren’t the only ones McCormick misled. The attorney followed a similar pattern with at least seven clients who sued manufacturers of Risperdal, an antipsychotic drug that thousands of men said led them to develop excessive breast tissue, according to the disciplinary board.
McCormick promised settlement to his Risperdal clients, the order said, and at one time even gave a client a specific date on which he should pick up his check “knowing that no settlement check existed.”
Neither McCormick or the attorney who represented him during the disciplinary proceedings responded to a request for comment.
Ross Feller Casey terminated McCormick in January 2025 after finding that he had clients sign settlement agreements even though no settlements were reached.
“The firm’s owners terminated Mr. McCormick’s employment on the very same day they learned of his conduct, and they immediately took steps to ensure that the interests of all affected clients were protected,” said Mario Cattabiani, a spokesperson for Ross Feller Casey.
McCormick admitted to the misconduct and consented to the three-year suspension, the order says. The board noted that he “accepts full responsibility for his misconduct and is remorseful.”