Criminal Justice
Pa. Attorney Fatally Shot in Office Parking Lot
Posted Feb 11, 2009 12:26 PM CST
By Martha Neil
A Pennsylvania lawyer at a plaintiffs personal injury firm was fatally shot today as he arrived at his Northampton Township office.
Initially unidentified in news reports, the attorney, who was reportedly shot in the head at point-blank range, was Eric Birnbaum, 51, according to FOX News.
Police are still looking for the shooter, and have appealed to the public for information, Bucks Local News reports. The article says those with information should call Northampton police at 215-322-6111.
Although not listed on the law firm's website, Birnbaum worked for Terry D. Goldberg & Associates, according to both FOX and the Philadelphia Inquirer.
Birnbaum reportedly spent 20 years at Philadelphia's Slifkin & Axe before joining Goldberg & Associates in June.
The identity of his assailant at this point is unknown, the Inquirer reports. Police questioned a "person of interest" who was pulled over in a blue van matching the description of one in which a witness saw the suspect fleeing the scene. That driver was later cleared and released, FOX reports.
The shooting occurred at 9 a.m. in the parking lot of a strip shopping center in the Holland section of Northampton, according to news reports citing statements by First Assistant District Attorney David Zellis.
Zellis told the media that Birnbaum had parked his car and was walking to his office when a man with a handgun walked up behind him and shot him once in the back of the head.
Additional coverage:
ABC News (WPM-TV): "Suspect at large in lawyer killing"
Trentonian: "Bucks County lawyer killed outside law firm"
Last updated at 6:13 p.m. to include information from Bucks Local News.
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Comments
J.D.
Feb 11, 2009 2:31 PM CST
I pray that he recovers.
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donna
Feb 11, 2009 3:31 PM CST
he died at the hospital,,,,so sad
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J.D.
Feb 12, 2009 9:03 AM CST
My first comment was posted before the article was updated with the sad news. My thoughts go out to his family.
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Charles
Feb 13, 2009 5:13 AM CST
I had always thought personal injury a fairly safe field to work in. After all your job puts you in a position to help others and your own interests are tied to that. I guess there are no real safe areas of practice. I feel for the family and wonder what was the driver for this persons actions.
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JME
Feb 13, 2009 9:39 AM CST
Attorneys make enemies. Every time we have a case, there might be someone on the opposite side who blames us for their problems, sometimes our own clients blame us when they fail in court. I carry concealed. It wouldn’t have helped this guy, he was shot in the back of the head, but it could save my life someday.
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Rick Rutledge
Feb 13, 2009 11:51 AM CST
It’s interesting that these comments presume this was related to his practice, and not say, a case of mistaken identity, or a loan shark, or who knows what…
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B. McLeod
Feb 13, 2009 12:47 PM CST
Who, indeed?
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DADZRITES
Feb 14, 2009 10:29 AM CST
Wouldn’t be surprised if he was handling a family law case. These cases bring out the worst in people, and the worst in lawyers.
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gea
Feb 15, 2009 6:30 PM CST
Things that are important, dull with time. Why, humans shoot each other, to resolve problems, out of anger, when twenty years later, most problems are dull in retrospect. I, too, hope that his loved ones, and friends and neighbors, will find solace in helping each other. My guess, is that this was family or personal squabble solved with a gun and not an upset client. An angry personal injury client seems to me, unlikely.
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Nervous
Feb 17, 2009 2:22 PM CST
Things do indeed “dull with time.” However, in my opinion, if it were a personal squabble, why not kill someone at home, or in a personal setting where there’s privacy and accessability? Seems more like either a random act, or a deliberate killing due to a grudge. Look at the Santa Clause Massacre in L.A. The divorce attorney for the slayed ex-wife was his next target. SCARY. “Attorneys do make enemies,” and we are already dealing with a lot of unstable situations on the front end. I told my parents recently that I wanted a PO Box for everything, and they said, “If someone wants to find you, they will.”
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concerned
Feb 21, 2009 9:43 AM CST
I hope this sends a message to personal injury attorneys that their work is for bottom feeders who seek to destroy the field of medicine as well as the businesses that must close up because they have to pay unconscionable judgments that only line the pockets of already wealthy attorneys and do nothing to change the system they allegedly seek to change.
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