Erica Kelly Curren

Partner

  • Office Contact Info
  • Biography
    Erica Kelly Curren concentrates her practice in health care law with a particular emphasis in medical malpractice defense.  Erica defends health care providers, including hospitals, long term care facilities, and physician practice groups, as well as health care professionals, including doctors and nurses, in all aspects of medical negligence actions, from claims investigation through trial.  Erica has tried multiple professional liability cases to verdict, and has also handled several arbitration hearings for her health care clients. Erica also represents a national product manufacturer in all aspects of their products liability claims, from inception through trial.

    During law school, Erica was a judicial intern to Justice Max Baer of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, where she assisted Justice Baer in writing judicial opinions and allocatur briefs. She was also a certified legal intern at Neighborhood Legal Services, where she provided free civil legal aid to low-income, elderly, and abused members of the Pittsburgh community. Finally, she was a legal writing teaching assistant to Professor James Flannery at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she worked with first year law students to develop their legal writing skills. Additionally, Erica was the recipient of the Foreign Language and Area Studies fellowship, which allowed her to study Arabic language and culture along with her legal studies.


    Admissions

    • Pennsylvania
    • Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
    • U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania

    Memberships

    • Allegheny County Bar Association
    • Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association
    • Hearing Committee Member serving the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, District IV

    Community Involvement

    As a third generation Syrian-American, Ms. Curren studied Arabic language in college and law school, and is passionate about raising awareness of the current refugee crisis and the ongoing war in Syria.  Ms. Curren has recently worked with the Syrian American Medical Society to raise money for the Aleppo fund, which helps fund the medical needs of civilian victims of the war in Aleppo, Syria.

    Additionally, Ms. Curren was recently appointed to the Board of Directors of ARYSE. ARYSE, which stands for the Alliance for Refugee Youth Support and Education, is an organization that seeks to improve the educational opportunities of disenfranchised immigrant youth.

     

  • Practice Areas
  • Representative Experience
    • Obtained a unanimous defense verdict after a 5-day jury trial for long term care facility client in professional negligence case
    • Secured the dismissal of physician client 3 days into medical malpractice trial
    • Obtained a unanimous defense verdict after a 4-day jury trial for national product manufacturer client in products liability case
    • Obtained a defense verdict at arbitration for long term care facility client in professional negligence case
    • Successfully won summary judgment for long term care facility client in professional negligence case
       
  • Publications & Presentations

    Publications

    • Author, The Jerry Sandusky Effect: Child Abuse Reporting Laws Should No Longer Be ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell, University of Pittsburgh Law Review, Vol. 75, No. 2, p. 209
  • Education

    Education

    J.D., cum laude, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 2014

    • University of Pittsburgh Law Review (Executive Editor)
    • Foreign Language and Area Studies (FLAS) Fellowship recipient (Arabic language)
    • Recipient of CALI Excellence for the Future Awards® in Legal Services Practicum
    • Pitt Law Women's Association
    • Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity

    B.S., magna cum laude, University of Pittsburgh, 2011

    • Tafel Scholarship recipient
    • Dean's List
    • National Society of Collegiate Scholars

    Honors

    Super Lawyers® Rising Stars distinction in Medical Malpractice and Products Liability (2022-2023)

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