D. Bruce Poole JD

D. Bruce Poole JD

D. Bruce Poole JD
When It Matters Most
Experience: 38 years
Free consultation have
Awards 1
Experience 38y
Videos 6
Online & Web 8

Biography Submit listing

Bruce Poole, Esq. has been negotiating deals and trying cases for over 35 years. He has been named by The National Trial Lawyers to the Top 100 Civil Trial Attorneys’ List and, in 2017, received a lifetime achievement membership in America's Top 100 Attorneys. He is also a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, honorary organizations for the top trial lawyers in America, as well as the Academy of Truck Accident Attorneys, National Trial Lawyers: Top 10 Trucking Trial Lawyers Association, the American Association for Justice, the American Association for Justice's Trucking Litigation Group, and the Maryland Association for Justice.

Bruce was born and raised in Washington County, Maryland. He received both a B.A. and law degree from Washington and Lee University, where he was co-author of the Best Brief in the Nation and ranked as one of the top fifteen oral advocates in the nation in the 1984 Jessup International Moot Court Competition. Bruce was admitted to the Maryland Bar in 1985 and to the United States District Court, District of Maryland bar in 1999. In 2019, he was admitted as Counsel Pro Hac Vice to the Superior Court of the State of California.

Bruce served as a member of the Maryland House of Delegates for twelve years (1987-1999) becoming the youngest member ever to serve as House Majority Leader (1990-1993). Currently, Bruce serves as a member of the Board of Visitors for the University of Maryland Shock Trauma Center. He was a member of the 2008-2019 Board of Trustees for the University of Maryland Medical System. He has served as a member on the Governor’s Commission for the Licensing of Video Lottery Terminals. Most recently, he served as the Chair of the State of Maryland's Task Force on the Study of Alcohol Regulation, Enforcement, Safety and Public Health, and served as a member of the Washington County Bar Bench Committee and the Maryland Judicial Elections Monitoring Committee.

Jurisdictions Admitted to Practice

Maryland

Education

1985

Washington and Lee University School of Law

J.D. (1985)

Honors: Co-author of the Best Brief in the Nation and ranked as one of the top fifteen oral advocates in the nation in the 1984 Jessup International Moot Court Competition.

1977 - 1981

Washington & Lee University

B.A. (1981)

Awards

year - D. Bruce Poole JD
Top 15 Oral Advocates in the Nation Award

Jessup International Moot Court Competition

Contacts

The Poole Law Group 29 W Franklin St Hagerstown MD 21740 Telephone: (301) 790-3600 Fax: (301) 714-0082

Videos

The Law Experience and Background of Attorney Bruce Poole
I grew up in Hagerstown. I went to North High, and then I went off to college and law school. I started, when I was in law school, doing what they call Moot Court; and then I served in the legislature for 12 years, which is really good because you just have to be up on your feet a lot, and you’ve got to be able to express yourself and in a lot of different ways. I was on the judiciary committee when I was there so I learned a lot about the law and why it changes and why it’s crafted in different directions, but I continued to practice with my father. When he got to a certain age, where he just couldn’t practice anymore, I continued. I’ve now been in Hagerstown for 31 years, but I also practice – we practice – a good bit in the Fredrick courts as well. We’ll go out to Cumberland and sometimes out to Garrett County. We try to handle pretty much all of western Maryland. \n
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Distracted Driving: What Happens in the Court Room
When you've been involved in an accident with a distracted driver, it's important that you have an experienced personal injury lawyer by your side.
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The Right Lawyer to Battle the Insurance Company
It’s really frustrating. I’ve been doing this for 31 years and there is no question that the insurance industry has changed dramatically. Now, pretty much anytime you have a large claim, you can figure that you are going to go through a rough time to get the money. This puts an imperative on two things. One, you need to find the right insurance agent because if you have a good insurance agent, they will work for you. Secondly, you got to find the right lawyers. This means that you need to find the type of people who handle these cases all the time and are prepared to go to court. Unfortunately, a lot of lawyers are relatively inexperienced going to court; they don’t do it very much. They want to talk a lot, but at the end of the day, the insurance company has to know that you are serious. And if you have to, you will put the puck down on the ice and go at it. \n\n   \n
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Why You Shouldn’t Settle an Injury Claim Right Away
People often want to know if they can settle right away. The answer is usually yes, you can settle right away, but it’s kind of like shooting in the dark and not knowing where you are going. Remember, you only get one chance. So if you come back later and say, “Oh gosh. This injury is a lot worse. I had this concussion and I thought it was alright, but now as I sit down at work I find that I have a lot of headaches. And I find that sometimes I feel like I’m dizzy when I’m at the grocery store, and I find I’m having trouble with depth perception and driving and those things.” \n\n If you have already settled the case because you needed that quick money, you are not going to be able to come back again. That’s why it is really important to be able to assess things. We’re going to spend time at the outset of the case – looking at the case – and giving you a realistic view. Largely you can say that if its big money that’s involved, you will have to go through a fight, and you will need people to fight with you. \n\n   \n
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What Should I Do After a Crash?
All the time people ask me, “What should you do right after a crash?” The first thing, of course, is to get to safety and get the right medical care. Fundamentally, find out who hit you and get their insurance information. Second, figure out who the witnesses are (information you can usually get from the police officer). And third, get photos. Get photos of your car and the other car or truck that was in the crash, and get as much as you can. If you have been badly injured, somebody else can do that for you. \n\n One of the reasons you will want to get in and see an attorney is that a lot of that evidence will disappear. For instance, we have had truck crash cases before in which the truck – an interstate carrier which is very common in Western Maryland – ends up moving on and is out of state. There is a lot of information in that truck by virtue of what they call a black box, which can be really important. This is another reason to see an attorney.  \n
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How Truck Crashes Are Different from Car Accidents
People ask all the time, “Are car and truck crashes the same in terms of the law and how they’re approached?” The answer is no; it’s for a good reason. Everybody who has a basic driver’s license can drive a car; not everybody can get behind a truck. There’s a real good reason. Trucks are big. They are much bigger, they’re unwieldy, and they can be very dangerous in the hands of the wrong person. So the standards are much higher. \n\n The federal government puts a lot of standards in, the states can put in a lot of standards as to training and expertise for the driver, how long they’re allowed out on the road, how much rest they’re given, how much time there is in between their drives; and you get all that information through what are called log books . Then also, if you can get and expert – we have experts that we use in truck accident reconstruction cases – to get in and get the black box data and get into that data; it will tell you a lot about what the truck was doing prior to the crash, during the crash, and after the crash. It’s all really important. \n
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D. Bruce Poole JD
D. Bruce Poole JD When It Matters Most

Experience: 38 years
Website: Open
Location: USA
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