Miriam Benton Barish

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Miriam Barish has dedicated her practice to helping individuals and families who suffered catastrophic injuries due to the reckless, negligent conduct of others.  Miriam is proud to have successfully resolved numerous multi-million dollar cases on behalf of her clients providing them crucial compensation in the face of tragedy.

Her practice focuses on complex personal injury litigation, products liability, toxic torts, premise liability, dram shop cases, construction accidents, motor vehicle and motorcycle accidents in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.  Miriam also represents clients who have suffered harm by vaccines and manages the firms vaccine department.  Additionally, for many years Miriam’s practice has emphasized protecting the rights of women who have been victims, providing them devoted and compassionate representation for the harm they suffered.

Protecting the Rights of Women

Miriam Barish has been a strong advocate in the development of the law regarding protecting the rights of women. She has actively litigated premises liability cases regarding the safety and security of women and participated in obtaining a landmark verdict, in the first case of its kind, regarding a wrongful death case arising from the negligent premises security of two women.

Ms. Barish has actively litigated many other premises liability cases involving negligent security, including the sexual and violent assault of a female inpatient of a psychiatric hospital as well as the robbery and assault of a female patron in a large retail store parking lot.

Leadership Roles

Ms. Barish is a member of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Board of Governors. She presently serves as a member of the Executive Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association. She is a member of the American, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, as well as the American, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Associations. She is on the Board National Advisory Committee for Widener University Law School. This Council advises the Dean and faculty on matters relating to the operation and development of the law school.

Ms. Barish is the Philadelphia Chairman of the Widener Women’s Network, a network exclusively dedicated to developing networking opportunities for Widener Women Alumnae. She also serves as a board member of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association and serves as Judge Pro Tem for the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia County.

Top 50 Women Lawyers

Ms. Barish has been named among the Top 50 Women Lawyers in Pennsylvania since 2014. She has also been selected for inclusion in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® from 2013-2020.

Media Appearances

Ms. Barish has appeared as guest on The Sonny Banks Show, on the American Justice Radio Network on two occasions. The first episode discusses her practice to help individuals and families who suffered catastrophic injuries due to the reckless, negligent conduct of others including premise security cases and liquor liability cases. The second episode explains the importance of contingency fee agreements when hiring a personal injury firm and how that fee structure, with no out-of-pocket costs for clients, levels the playing field for personal injury clients so they can pursue their claims.

Experienced and Successful Advocate

Miriam earned her bachelor’s degree from Temple University School of Business, and she received her law degree, cum laude, from Widener University School of Law. She is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Michigan.

Miriam concentrates her practice in motor vehicle matters, premises liability including premise security liability, construction accidents, dram shop liquor liability, and products liability litigation including flammability cases. She represented a family whose two-year old son was catastrophically injured in a mattress fire due to the failure to provide any flame retardants or barriers in the fabric or foam of the mattress.

In addition, Miriam’s practice involves toxic torts including Benzene, lead paint poisoning, and other chemical exposures.