Scranton, PA (PRWEB) June 15, 2012
Scranton and Wilkes-Barre, Pa. personal injury lawyer Melissa A. Scartelli of Scartelli Olszewski, P.C. has been certified as a Civil Pretrial Practice Advocate by the National Board of Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy. The National Board of Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy is the newest division of the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification (NBLSC), a nonprofit organization accredited by the American Bar Association to provide board certification for attorneys in specialty practice areas, including civil trial law. The organization is an outgrowth of the National Board of Trial Advocacy (NBTA), which was the first nonprofit board worldwide to be dedicated to certifying lawyer competence. The NBTA has recognized Scartelli as a Board Certified Civil Trial Advocate.
Civil Pretrial Practice Advocate certification is a voluntary process, with only highly motivated and experienced attorneys meeting the NBLSCs rigorous requirements. According to the NBLSC, A consumer who chooses an NBLSC member for a lawyer can be sure of obtaining a highly experienced and specialized practitioner.
In addition to Civil Pretrial Practice Advocacy board certification, Scartelli is one of the select few female Pennsylvania attorneys to achieve Civil Trial Advocate certification, which is granted only to those attorneys who demonstrate an enhanced level of skill and expertise in civil trial advocacy by meeting exacting objective quality standards. Board Certified Civil Trial Advocates must demonstrate extensive experience, integrity and dedication to the interests of their clients, thereby upholding the standards of the NBTA and elevating the standards of the profession as a whole.
The president of Scartelli Olszewski, P.C., Scartelli founded the law firm in 2001 to protect the rights of accident and malpractice victims. She is widely known for tackling difficult cases that require exceptional effort and creative lawyering. For more than 20 years, Scartelli has handled a wide range of complex personal injury matters on behalf of seriously injured plaintiffs throughout the state and federal courts of Pennsylvania. Her areas of practice include automobile accidents, auto defects, construction and workplace accidents, defective drugs and medical devices, insurance bad faith, liquor liability, medical malpractice, nursing home negligence, premises liability, product liability, professional liability and psychiatric malpractice.
In 2011, Scartelli and firm Shareholder and Managing Partner Peter Paul Olszewski, Jr., secured a $ 550,000 jury verdict in a medical malpractice case brought by a 79-year-old woman who suffered a 23-month delay in the diagnosis of her lung cancer (Lackawanna County NO. 3387 CIVIL 2009). The verdict may be the largest verdict for an elderly patient in Lackawanna County history. The attorneys also secured a $ 750,000 settlement for the family members of a prison inmate who died at the Federal Penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pa. (U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, 4:10-cv-02603-JEJ).
Scartelli has served on the Lackawanna Bar Association Board of Directors, sits on the Social Committee of the Luzerne County Bar Association and has served as President of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. She has been recognized by Thomas Reuters, published annually in Philadelphia magazine, as a 2009, 2010, 2011 and 2012 Pennsylvania Super Lawyer