Friedman Schuman, PC

What Friedman Schuman, PC does

Friedman Schuman Layser (formerly Friedman Schuman, PC) is a privately held, full-service plaintiff-side law firm founded in 1988 by Peter S. Friedman and Kerry Scott Schuman, headquartered in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania with additional offices in Philadelphia, PA and Cherry Hill, NJ. The firm employs 16 attorneys organized across eight practice areas: medical malpractice, personal injury, commercial litigation, corporate and business law, employment law, financial services, real estate, and wills/trusts/estates. It represents individuals and families harmed by medical negligence or accidents, as well as businesses, financial institutions, developers, and individuals across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. The firm rebranded to Friedman Schuman Layser in 2025 to recognize Derek R. Layser as a named shareholder alongside the founders.

The firm operates a contingency fee model for medical malpractice and personal injury cases — clients pay nothing upfront and the firm receives a percentage of any recovery — while corporate, real estate, estate planning, employment, and financial services work is billed on hourly or fixed fees. Case acquisition is driven primarily by an active attorney-to-attorney referral program (through which the firm has paid millions in referral fees), bar association relationships (multiple attorneys hold leadership positions in the Montgomery Bar Association and Pennsylvania Bar Association), and a content marketing engine spanning blog articles, a multi-topic video library, and podcasts. Plaintiff-side litigation is anchored by trial-tested attorneys including Derek R. Layser (200+ cases tried to verdict, $8.25M record medical malpractice verdict) and Robert H. Nemeroff (seven-figure verdicts, Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania).

Founding partner and Financial Services department chair Kerry Scott Schuman passed away on May 7, 2026 after a three-year battle with cancer. The firm continues to operate under its remaining shareholder group. Multiple shareholders and principals hold sustained recognitions including Best Lawyers in America, Pennsylvania Super Lawyers, Martindale-Hubbell AV Preeminent ratings, ABOTA membership, and the firm's 2026 U.S. News Best Law Firms designation. There are no disclosed technology, AI, or proprietary platform components; differentiation is grounded in human trial talent, referral networks, and 40+ years of regional brand equity.

Name

Friedman Schuman, PC

Legal name

Friedman Schuman Layser

Website

https://fsalaw.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1988

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Friedman Schuman Layser is a Pennsylvania-based, full-service plaintiff-side law firm with 16 attorneys across medical malpractice, personal injury, business, real estate, and estate planning practices, serving individuals and businesses in Pennsylvania and New Jersey via contingency and hourly fee models.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Legal Services

NAICS

Offices of Lawyers (541110), Offices of Lawyers (54111)

SIC

Services-Legal Services (8111)

akta.pro primary industry

Personal Injury & Insurance Defense (BPAHAAAM)

Keywords

• Medical malpractice law
• Personal injury law
• Estate planning law
• Commercial litigation
• Real estate law

Headquarters

HQ city

Jenkintown

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations

Revenue model

1. Legal Services - Contingency Fee: Personal injury and medical malpractice cases handled on contingency fee basis - clients pay nothing upfront and the firm receives a percentage of any recovery. The firm states 'if we don't win, you don't pay.'
2. Legal Services - Attorney Referrals: Firm has paid millions of dollars in referral fees to other attorneys who send them medical malpractice and personal injury cases. Source of new client acquisition through professional attorney network.
3. Legal Services - Hourly/Fee for Service: Corporate, business, real estate, estate planning, employment, and financial services likely billed on hourly or fixed fee basis. No specific rates disclosed publicly.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Friedman Schuman, PC is a full-service Pennsylvania law firm that represents clients in eight core practice areas: medical malpractice, personal injury, commercial litigation, corporate and business law, employment law, financial services, real estate, and wills/trusts/estates law. The firm serves both individual plaintiffs (in injury and malpractice cases) and business clients (in transactional, litigation, employment, financial services, and real estate matters).

Product overview

Friedman Schuman Layser is a Pennsylvania-based full-service law firm offering a unified portfolio of legal services rather than a modular software platform. The firm provides eight core practice areas: Medical Malpractice (handling birth injuries, diagnosis errors, nursing home abuse, medication errors, surgical errors, stroke errors, and medical device injuries), Personal Injury (motor vehicle accidents, construction injuries, slip and fall, product liability, wrongful death), Commercial Litigation, Corporate & Business Law, Employment Law, Financial Services, Real Estate Law, and Wills, Trusts & Estates. These practice areas are designed to work collaboratively, allowing attorneys across departments to provide strategic and seamless support tailored to clients' unique legal needs throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Medical Malpractice Law

Quantifiable outcome

• $9.4 million settlement for mother and 3 children catastrophically injured in motor vehicle accident
• +6 more outcomes

Segments8 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights3 records

Direct peers

• Anapol Weiss: Philadelphia-based plaintiff firm specializing in medical malpractice, personal injury, and product liability. Directly comparable given shared plaintiff-side med mal and catastrophic injury practice serving Pennsylvania and New Jersey clients.
• Wilentz Goldman & Spitzer: New Jersey-based full-service law firm with strong plaintiff personal injury, medical malpractice, and commercial litigation practices. Comparable as a competing full-service firm with significant plaintiff-side PI/med mal presence serving the same tri-state market.
• Napoli Shkolnik: New York and New Jersey-based plaintiff firm specializing in personal injury, medical malpractice, mass tort, and environmental litigation. Comparable as a competing regional plaintiff firm operating across the Northeast with contingency fee practice on catastrophic injury and med mal cases.
• The Levin Firm: Philadelphia-based plaintiff personal injury firm handling catastrophic injury, medical malpractice, and mass tort cases. Directly comparable as a Philadelphia-area plaintiff firm with shared contingency fee model and personal injury focus.
• Stark & Stark: New Jersey/Pennsylvania full-service law firm with plaintiff personal injury, medical malpractice, business, and real estate practice areas. Comparable as a similar full-service regional firm operating across PA/NJ with shared practice area mix including personal injury and business law.
• Console & Associates: New Jersey-based plaintiff personal injury law firm with offices throughout the region. Directly comparable as a competing tri-state plaintiff firm handling motor vehicle accidents, medical malpractice, and personal injury cases on contingency.
• Kline & Specter: Philadelphia-based plaintiff-side personal injury and medical malpractice firm. Directly comparable as a tri-state area plaintiff firm specializing in catastrophic injury, medical malpractice, and complex tort litigation with strong trial reputation—though significantly larger in scale.
• Ross Feller Casey: Philadelphia-based plaintiff firm specializing in medical malpractice, personal injury, and birth injury cases. Directly comparable given shared focus on catastrophic medical negligence cases in the Pennsylvania market and similar contingency-fee revenue model.
• Saltz Mongeluzzi Bendesky: Philadelphia-based plaintiff personal injury firm focused on catastrophic injury, wrongful death, and complex tort cases. Comparable as a competing Philadelphia-area plaintiff firm with similar trial-driven approach and contingency fee structure on high-value cases.

Regional players

• Cohen & Feeley: Pennsylvania-based plaintiff personal injury and medical malpractice firm serving the same tri-state region. Comparable as a competing Pennsylvania plaintiff firm with similar practice mix though focused primarily on PI/med mal rather than full-service offerings.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=t1oxUFNlWrM
• Xx.com/friedmanschuman
• Facebookfacebook.com/fsalaw
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/friedman-schuman-pc

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Friedman Schuman, PC