National Hazing Lawyers
Hazing kills students.
For more than three decades, we have taken on fraternities, sororities, and universities that permit and promote hazing—and held them accountable for the deaths and injuries they cause. Our firm has successfully litigated more of these cases than any other firm.
The insurance industry ranks fraternities as dangerous as toxic waste dumps.
What is hazing?
Hazing is anything a group requires of someone joining that humiliates, degrades, abuses, or endangers them… whether or not they agreed to it. Hazing is not defined by how bad the act was, but by the power in the room. Students pledge an oath, and these ‘pledges’ are sworn to secrecy and loyalty before they’re ever hazed. That’s why hazing incidents are almost never reported, and it’s why the family is usually the last to know.
Forced Binge Drinking
Alcohol is the deadliest tool in hazing. Harvard’s School of Public Health found that fraternity membership is the single strongest predictor of binge drinking in college. They found that four in five students living in fraternity or sorority houses were binge drinkers.
Bid night, big-brother night, the night members are sworn in: when forced drinking gets built into initiation, those become the three deadliest nights on the calendar.
Violence & Physical Exertion
Hazing is an exercise of power, and that power is often used to abuse students physically.
Pledges are pushed through dangerous calisthenics, exposure, sleep deprivation, and in some cases outright beatings to prove they’re “worthy” of membership. What follows is traumatic injury, lasting psychological harm, and students who quietly leave school rather than explain what was done to them.
Sexual Assault
Sexual abuse is one of the most under-recognized forms of hazing, and the most damaging.
Sexual abuse shows up in rituals that force sexual acts on new members, and in coordinated schemes where both women and men are plied with alcohol and assaulted in houses with little or no supervision. Wrapped in secrecy and shame, these acts are almost never reported, and the law has been slow to call them what they are.
If your child died or was seriously injured and you don’t have the texts, photos, or names that explain what actually happened, that is more than enough to call us and ask for help. Our team has forensic detectives and digital forensics specialists who can recover phone and computer data most people assume is gone for good. You’re going through enough. Building this kind of case is our job.
Talk to usWe fight for families as if they were our own.
Founded in Washington, DC, we have litigated hazing cases coast to coast—against fraternities, sororities, high school groups, marching bands, and universities that failed to protect students. Hover over a marker to learn more about these cases and the laws they’ve changed.
Many of the families and survivors we represent choose to remain anonymous, and their cases are not shown above.
We don’t just win cases. We change the law.
For thirty years, our cases have inspired the laws that now govern campuses nationwide.
A national practice built to fight for families
The work began on behalf of a high-school student who survived brutal sexual assaults and a college student hospitalized after being hazed at Omega Psi Phi at the University of Maryland. From there it grew into the only national legal practice devoted to victims of school violence and hazing.
Significant settlements and foundations for change
When Lynn Gordon “Gordie” Bailey Jr. died in a Chi Psi ritual at the University of Colorado, state law allowed only a small recovery for a hazing death. We helped the family win a substantial verdict regardless — holding the national fraternity, the local chapter, and individual members all responsible — and set a precedent.
The family went on to build the Gordie Foundation. They were not the last. Again and again, the families this firm represents have turned the worst day of their lives into an institution that outlives the case.
Turning settlements into public accountability
Our firm began writing transparency into its settlements—requiring institutions to publicly publish hazing and assault findings for years afterward. What began as case-by-case basis fueled broader advocacy, including the voluntary 32 National Campus Safety Initiative, and became the template for mandatory public reporting nationwide.
A Model for ReformWhen a client’s name becomes law
Louisiana and Georgia’s Max Gruver Act (2018), Washington’s Sam’s Law (2022), and Virginia’s Adam’s Law (2022)—each named for a young man the firm represented—strengthened legal penalties and required real hazing education and reporting. Families turned unspeakable loss into statutes that protect students.
Watch · Sam’s Law
The Stop Campus Hazing Act
The first federal anti-hazing law amends the Clery Act to require every college that receives federal aid to report hazing statistics, publish a Campus Hazing Transparency Report, and run prevention programs. The nationwide transparency our attorneys first enacted one case at a time is now the law of the land.
First Federal Anti-Hazing LawAny group that hazes should be held responsible.
Hazing is not confined to fraternity basements. Any organization sanctioned by a school has a duty to keep its members safe. When that duty is ignored, we pursue the people and institutions responsible.
Fraternity & Sorority Hazing
We hold local chapters and their powerful national organizations liable for forced alcohol and drug abuse, physical violence, and degrading rituals that cause serious injury or death.
Sports & Athletics Hazing
Coaches, trainers, and universities have a duty to protect their athletes. We pursue justice when they let a culture of hazing fester into assault, traumatic injury, lasting psychological harm, and death.
Hazing in Schools & Organizations
Marching bands, academic clubs, and other sanctioned student groups carry the same responsibility. When their rituals cause harm, we hold the organization and the school accountable.
Hazing Deaths & Wrongful Death
When a family loses their child to hazing, we pursue accountability and the justice they are owed—from every individual and institution that failed to stop it.
Not an accident. A foreseeable failure.
Hazing is preventable. The heart of our work is proving that a hazing death or injury was the predictable result of choosing to look the other way. We represent victims and survivors, never the institutions that harm them.
Ignored complaints.
University and national organizations often know about prior hazing at a chapter or team — and do nothing to stop it.
Lack of supervision & oversight
Coaches, advisors, and administrators often fail to provide meaningful supervision or to enforce anti-hazing policies.
Promotion of dangerous traditions
Organizations often glorify or encourage high-risk hazing rituals built on alcohol abuse, endurance tests, and violence.
Active cover-ups by leadership
Chapter leaders and officials often take steps to hide evidence, intimidate witnesses, and obstruct the investigation after the fact.
You have more power than they want you to believe.
In the hours and days after a hazing incident, institutions move quickly to protect themselves. A few early steps can protect your family’s ability to hold them accountable. Everything you share with us is confidential.
Save everything
Save texts, photos, group chats, social posts, and names. Don’t delete anything, and don’t let anyone pressure you to.
Write it down
Record what you remember while it’s fresh: who was there, what was said, and the timeline of events.
Be careful what you sign
Universities and organizations may ask for statements or releases. You are not required to sign anything before speaking with a lawyer.
Talk to a hazing lawyer
The sooner counsel is involved, the more evidence can be preserved before it disappears. Our case reviews are free.
Hazing litigation, answered plainly.
Can the national fraternity or university be held responsible?
Often, yes. If the national organization or university knew about a history of hazing, failed to enforce its own rules, or created an environment where the hazing was predictable, it can be held accountable—not just the individual students involved.
What if my child “voluntarily” participated?
Voluntary participation is not a defense for hazing. The intense peer pressure and threat of being ostracized make it impossible for a student to give true consent to abusive, dangerous activity. Many state laws now say so explicitly.
Can we still file a lawsuit if there’s a criminal case?
Yes. A civil lawsuit to hold the institution accountable is separate from any criminal charges against individuals or students. The two proceed independently and often at the same time.
How much does it cost to work with your firm?
An initial case review is free and confidential. These cases are typically handled on a contingency basis, which means you generally do not pay anything unless we obtain a recovery for you.
Is there a deadline to bring a case?
Yes, every state sets a statute of limitations, and it can be shorter than families expect. Because critical evidence also disappears quickly, it’s important to speak with a lawyer as soon as possible so nothing is lost to the clock.