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Spohrer & Dodd consults on unique and sensitive cases which are rejected by other law firms. Such cases require a high degree of discretion and tenacity. Our firm has successfully represented clients in suits involving the abuse of children by family members, foster parents, social institutions, religious officials and organizations.   The firm has handled cases focused on prison inmates injured by violence or medical negligence, and successfully concluded other cases that involve the violation of our clients’ civil rights.

Our case list also includes the representation of individuals and families in civil claims for damages arising out of homicides.  

While some firms shun such cases as they may be socially undesirable, our attorneys do not hesitate to represent clients where injustice has occurred.  We take on these challenging cases because someone must speak for those without a voice in the legal system.  

One example of a unique case that the firm is currently engaged in is seeking justice for the family whose mother was murdered in 1964 in Jacksonville, Florida. Johnnie Mae Chappell was the victim of racial violence and has become thefirst Floridian named as a Civil Rights martyr by the Southern Poverty Law Center, one of the nation’s leading Civil Rights organizations. Her murder was solved by then-Jacksonville Sheriff’s office detectives Lee Cody and Don Coleman, but of the four men who confessed and were indicted by a grand jury for the murder, only one has ever been convicted or served time and that was on a charge of manslaughter.   

In a news conference on October 11, 2005, Bob Spohrer announced that he was pledging his time and the firm’s resources pro bono on behalf of Johnnie Mae’s son, Shelton Chappell, and the other surviving members of his family. He said, “The legal system failed this family 40 years ago and we will not fail them now.  While we cannot guarantee the outcome, the Chappell’s deserve their day in court. We are committed to helping the Chappell family to find closure about this after all these years.”    

Since taking on the case, Mr. Spohrer has worked continuously with state and federal law enforcement and government officials to get the case reopened and the defendants brought to court for their alleged perpetration of this crime.  The case is ongoing at present and has captured the attention of such national and Florida media outlets as The Miami Herald, St. Petersburg Times, The Florida Times-Union, and NBC’s Dateline Program. The case was featured in a segment of the Oprah Show on Martin Luther King, Jr. Day, January 21st of this year. 

Spohrer & Dodd Case Featured On Oprah Show

For more information on other representative Unique Cases handled by Spohrer & Dodd, click here: