Hard Work Pays Off
Known for its work on high-profile cases locally and nationally, Law Offices of Gregory J. Pagano P.C. uses grit and talent to help clients find resolution to life-changing legal matters.
Gregory J. Pagano has learned a great deal in his 30 years of practicing law. Ask him about the most important lesson he has learned along the way, and he will likely say it did not come from within the walls of a classroom or even a courtroom. Rather, it came from within the walls of his childhood home in Philadelphia.
“I learned the value of hard work from my parents,” says Pagano, who in 1995 founded Law Offices of Gregory J. Pagano P.C., which has offices in Philadelphia and Media. “My father was a butcher. I saw him go to work every day and work hard because that’s what you’re supposed to do for customers. He taught me that if you’re going to take people’s money, you’d better work hard for them. It’s the same in the legal world.”
Hard work serves as the foundation of Pagano’s firm, which has an impressive record of getting results for their clients. In addition to Pagano, fellow attorneys Henry M. George, and Sarah A. Jones work tirelessly to investigate cases and understand complex issues. They do so not only because their efforts give clients the best opportunity to win, but also because they believe it is simply the right thing to do.
Whether representing clients in criminal or civil matters, personal injury cases, or family disputes, Pagano and his team strive to explore every avenue in their pursuit of a positive outcome. He has recovered millions of dollars in civil settlements for clients who were injured or killed in accidents and harmed in civil rights violations. He has represented people from all walks of life, including judges, doctors, surgeons, attorneys, police officers, priests, accountants, Realtors, and mortgage brokers, as well as athletes, musicians, business owners, union leaders, children, students, and the homeless.
“A third of my client base are hardened criminals,” Pagano says. “Another third are hard-working individuals who find themselves in the wrong place at the wrong time. The other third are professionals and businesspeople who have found themselves in the crosshairs of an investigation or committed a grave error or a mistake.”
Pagano has represented clients throughout Pennsylvania and elsewhere in the United States—namely, Delaware, Florida, Iowa, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, and West Virginia. He has been the lead trial counsel in cases of all types, and has been involved in some of the most recognizable and complex federal trials in Philadelphia’s history. In his 30 years as an attorney, he has represented clients in homicides, organized crime and racketeering cases, white-collar crimes, drug-related offenses, rapes and other forms of assault, fraud, theft, political corruption and embezzlement, and motor-vehicle accidents.
“There aren’t too many issues I haven’t seen, researched, or argued,” he adds. “We spend a lot of time getting information from our clients. Let’s face it, no one knows more about a client than the client. They’re the best source of information for what we need to represent them.”
Fighting for What’s Right
Pagano Law frequently works in the five-county Philadelphia area and across the river in New Jersey. In addition to its office in Philadelphia, the firm maintains office hours at its office in Media, Delaware County, and actively represents clients in Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery counties. While Pagano focuses primarily on criminal law, the law firm also represents clients seeking representation in personal injury and family law cases.
Henry George, for example, focuses primarily on personal injury law. Rated a Rising Star by Super Lawyers, George joined the law firm in 2018 after working as an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia. He litigated more than 500 cases in that post, including bench trials, jury trials, motions to suppress evidence, motions to modify bail, and violation of probation hearings.
George has a passion for representing plaintiffs in cases in which they were harmed because of someone else’s actions or negligence. “Representing victims of catastrophic accidents is much like representing victims of crime,” he says. “You’re helping people who need help the most. Their lives have been disrupted. They need someone to help them. When I do, it’s extremely satisfying and rewarding.”
George is a graduate of St. Joseph’s University and the Drexel University Thomas R. Kline School of Law. He forged his work ethic and dedication while working in his father’s deli in South Philadelphia. He also learned invaluable lessons by accompanying his uncle, Greg Pagano, to court as a youngster.
“I’d watch him in the courtroom,” George recalls. “I’d watch how he fought for what was right. I developed an early interest in the law by watching him. My uncle always talks about working hard, about treating the client like a member of the family. It’s true; we do. We put the time and effort into every case. I personally work on every personal injury case. I review every medical record myself, to get more detail. I don’t know many personal injury attorneys who give clients their cell phone number. I do. It illustrates our commitment to the client.”
Sarah Jones, who, like George, is a Super Lawyers Rising Star, roots her practice in family law. She enjoys helping clients through a multitude of domestic issues, including custody, child support, divorce, grandparents’ rights, protection from abuse petitions, and dependency.
“It’s my job to navigate these complex issues and try to make my clients happy,” she says. “That’s what’s most important to me. It’s challenging dealing with families when their lives are at their worst. It’s an emotional process, for them and for me. My job is to do all I can to get my client the right outcome.”
Jones received her Juris Doctor from Widener University School of Law and her undergraduate degree from the University of Colorado. Prior to joining Pagano’s firm, where she interned in 2011, she interned with the public defender’s office in Cape May County, New Jersey. She has represented clients throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey in both criminal and family law cases. In one such case, Jones represented a man accused of abuse by his teenage daughter. At trial, Jones proved the girl had lied.
“I was able to prove to the court the daughter was just getting back at her father because she didn’t like her dad’s rules about seeing her boyfriend, and how he was always on her about doing better in school,” Jones says. “It turned out he was just a hardworking guy trying to raise his daughter the right way.”
She believes she was able to clear the man’s name in part because of a lesson imparted by Pagano: Hard work pays off.
As Pagano says, “You only get good results if you work your tail off. There’s just no substitute for hard work.”
Law Offices of Gregory J. Pagano, P.C.
www.paganolaw.net | (215) 636-0160
1315 Walnut Street, 12th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19107
11 E. Second Street
Media, PA 19063
Photograph by Alison Dunlap
Published (and copyrighted) in Suburban Life magazine, July 2021.
