Valerie A. Yarashus, Attorney

Valerie Yarashus concentrates in plaintiff's trial practice, including premises liability, motor vehicle liability, construction site liability, medical malpractice, nursing home litigation and a wide variety of other general liability cases. Valerie graduated from George Washington University (summa cum laude, 1987) and Harvard Law School (cum laude, 1990). While at Harvard Law School, she served as Executive Editor of the Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Valerie joined Sugarman and Sugarman, P.C. following law school in 1990 as an associate and became their first woman partner in 1996. She was a principal in that firm from 1996 to 2008 and was one of the founding partners of Yarashus, Wagner, Cook, Freiberger & Washienko, LLC.

Valerie was listed by the Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly in 1997 as one of the "Rising Stars" in the legal profession in the Commonwealth, in their first annual survey of attorneys in practice for less than 10 years. In October 2004, Valerie was named by Law and Politics magazine ("Best of Boston") as one of the "Massachusetts Super Lawyers," as selected by her peers, and has been listed every year since that time. She was selected by this Best of Boston survey as one of the Top 50 Female Lawyers in Massachusetts from 2005 - the present. Lawyers Weekly inducted her into the "Up and Coming Lawyers Hall of Fame" in 2006; this honor has been awarded to only three other Massachusetts lawyers. Valerie is also listed in the 2005-present editions of Best Lawyers in America.

Valerie has received an AV rating, the highest rating, by the Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory. This rating is given only to lawyers who have Very High to Preeminent Legal Ability and who embrace Very High Professional Standards.

Valerie is the President-Elect of the Massachusetts Bar Association She is also Co-Chair of their Monthly Leadership Roundtable, a past Co-Chair of their Diversity Task Force and a past Chair of their Health Law Section. She is serving as Co-Chair on a special bench-bar task force for Plain English Jury Instructions. Valerie is an Oliver Wendell Holmes Life Fellow of the Massachusetts Bar Foundation, and has served on their grant advisory committee. She is a past President of the Massachusetts Academy of Trial Attorneys (MATA)(2002-2003), as well as a member of their Executive Committee and Board of Governors. She served as Chair of State Legislation for MATA from 1998-2001. In both 2000 and 2002, she was awarded a prestigious Weidemann Wysocki "Citation of Excellence," from the American Association for Justice (AAJ) (an organization with 60,000 members, now renamed the American Association for Justice) for her commitment to the civil justice system. She has served on national committees for AAJ, including Legal Affairs. Valerie has served as a speaker or moderator at two previous national conventions sponsored by AAJ. Recently, she has been elected to membership in the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA).

Valerie is a frequent speaker and writer for continuing legal education. She is the editor of the 2004 - 2008 editions of "Massachusetts Personal Injury Law Sourcebook," published annually by the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc. She co-authored a law review article together with Paul Sugarman entitled, "Admissibility of Managed Care Financial Incentives in Medical Malpractice Cases," which appeared in the American Bar Association's Tort and Insurance Law Journal. Valerie also co-authored, together with Paul Sugarman, the sample jury instructions for the chapters on "Personal Injuries" and "Wrongful Death" in Massachusetts Superior Court Civil Practice Jury Instructions, published by the Massachusetts Continuing Legal Education, Inc.

Valerie enjoys mentoring young people who are interested in becoming an attorney, and particularly enjoys working with people from diverse backgrounds.