Brian Kent

Partner

EmailBKent@laffeybuccikent.com

Phone866.641.0806

Fax215.241.8700

Founding partner and head of the crime victim department leads a team of former prosecutors who devote 100% of their legal practice to representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse and assault.

Social

Founding partner and head of the crime victim department leads a team of former prosecutors who devote 100% of their legal practice to representing victims and survivors of sexual abuse and assault.

Memberships

  • Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association
  • Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association
  • American Association of Justice
  • Pennsylvania Association of Justice
  • Montgomery County Inn of Court
  • Million Dollar Advocates Forum
  • National Crime Victim Bar Association
  • American Bar Association
  • Pennsylvania Bar Association
  • Illinois State Bar Association
  • New Jersey State Bar Association
  • Philadelphia Bar Association
  • Montgomery County Bar Association

Education

  • Master of Laws (LLM), 2008 (Trial Advocacy), Temple University
  • Juris Doctor, 2003, Temple University
  • Bachelor of Arts, International Relations, 2000, University of Delaware

Licensure

  • Pennsylvania
  • New Jersey
  • Illinois
  • New York
  • United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
  • United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
  • United States District Court for New Jersey

About Brian

Brian Kent is a former sex crimes prosecutor, a clergy abuse survivor and recipient of the National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s 2019 Civilian Leadership award. He is a founding partner and head of the crime victim department in the law firm where he leads a team made up of former prosecutors who devote one hundred percent of their practice to representing victims of crime, mostly sexual abuse and assault survivors, across the country.

Brian has more than 20 years of legal experience specializing in representing survivors of abuse, assault and exploitation and has taken on several high-profile cases. He represents victims and survivors of Jerry Sandusky, priest abuse, Kanakuk camp, Scientology, Massage Envy, Southern Baptist Church, Pornhub, various school districts and other educational institutions such as a military academy, and many other well known institutions. Brian also represented victims and survivors of Judge William Bradley – a case that resulted in the judge’s removal from the bench, disbarment and admission to the abuse as part of the settlement. Brian’s representation of women across the country against massage franchise chain Massage Envy led to a Buzzfeed investigation and article regarding the company’s practices in covering up sexual assaults at its franchise locations which ultimately resulted in the company making changes to its policies and procedures to prevent assaults in the future as well as implementation of a “safety team.”

In 2020, Brian and Guy D’Andrea secured a $62 million settlement in Kanawah County for 29 survivors of child abuse and neglect at the Miracle Meadows School in Salem, WV.

Early on in his career, Brian was one of only 35 attorneys in the state of Pennsylvania to be named a “Lawyer on the Fast Track.” Since then, he has been recognized by his peers who voted him to the top 100 attorneys in Pennsylvania and Philadelphia as recognized by Super Lawyers® and has been included as a Top 100 Lawyer in the National Trial Lawyers. Brian has a Masters of Law in Trial Advocacy from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law. He served as an adjunct professor at Drexel University Kline School of Law and at Temple Law where he taught advanced trial advocacy. He has served as an expert in sexual abuse and assault cases on several local and national news networks and programs and trains institutions and individuals on sexual abuse and assault prevention and investigations.

Brian serves on the board of ChildUSA, a non-profit think tank dedicated to protecting children and preventing abuse and for Voices in Action. He has also served on the board of the National Crime Victim Bar Association, an affiliate of the National Center for Victims of Crime that is the only bar association in the country made up of attorneys dedicated to helping victims of crime seek justice through the civil court system. He has served as a volunteer attorney for the Montgomery County Child Advocacy Project for more than 10 years and works with many non-profit and charitable organizations, most of which are dedicated to the eradication of child sexual abuse and helping abuse and assault survivors. Brian also serves as a volunteer for Sharing Excess, a food sharing nonprofit.

As a survivor of clergy sexual abuse himself, Brian uses his experiences to put an end to sexual violence in all forms and help other fellow survivors.

More About Laffey, Bucci & Kent

Laffey, Bucci & Kent is a preeminent, national law firm with offices from the east coast to the west coast that handles cases for crime victims, assault and abuse survivors and catastrophic injury clients all over the country. The firm’s Crime Victim Department is made up entirely of former homicide and sex crimes prosecutors that have vast experience in interviewing and working with sexual assault and exploitation survivors and understanding their needs during both the criminal process and civil litigation, as well as telling the survivor’s story at the time of trial. Laffey, Bucci & Kent regularly works with law enforcement early on to ensure that criminal and civil justice are achieved for their clients which is why many law enforcement agencies and victim advocacy groups look to Laffey, Bucci & Kent to represent victims and survivors they work with. Laffey, Bucci & Kent has represented and continues to represent survivors against religious organizations, schools, youth organizations, athletic organizations, doctors, medical practices and hospitals, mental health and rehab facilities, malls, preschools and daycares, massage businesses as well as any other organizations who is responsible for someone being abused, assaulted or exploited. Many of their cases have been chronicled in the media and firm leaders are often asked to serve and experts for media outlets as it relates to crime and sexual exploitation prevention and response. They have been featured on A&E, Good Morning America, CBS News and other media outlets. They currently are representing hundreds of women who have been victimized at the hands of Massage Envy workers, children who were abused at therapeutic boarding schools ran by the Seventh Day Adventist Church, survivors of Dr. Jack Barto and Dr. William Vollmar, represented victims of Jerry Sandusky against Penn State as well as scores of clergy and lay abuse survivors against religious organizations, were involved in the prosecution and trial of Bill Cosby and their efforts in representing survivors of Judge William Bradley for child abuse led to his disbarment, removal from the bench and a written apology acknowledging he abused their clients. They regularly work with child safety organizations and are dedicated to protecting children and adults from sexual abuse and exploitation in any form.

Industry Recognition

  • Pennsylvania Super Lawyer® (2013-2020)
  • Pennsylvania Super Lawyer® Top 100: 2020 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers®
  • Pennsylvania Super Lawyer ®Top 100: 2020 Philadelphia Super Lawyers®
  • Pennsylvania Super Lawyer® – Rising Star (2010-2012)
  • National Trial Lawyers – Top 100 Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania (2011-2015)
  • National Trial Lawyers – Top 40 Under 40 in Pennsylvania (2011-2015)
  • The Legal Intelligencer – Lawyer on the Fast Track (2008)
  • National Center on Sexual Exploitation’s 2019 Civic Leadership Award

Speaking Engagements

  • Presenter, Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests Conference – Defamation and Civil Lawsuits, 2017
  • Presenter, National Crime Victim Bar Association Annual Conference – “Current Issues in Litigating Civil Cases for Crimes at the Workplace” 2013
  • Trial Magazine Featured Article – “Workplace Safety” 2011
  • Presenter, National Crime Victim Bar Association Conference – “Cooperation Between Civil Attorneys and Prosecutors When Civil and Criminal Cases Overlap” 2009

Leadership

  • American Ireland Fund – Young Leaders of Philadelphia Chair
  • Pennsylvania Innocence Project – Board of Directors
  • Montgomery County Child Advocacy Project – Child Advocate
  • University of Delaware Alumni Association – Board of Directors and Philadelphia Alumni Board President
  • Temple University Beasley School of Law – Lecturer in Trial Advocacy
  • Drexel University School of Law – Adjunct Professor

Languages

  • Spanish
  • Italian

Recent Case Results