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Ben Crump has become synonymous with high-profile police brutality cases that have rocked America. He has secured historic settlements for families such as George Floyd and Breonna Taylor and also represented people in Flint, Michigan in an important reparations case.
Crump was raised in government-subsidized housing and attended college on scholarships. Now he leads his firm with his wife and daughter in Tallahassee.
Benjamin Lloyd Crump hails from government-subsidized housing, and attributes his strong work ethic to lessons taught by his mother, who worked both as a hotel maid and at a Converse shoe factory before raising him and his siblings alone. Her teachings inspired his commitment to civil rights causes, as well as fighting on their behalf against oppressors.
After representing the families of unarmed black men killed by police officers, his work inspired the Black Lives Matter movement and has made him one of the country’s premier civil rights lawyers – his clients include Trayvon Martin, Michael Brown and George Floyd’s families.
Crump has represented many Black victims, yet his success in these cases has attracted support from both parties. He has won millions in awards and settlements on behalf of his clients – including an astounding $27 Million award to George Floyd’s family after Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin shot and killed George.
Though he has become known for his high-profile cases, Genae and her daughter Brooklyn remain his top priorities in life. Together they attend church regularly while Genae provides spiritual support as she travels with him on some of his biggest cases and helps raise money for a law school named after Thurgood Marshall (deceased).
Crump attended South Plantation High School, a four-year public high school located in Plantation, Florida that serves sections of Plantation, Broadview Park and Fort Lauderdale. Following graduation he enrolled at Florida State University to obtain both his bachelor’s in criminal justice as well as law degrees. At Florida State he met Daryl Parks – his eventual life partner.
Crump’s work often revolves around controversial cases involving police brutality. He has represented families of many black victims such as Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd, and Jacob Blake whose families he represented for this purpose. Furthermore, he was involved with other high-profile cases, such as Holtzclaw Oklahoma City police rape case as well as Minneapolis officers’ wrongful killing of black man by this means.
Though his work as a civil rights attorney has made him widely recognized, the majority of his income comes from personal injury cases. He has won millions for his clients including an impressive $411 million payout to an injured soldier from Afghanistan; as well as winning multiple settlements in civil rights and wrongful death matters.
Recent projects of his include representing the family of a person killed in a traffic collision and two paramedics for their roles in causing respiratory distress to lead to their patient’s death. He is known for being a prominent voice against police brutality across America and known for his powerful public speaking ability and poise during public discussions.
After graduating from South Plantation High School in 2008, Crump attended Florida State University where he obtained a law degree. Shortly afterwards he established his own practice in Tallahassee, Florida. Crump was first widely known for representing Trayvon Martin’s family after George Zimmerman shot and killed him during a neighborhood watch volunteer patrol – sparking national debate about police role in communities of color as well as inspiring Black Lives Matter movement.
Since then, Crump has established himself as one of the country’s premier civil rights and personal injury attorneys. His clients include Ahmaud Arbery’s family, Jacob Blake’s, Breonna Taylor’s and several others who had their rights violated by members of law enforcement; due to this work he was instrumental in passing laws limiting excessive force usage as well as creating implicit bias training programs for law enforcement officials.
Crump has extensive experience representing civil rights victims as well as personal injury and class-action litigation cases. For instance, he filed lawsuits against Johnson & Johnson for marketing talcum powder to minority populations despite studies linking it with ovarian cancer, and currently represents those in Flint Michigan who were poisoned by its polluted water supplies.
Crump’s legal work aside, Crump is actively engaged in community affairs and serves on the boards of Omega Psi Phi, America’s oldest black fraternity and The Innocence Project – both New York-based non-profits that work to exonerate those wrongfully convicted – in addition to motivational speaking and publishing books like his latest work “Open Season: Legalized Genocide of Colored People” (2019).
Attorney Ben Crump has earned international renown for his work in high-profile civil rights cases and as a vocal proponent for ending police brutality. His efforts have resulted in legislation prohibiting excessive force use as well as implicit bias training for law enforcement officers. Crump has received multiple accolades including being chosen the 2014 NNPA Newsmaker of the Year by National Trial Lawyers Top 100 Lawyers list as well as being named on Ebony Magazine Power 100 list for African Americans.
Crump has successfully represented families of victims of police brutality as well as winning landmark verdicts and settlements for his clients, such as Duane Washington’s $411 Million verdict from an accident truck, Flint residents receiving poisoned water treatment from Flint Water Company’s poisonous water, George Floyd for $27 Million Settlement; as well as representing Breonna Taylor from Louisville who was shot on an no-knock warrant shot by police; currently working on representing Henrietta Lacks family’s landmark reparations lawsuit and many more.
Growing up “government-subsidized housing poor” in Lumberton, North Carolina, Crump developed an early interest in inequality. His book Open Season recounts seeing white and black children stand separately for lunch lines in his newly integrated school in 1978.
Crump’s major cases have shone a light on what he perceives to be systemic racism in Black America, raising important questions about whether our justice system really provides effective outcomes.
His firm has successfully achieved multimillion-dollar settlements for families involved in high profile civil rights cases, including $27 million for George Floyd’s estate and $12 million for Breonna Taylor. He has appeared numerous times on national TV to address their cases and demand justice on their behalf.
He is perhaps best-known for representing the family of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teenager fatally shot by police officers in Ferguson, Missouri in 2014. This case led to widespread protests over police brutality and treatment of African Americans.
Crump remains humble and down-to-earth despite his fame, speaking from his heart to inspire young lawyers who fill lecture halls to hear him.
His success has allowed Crump to start his own law firm, in partnership with Morgan & Morgan. Through this network of lawyers spanning California, Georgia, Illinois, Texas and Washington D.C, Crump can access an expansive network of attorneys. Furthermore, Brooklyn Media (named for his daughter) produces television documentaries focused on race and politics as well as producing personal injury cases including one filed against Johnson & Johnson alleging its talcum powder caused ovarian cancer in women who used it.
Crump draws his inspiration from Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall when choosing cases and media content with the intention of “shocking the conscience” of American citizens. His firm has taken on high-profile cases that expose systemic issues in civil rights and injustice; these have included representing Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, George Floyd and Z’Kye Husain’s families among many others; in addition to leading Flint residents toward record settlements as well as making history through Henrietta Lacks descendants’ reparations cases.
Brooklyn Media Production Company and Brooklyn Legal are home for this passionate activist in the legal community and familiar figure to Black America. His public profile has grown since Trayvon Martin was killed, as his work continues to alter culture and society at large. Through their television production company Brooklyn Media’s scripted content that highlights social justice issues and injustices.
His life revolves around Genae and their daughter Brooklyn who are the center of his world. Rev Holmes serves as his spiritual advisor and travels with him on major cases. He pledged his grandmother he would abstain from drinking cocktails to honor this promise, fulfilling another vow made to her during a promise-keeping ritual at his grandmother’s funeral service. With an unwavering passion for activism and advocacy – as demonstrated by his strong relationship with both police and community organizations – his commitment remains strong.