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We are so proud of our Founder and President Susan Jones Knape who will be accepting the Innovation Award at the nation’s largest legal services conference, Mass Torts Made Perfect, in Las Vegas next week.
This award honors select individuals who have made a tangible difference in the legal space – visionary thinkers who have successfully broken the mold and created new ways of reaching people who need contingency-fee legal services.
“Educating women about legal options that could change their lives” is the founding mission of A Case for Women® (ACFW). This mission is palpable at the core of every part of our operations, from digital communication through in-depth client interviews to actually signing women and their families for legal representation.
A family affair.
Susan’s professional path, like many women’s, was not a straight path. But she has never strayed away from the mantra that drives her: helping people. As an ad executive for three decades, Susan led the charge on many notable cause-oriented campaigns such as AIDS awareness for the Centers for Disease Control and educational programs for the American Heart Association.
This drive to do good is enhanced further by Susan’s personal experiences as the single mother of two daughters. She operates from experience – a personal and professional life moving in parallel fashion to manifest the kinds of assistance she wishes had been there for her, in many respects. Experiencing the school of hard knocks and wanting to set a positive example for her daughters led Susan to publish a book (The Money Rules, a financial primer for women) and furthered her intense drive to create an organization that could truly empower women.
Susan was joined at the onset of A Case for Women by her daughter Jordan Lee Knape, who co-founded the company and is now Director of Operations. Her other daughter, August Reed Knape, later joined ACFW after earning her Master’s in Public Health from Johns Hopkins and currently oversees client services and medical affairs as a director. Many other core team members have worked with Susan for more than 10 years and are considered part of the family.
The concept of reaching women.
The notion of reaching women as the decision makers about lawsuits was literally unheard of 10 years ago. In fact, back then the financial industry was just beginning to realize the untapped potential for women to access financial services. But Susan, then working with a prominent plaintiff’s law firm, foresaw the massive need for women to take part in legal action that would not only bring them financial compensation but would, more importantly, empower them via the gift of being fully heard. 10 years later, the world is catching on. Women, more often than not, carry the burden of making healthcare and legal decisions.
So, we’re not fighting human nature – we’re working with it.
The facts are clear: women are disproportionately hurt by drugs, medical devices, predatory financial practices, and of course sexual assault. But that’s not the only reason that educating women is important.
Women are also the decision makers about the health and well-being of their families and thus are generally the first to seek help when a family member has been defrauded, injured, or is otherwise in need of legal services.
A Case for Women’s innovative approach helps women feel safe, when otherwise they wouldn’t be comfortable picking up the phone and calling a law firm. We provide compassion, a nonjudgmental place to process pain, and a way forward that is understandable, affirming and effective.
Birth of our brother: A Case for Justice.
While the business started with the viewpoint of helping women, more and more stories of men being heard continued to emerge. So, while we are successfully helping women, and yes, we will keep growing and doing it better, we have also been asked to reach out to men. Through our new “brother” affiliate established in 2019, A Case for JusticeSM, we’re able to offer gender-neutral assistance. Because in the same way that sometimes women want to hear from women, sometimes men need to hear from men to create a safe space. A Case for Justice is part of our organizational family, created originally to assist with the Boy Scouts of America sexual assault scandal.
Success – no matter how you define it.
By every definition, A Case for Women has been successful, measured first and foremost by the tens of thousands of people we’ve been able to help take legal action over the past seven years.
We’ve also been honored to work with the most prestigious law firms in the country, always on contingency for the sake of our clients who may not otherwise have the income to pursue an expensive lawsuit. As such, we have become the go-to resource for many highly regarded law firms because of the way we conduct ourselves with authenticity, integrity and the highest ethical standards.
Giving back.
We believe in putting our money where our mouth is. Knowing that not everyone who has been harmed is eligible to participate in a lawsuit, we established our Foundation – A Fund for Women™ – in 2020. The mission of A Fund for WomenSM is to provide small gifts, $500 or less, to women who reach out to A Case for Women and are in dire need of immediate help. The decision regarding who receives financial aid is based upon need and is not at all dependent upon whether or not a woman is a candidate for legal action.
To learn more or donate – A FUND FOR WOMEN.
