Jason Snyderman, Lewis Schlossberg and Leigh Ann Fierro were recognized by The Legal Intelligencer as "unsung heroes" for their pro bono work on a case involving Pennsylvania’s first-ever convict released from prison on the basis of after-acquired DNA evidence.

The client was convicted in 1987 of rape and related offense, and after serving more than 10 years of a 12-to 24-year sentence, was granted a new trial and released from prison after the acquisition of post-conviction DNA evidence.

Despite the DNA-evidence, the commonwealth opposed expungement of his records in March 2008. However, the trial court failed to conduct the appropriate balancing test to determine whether the expungement was warranted.

In August 2009,  the Blank Rome team successfully argued that had the trial court conducted the appropriate analysis, it would have been compelled to order expungement.

Following the extensive briefing and argument, the Superior Court granted the client full and complete expungement of his record.

To read The Legal Intelligencer’s coverage, please visit www.law.com.