Imoh E. Akpan
Partner
Experience
Imoh E. Akpan is an accomplished litigator with nearly 20 years of experience representing corporations and insurers in a variety of matters involving catastrophic injury, wrongful death, general negligence, negligent security, civil rights, product liability, and other types of claims. He has taken over 15 jury trials and 250 bench trials to verdict, most of them involving commercial motor vehicles. A trusted counselor to his longtime clients, he has particularly deep experience in the trucking and transportation, retail and hospitality, and construction industries.
Imoh has defended a variety of trucking and transportation matters involving passenger vehicle accidents, wrongful death, owner-operator liability, logo liability, and negligence claims. He has handled more than 20 rapid response investigations and has deposed accident reconstruction and human factors experts, police officers, vocational rehabilitation counselors, economists, orthopedists, neurologists, and neuropsychologists.
Imoh also has significant experience in the retail and hospitality industry, particularly handling civil rights, civil assault and battery, defamation, negligent security, and slip and fall claims in state and federal courts in Maryland and Washington, D.C. He has represented a wide range of retail clients, including apartment complexes, big box retailers, hotels, private security companies, and special police officers. While the majority of Imoh’s practice involves trial litigation, he also has appellate experience, which includes clerking for the Hon. Inez Smith Reid in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and acting as lead appellate counsel in over 10 appeals, including six before the Appellate Court of Maryland and one before the Maryland Supreme Court.
Imoh is also a member of Goldberg Segalla’s Diversity Task Force, which strives to conceptualize and implement diversity-focused programs and give diversity a voice in our decision-making at the highest level. The individuals on this task force share the firm’s strong commitment to increasing diversity, and they use their unique experiences and backgrounds to support and advance that goal. Imoh is a long-time member of the Steering Committee for Defense Research Institute’s Diversity Committee and currently serves as the Committee Chair.
Imoh co-chaired the annual gala for the University of Baltimore’s Fannie Angelos Program for Academic Excellence from 2017 through 2020. The Fannie Angelos Program was designed to help minority students gain admittance to law school and offer support and job assistance after graduation. In 2017, the Fannie Angelos Program won the American Bar Association’s Diversity Leadership Award.
During law school, Imoh worked as a student attorney for the Baltimore City Office of the Public Defender and was the managing editor of the University of Baltimore’s Intellectual Property Law Journal. He also gained experience as a law clerk for the Hon. Althea M. Handy in the Baltimore City Circuit Court.
Related Areas
Industries
Experience Highlights
- Successful appeal overturning a half-million-dollar jury verdict on an issue of first impression, involving alleged negligent hiring of an independent contractor who lacked liability insurance. See Perry v. Asphalt & Concrete Services, Inc., 447 Md. 31, 133 A.3d 1143 (2016).
- Successful appeal overturning a $200,000 jury award on an issue of first impression involving the recovery of unjust enrichment and breach of contract damages under Maryland law. See Axe Props. & Mgmt, LLC v. Merriman, 261 Md. App. 1, 311 A.3d 376 (2024).
- Obtained a defense verdict in an eight-day jury trial in U.S. District Court for the District of Maryland.
- Obtained a defense verdict in a negligent entrustment claim involving driver convicted of DUI.
- Obtained summary judgment in favor of a delivery company on a vicarious liability claim.
- Obtained a dismissal of a wrongful death suit, involving eight decedents and carbon monoxide exposure.
- Obtained summary judgment in a wrongful death suit, involving a shooting at an apartment complex.
- Obtained summary judgment in a false arrest/imprisonment, civil rights claim based on mistaken identity.
- Obtained partial summary judgment on an informed consent claim against a pharmacy.
Honors & Awards
Leaders in Diversity – Baltimore Business Journal, 2022
Best Lawyers in America
- Litigation — Insurance, 2022-25
- Product Liability Litigation — Defendants, 2023-24
Maryland Super Lawyers Rising Stars, 2014–2021
Daily Record’s Leaders in Law Award, 2019
Background
Admissions
- Maryland
- District of Columbia
- U.S. District Court for the Northern and Southern Districts of Maryland
- U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
Education
- University of Baltimore School of Law, J.D., 2006
- University of Pennsylvania, B.S. in Neurobiology and Cognitive Science, 2002
Professional Affiliations
- Defense Research Institute: Voice of The Defense Bar
- Diversity Steering/Planning Committee, 2018 to present
- Chair, 2024 to present
- Vice Chair, 2023-24
- Diversity Seminar: Expo Chair, 2020, 2021
- Diversity Seminar: Marketing Chair, 2019
- Law Student Forum: Panelist, 2019
- Diversity Seminar: Dine-A-Round Chair, 2018
- Retail and Hospitality Steering/Planning Committee, 2019-20
- Membership Committee, 2021
- Annual Meeting Steering Committee, 2021
- Diversity Steering/Planning Committee, 2018 to present
- Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel
- Admissions Committee, 2020 to present
- Diversity Committee: Co-Chair, 2019-23
- Membership Recruitment Committee: Vice Chair, 2020-21
- Membership Recruitment Committee: Vice-Chair, Diversity Liaison, 2020-21
- Premises Liability: Chair, 2020-21
- National Foundation for Judicial Excellence
- Board of Directors, 2023 to present
- Program Committee, 2020 and 2021
- National African American Insurance Association: Member, 2018-21
- National Capitol-Central Maryland Chapter: Legal Counsel, 2018-20
Community Involvement
- University of Baltimore
- Fannie Angelos Program for Academic Excellence
- Annual Gala: Program Co-Chair, 2017-20
- Boot Camp Advisor, 2020 to present
- Law Career Development Office Practice Interviewing Evening
- Interviewer, 2020
- BLSA Annual Practice Interviewing Evening
- Interviewer, 2018 and 2019
- Fannie Angelos Program for Academic Excellence
News & Knowledge
Publications & Events
- “The End of Affirmative Action: How the Supreme Court’s Upcoming Decisions Will Affect Diversity Equity and Inclusion Efforts,” FDCC Insights, Spring 2022
- “We Have a Responsibility Too,” DRI Voices, Vol. 19, Issue 31, August 5, 2020
- “DEI Policies in the Crosshairs: A Discussion of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and its Impact on DEI Initiatives in the Private Sector,” Co-Presenter, FDCC Annual Meeting, July 30, 2024
- Speed Clerkship Interviewing Session with Law Students from The Appellate Project (TAP) – A roundtable discussion about the benefits of state appellate clerkships, Co-Presenter, NFJE Annual Symposium, July 26, 2024
- “Managing and Mitigating Manufacturing Risk from Contracts to Consumer/Customer Education,” Moderator, DRI Product Liability Conference, February 9, 2024
- “Seeds of Success: Developing Talent and Clients in and for a Diverse Workforce,” Co-Presenter, FDCC Annual Meeting, February 22, 2023
- “Don’t Say Daubert! Status of the Proposed Amendment to Rule 702,” Co-Presenter, FDCC Annual Meeting, February 21, 2023
- “Post-Pandemic Juries – How Things Have Changed,” Moderator, DRI Product Liability Conference, February 2, 2023
- “On Cybersecurity … Cybersecurity Trends,” Moderator, FDCC Annual Meeting, July 28, 2022
- “A Virtual Quagmire: Weighing the Risks and Benefits of Remote Work in a Post-Covid World,” Co-Presenter, FDCC Annual Meeting, July 27, 2022
- “Continuing the Conversation: Racial Justice and Equity in State Courts,” Moderator, NFJE Annual Symposium, July 16, 2022
- DRI Diversity for Success Seminar, Program Chair, May 11-13, 2022
- “Remote Work & Diversity,” Moderator, DRI Diversity for Success Seminar, May 12, 2022
- “Taking Mediation to the Next Level: Using Virtual Mediation Effectively for Your Client,” Co-Presenter, FDCC Winter Meeting, March 7, 2022
- “How Science Can Help You Understand and Reduce Bias in Eyewitness Testimony,” Co-Presenter, FDCC Annual Meeting, August 3, 2021
- “Unringing the Cybersecurity Bell: The Court’s Role in Mitigating Cybersecurity Risks Invited During the Discovery Process,” Moderator, NFJE Annual Symposium, July 10, 2021
- “The Nuts and Bolts of Cybersecurity,” Moderator, NFJE Virtual Symposium, October 15, 2020
- “A Primer on Tenant Claim Investigations,” Co-Presenter, GS Webinar Series, March 8, 2024
- “How to Slay the Dragon – An Updated Roadmap on How to Defend Against Reptile Theory Tactics,” Presenter, June 30, 2021
- “Prevalent Issues Arising in Construction Defect Cases in Maryland and the District of Columbia,” Co-Presenter, GS Webinar Series, May 20, 2021
- “Low Speed, Rear-end Accident – Legal Issues,” Co-Presenter, GS Webinar Series, April 29, 2021
- “The Calm Before the Storm: A Look at Pending COVID-19-Related Litigation,” University of Baltimore Law in Focus Webinar Series, August 6, 2020