Montgomery McCracken Completes Investigation into City of Philadelphia’s History and Handling of MOVE Victims’ Remains

Types : Press Releases

In May 2021, the City of Philadelphia retained Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads LLP and Dechert LLP to conduct an independent investigation into the City of Philadelphia’s possession of human remains from the 1985 MOVE bombing. While Dechert was retained to conduct the investigation regarding the City’s possession of human remains, Montgomery McCracken was engaged to review the policies and procedures of the City’s Medical Examiner’s Office.

Montgomery McCracken stated, “The team of attorneys at Montgomery McCracken that worked on this report are thankful that the City of Philadelphia gave us this opportunity to serve as the liaisons to family members of the victims of the City’s bombing of the MOVE house on May 13, 1985, including family members both inside and outside the MOVE organization, to ensure that they were included in the process and to give voice to any requests they had. In our investigation, one of our goals was to bring transparency to the issue of the chain of custody of the remains that were held at the Penn Museum and to look at the role the medical examiner’s office played. Part of our role was to also review the medical examiner office’s practices and policies from 1985 to present and make recommendations of best practices from a racial equity lens. The role of the medical examiner’s office is critical to bring about justice, as such its work needs to be credible and reliable so that all communities can pursue justice for their loved ones. Although we cannot undo what has already been done, we hope that our involvement helps to bring some sort of closure, and that the recommendations we made will address the lingering problems of the past and prevent recurrence in the present and future.”

To read the City’s June 9, 2022 press release, please click here.

The Montgomery McCracken team included Keir Bradford-Grey and Brian G. Remondino.

About Montgomery McCracken

Montgomery McCracken is a full-service law firm with offices in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey and Delaware. The firm represents leading businesses, multinational corporations, nonprofit organizations and individuals across a wide range of industries in complex litigation matters, significant corporate transactions and challenging disputes. For more information about Montgomery McCracken or its practice areas, please visit us online at www.mmwr.com or on Twitter at @MMWR_Law.