February 5, 2019

Bed Bug Lawyer Brian Virag '99 Featured in the LA Times

By Michelle Morovati '19

Imagine you are a guest at a hotel or a tenant of an apartment building, bedbugs are hiding in your mattress or furniture, you and your family are bitten all over your bodies by the little human feeders, and you are left covered in red itchy bumps. What rights do you have as a hotel guest or tenant? Who can you call to find out? Will you be compensated for your injuries?

Brian Virag, an alumnus of Southwestern Law School, grappled with those same questions when he received his first bedbug injury case about eight years ago. His first case involved a family suing their landlord due to being forced to sleep on the floor because of a bedbug infestation.

Virag reached out to the legal community for guidance but quickly realized not many were familiar with this particular area of law. Although it may sound crazy to many, Virag seized the opportunity and specialized in bedbug litigation because he was eager to help those affected receive the proper compensation for their injuries—both the physical and the emotional.

Virag attended bedbug conferences and seminars, spoke with doctors who treat bedbug bites, and created YouTube videos to help educate himself and his clients.

Since the inception of his firm, My Bedbug Lawyers Inc., Virag has had great success against hotels and apartment owners, winning multi-million-dollar settlements. He currently has a case against Walt Disney Co.

Virag comments on his experience at Southwestern and his journey to becoming the leading bedbug litigator. He says, "First of all, you couldn’t be in a better place than Southwestern to really learn how to be a practicing attorney. When I was at Southwestern, my thoughts were that I was going to be an entertainment lawyer. I was fortunate enough to start working at Universal Pictures as an intern at the same time I was going to Southwestern. What I found out was that it took me time to really figure out what direction you want your law career to go in. " 

"For the first ten years of practice, I dabbled in every type of law imaginable – from criminal to immigration to car accidents, and it wasn’t until I really found my passion in helping people that I began to develop the concept of bed bug litigation.”

- Brian Virag '99

 

Read the full article here.