08/25/2026
NBC 6 South Florida invited TFNLGroup founder and hazing trial attorney Douglas Fierberg to weigh in on a college hazing case that nearly killed two young men who wanted to join a fraternity. Three men, including a U.S. Secret Service agent, now face charges.
For more than three decades, Doug has represented hazing victims and their families, and he used the interview to challenge a myth that keeps students in danger: that hazing is a harmless tradition, or a rite of passage.
As Doug put it, these kinds of failures are often institutional: “Part of the issue is whether or not these organizations commit the resources necessary to extinguish these violent practices.”
The fact that someone “agreed” to participate does not excuse conduct that puts lives at risk. Real accountability means looking past the people in the room to the systems that allow hazing to continue and asking who knew, who could have stopped it, and why they didn’t.
We’re proud of Doug’s continued advocacy for victims, survivors, and their families. This is the kind of work that pushes fraternities, universities, and institutions toward lasting change.
A Secret Service agent is now one of three men facing charges in connection with a brutal days-long college hazing ritual that nearly ended in two people being killed. NBC6’s Christian Colón reports
