Huntington Alumnus Now Battles in Idaho Courtroom

Brian Fischenich has always been a warrior.  At Huntington High School he was twice All-Suffolk and All-State in wrestling, winning the 1992 state crown, before going on to Lehigh University and Georgetown Law School.  Today he finds himself in another battle, this time on behalf of Wyeth Laboratories, the maker of the diet drug Phen/fen.

A member of Huntington’s Class of 1992, Fischenich won 83 varsity matches for the Blue Devils and also starred on the school’s volleyball team before shipping out to Lehigh.  While he didn’t have the size to make it big in the world of college wrestling, he used the opportunity to study hard and earn the grades necessary to eventually gain acceptance into Georgetown.

Between Lehigh and Georgetown Fischenich worked in Colorado for a national magazine auditing firm.  He enjoyed his time out west and has returned to that area of the country.  He passed the bar exam last July and was sworn into the Idaho bar in September.

Fischenich’s days are now spent working for a firm that represents Wyeth Labs against about 550 Idaho plaintiffs who have opted out of a class settlement and are suing for damages allegedly caused by the diet drugs they took in the mid-1990’s. 

“I have been enjoying Boise,” Fischenich said.  “There are a number of good rivers to fish.  Unfortunately, I got skunked last year (2004).  I did not fish much early in the year because of the bar exam and I think the fish wised up by August because they were not biting very much. I bought a K2 Attack mountain bike and have gotten that out on a number of the area trails.  That is a lot of fun, but I need to get in better shape before the spring bike season rolls around so I can take more advantage of it.”

Fischenich was the Huntington wrestling team’s high scorer and MVP in both 1991 and 1992. While his competitive wrestling days are over, he is turning to one of the traditional games enjoyed by lawyers: golf.  “It wasn’t my best year in golf, which again I blame it on all the time it took to study for the bar exam,” he said.  “I don’t know what my excuse will be next year.  I did almost break an 80 a couple of times, but I also almost shot over 100 a couple of times.”

Fischenich enjoyed his time in the Washington, D.C. area during his law school years and hopes to return there down the road.  He worked for a time in the office of United States Senator Mike Crapo on Capitol Hill. “I would really like to get back to the DC area if I could find the right job,” he said.  Knowing how Fischenich has always attacked his goals in the past, it would seem only a matter of time before that “right job” materializes.