Defense Digest, Vol. 26, No. 1, Spring 2020

On the Pulse…Other Notable Achievements

New Director of Workers’ Compensation Department

Michele R. Punturi, longtime shareholder in the Philadelphia office, has been named Director of the Workers’ Compensation Department and has been elected to the firm’s Board of Directors, effective January 1 of this year. In this role, she will manage more than 40 attorneys in 11 of our offices. She succeeds Niki T. Ingram, who remains at the firm and will continue to practice workers’ compensation law, and manage community relations and diversity and inclusion initiatives.

New Assistant Director of the Professional Liability Department

Craig S. Hudson has been promoted to the position of Assistant Director of the Professional Liability Department. In this capacity, he will assist department director, Christopher E. Dougherty, with the management of 16 practice groups and approximately 150 attorneys. Craig has served for the past five years as a senior vice president of the firm and as a member of the Board of Directors. He currently is the professional liability supervisor and regional managing attorney of our four Florida offices—one of the firm’s fastest growing markets. During his 27 years with us, Craig has practiced in both the Philadelphia and Fort Lauderdale offices where he successfully resolved thousands of professional liability matters. He will return to Philadelphia for this management role.

Florida Shareholder Elected to the Board of Directors IALDA

Alicia Caridi-Smith, a shareholder in the Tampa office, has been elected to join the Board of Directors of the International Amusement & Leisure Defense Association (IALDA). She will also serve as chairperson of finance for the organization. IALDA is a non-profit association of amusement defense attorneys and claims professionals who focus their practice on legal issues in the amusement industry. Membership is open to experienced members of the Bar who regularly represent the amusement and leisure industries, as well as business owners and managers, claims professionals and expert witnesses in these areas.

Associate Selected as 2020 Board Observer for Legal Clinic for the Disabled

Adam J. Fulginiti, an associate in the Philadelphia office, has been selected to serve as the 2020 Board Observer for the Legal Clinic for the Disabled as part of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation's Board Observer program. The Board Observer program is a partnership between the Philadelphia Bar Foundation and the Philadelphia Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division. Designed to provide young lawyers with the opportunity to develop leadership skills, learn about nonprofit governance and make connections in the nonprofit community, the program pairs attorneys with a Philadelphia nonprofit organization for a one-year time period.

Marshall Dennehey Announces 2020 Shareholder Class

We are pleased to announce that 12 associates and four special counsel have been elevated to shareholder. Additionally, we have promoted one associate to the position of special counsel. These new shareholders and special counsel represent the firm's four core departments—casualty, professional liability, health care and workers' compensation—and come from 10 of our 20 regional offices.

In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the new shareholders are:

Christine Pellegrini Busch, formerly special counsel, now a shareholder in the Casualty Department. Christine has more than 20 years of defense litigation experience and currently handles asbestos and toxic tort, environmental litigation, and motor vehicle and bad faith litigation.

Jonathon Cross, formerly special counsel, now a shareholder in the Professional Liability Department. Jon defends sports and recreation facility owners, coaches and instructors, youth athletic organizations, professional athletes and more when claims are made against them. He is experienced in litigating sports-related concussion claims, and he often provides legal counsel to contractors, architects and engineers, accountants and more in professional liability matters.

In Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the new shareholder is:

Brett Shear, formerly associate, in our Health Care Department. Brett represents physicians, medical professionals and hospitals in a wide variety of health care liability and medical malpractice actions.

In Scranton, Pennsylvania, the new shareholders are:

Michael Connolly, formerly associate, in the Casualty Department. Michael primarily handles matters involving premises liability, automobile and general liability. He has defended a number of industrial workplace accident cases, and he regularly deals with matters involving Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). Additionally, he litigates wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases pertaining to surface mining accidents, motor vehicle, product liability and UIM claims.

Mark Kozlowski, formerly associate, in the Professional Liability Department. Mark focuses his practice on civil rights, constitutional law and municipal liability.

In Mount Laurel, New Jersey, the new shareholder is:

Matthew Burdalski, formerly associate, in the Casualty Department. Matt is a member of the firm’s Fraud/Special Investigation Practice Group where he focuses primarily on large loss fraud and medical provider fraud. He is also experienced in insurance coverage litigation, representing numerous insurance carriers across multiple states for the purposes of SIU investigation, bad faith litigation and general defense litigation.

In Roseland, New Jersey, the new shareholders are:

Julie Dorfman, formerly associate, in the Casualty Department. Julie focuses her practice in maritime litigation and general liability matters involving personal injury, premises liability, sidewalk liability, condominium/community association law, product liability, marine, inland marine, construction accidents and more.

Ida M. Fuda, formerly associate, in the Workers’ Compensation Department. Ida defends entities in a variety of industries, including national retail companies, national manufacturers, regional healthcare facilities, and small employers in workers' compensation matters. Ida has a diverse background, including extensive experience in the areas of general liability, professional liability and medical malpractice defense.

Rachel Ramsay-Lowe, formerly associate, in the Workers' Compensation Department. Rachel defends insured entities, such as national department stores, retail chains and various other small employers, in matters relating to workers' compensation in New Jersey.

In Melville, New York, the new shareholders are:

Colleen Cronin, formerly special counsel, in the Casualty Department. Colleen has more than 20 years of experience representing companies in complex product liability and toxic tort litigation matters, including asbestos. Her clients include product and equipment manufacturers, contractors, suppliers and premises owners.

Andrew Warshauer, formerly special counsel, in the Casualty Department. Andrew devotes the entirety of his practice to toxic tort litigation and product liability law, primarily focusing on the defense of companies in the New York asbestos litigation. A civil litigator for over 20 years, he has litigated hundreds of cases venued in New York’s state and federal courts.

In Tampa, Florida, the new shareholders are:

Samuel Higginbottom, formerly associate, in the Casualty Department. Sam represents clients in the fields of retail liability, automobile litigation, trucking accident litigation, and in various other types of general litigation in Florida’s state and federal courts. His clients include trucking companies, retail stores, restaurant chains, grocery chains, international hotel chains, pawnbrokers, and various insurers and service providers to these industries.

Lindsay McCormick, formerly associate, in the Professional Liability Department. Lindsay focuses her practice in the areas of construction defect litigation and general professional liability defense. She provides counsel to subcontractors, general contractors, manufacturers, suppliers, architects, and engineers in claims brought against them in a variety of construction projects and disputes. She is also experienced handling condominium association claims and directors/officers claims for real estate agents, brokers and appraisers.

In Fort Lauderdale, Florida, the new shareholder is:

Harris Kirsch, formerly associate, in the Casualty Department. Harris represents clients in automobile litigation, commercial premises liability, construction litigation, third party water litigation claims, personal injury protection claims and general casualty matters. He is frequently retained by insurance carriers to assist in the defense of homeowner associations, property management companies and other companies for a multitude of premises liability claims.

In Wilmington, Delaware, the new shareholder is:

Jessica Tyler, formerly associate, in the Casualty Department. Jessica focuses her practice on general liability, automobile liability, premises liability, professional liability and construction defect litigation. Jessica is also experienced in defending toxic tort actions and has obtained summary judgment in cases with six figure demands. She additionally handles cases in the firm's Fraud/Special Investigative Practice Group where she evaluates medical provider fraud and manages PIP disputes throughout the state of Delaware.

In Cincinnati, Ohio, the new shareholder is:

David Williamson, formerly special counsel, in the Casualty Department. Dave’s practice includes defending insurance companies in disputes with insureds, other insurers and claimants. He also defends clients in personal injury cases, transportation law, workplace injury litigation, property disputes and public liability cases.

New Special Counsel

Ian Antonoff, formerly an associate in our New York City office, has been promoted to Special Counsel in the Professional Liability Department. Ian defends design professionals and contractors in construction defect actions involving claims ranging from water infiltration to overall design and structural issues. He also defends contractors in connection with personal injury claims resulting from construction site accidents.

Marshall Dennehey Receives 2019 Diversity & Inclusion Award From Liberty Mutual Insurance

Marshall Dennehey is the recipient of the 2019 Diversity & Inclusion Award from Liberty Mutual Insurance. The award recognizes the firm’s service to the community and legal profession. Marshall Dennehey’s President & CEO, G. Mark Thompson, accepted the award during a reception at the Liberty Mutual Legal Academy held at the firm’s Boston headquarters in November. “We are deeply honored and gratified to receive this award recognizing our commitment to increasing minority representation within our legal ranks, as well as our dedication to supporting under-represented populations in our community,” said Mr. Thompson. “Such client recognition reinforces our mission to build a diverse and inclusive workforce that is is reflective of all of the communities where we provide legal services.”

Marshall Dennehey Relocates Westchester, NY Office

Marshall Dennehey has relocated its Westchester, New York office to the The Riverview at Purchase office building, located a short distance away from the firm’s previous office location in Rye Brook. The new office address is 287 Bowman Avenue, Suite 404, Purchase, NY 10577. All of the office’s telephone and fax numbers remain the same. We opened the Westchester office with five attorneys in 2014. Today, the office has 13 attorneys serving clients throughout New York State in general property and casualty litigation, including New York construction/labor law, asbestos litigation, professional liability defense and health care liability matters. The firm’s additional New York offices are located in Manhattan and Melville, Long Island.

“Ask-A-Lawyer” Event for Military Veterans

Heather Carbone, Sean Reeves and Jim Hanratty (Jacksonville, FL) recently participated in a free “Ask-A-Lawyer” event for military veterans through the Veterans Legal Collaborative. ​The event is a monthly event with local counsel volunteering to provide brief counsel and advice to veterans at the VA Jacksonville Outpatient Clinic. This is the second year that Marshall Dennehey attorneys from Jacksonville have participated in this event.

 

 

Defense Digest, Vol. 26, No. 1, Spring 2020 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1. © 2020 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.