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Attorney Profiles

James D. Hilly 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Shareholder
phone(215) 575-2783
fax(215) 575-0856
emailjdhilly@mdwcg.com

Jim is a shareholder in the Philadelphia office of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin where he concentrates his practice on fleet transportation litigation in the Casualty Department.

In over three decades of practice, Jim has focused his practice in the representation of self-insureds and insurers in complex tort and coverage litigation involving all types of common carrier and private transportation fleets, including interstate trucking, waste haulers, taxicab, shuttle and bus operators, loading dock matters, rental vehicle fleets, and paratransit and ambulance services. These have frequently involved issues of driver qualification records, hours of service and log violations, and driver supervision and training, as well as off dispatch and independent contractor issues.

He has handled all types of personal injury, cargo, hazardous materials, indemnification, and insurance coverage issues in this area of practice. Jim has handled numerous fatality cases arising out of transportation accidents, including three defense verdicts and several wage earner brain damage cases.

In addition to having handled cases of accidents involving multiple claims of fatality/injuries, Jim has successfully coordinated policy tender in multiple claimant situations involving disaster type damages and insufficient coverage. He is frequently brought in to supervise the initial accident response in major crashes, coordinate the investigation, handle record and evidence preservation, and oversee expert activity and spoliation prevention issues.

Jim earned his B.S. degree, cum laude, from West Chester State University and his J.D. degree from Villanova University where he served on the Law Review. He speaks frequently on transportation law topics for business professionals and was a speaker at the American Bar Association's Transportation Mega Conference II . Jim is the author of a number of articles on transportation law published in Defense Digest.

Jim was named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer in 2006 in the area of Transportation.

Significant Representative Matters:

  • Significant experience with numerous catastrophic tractor/trailer accidents including over 50 fatalities, multiple traumatic brain injury cases, paraplegia, quadriplegia cases, and right leg above the knee amputation.

  • Summary judgment for trucking company whose driver caused a double fatality on the highway and was later convicted of vehicular homicide in a collateral case involving traumatic brain injury and total disability sustained by a tow/vehicle removal specialist who was struck in the head and suffered a skull fracture when wreckage he was cutting for removal shifted. The court agreed that neither duty nor foreseeable causation existed.

  • Successfully handled three tractor trailer under-ride cases, one involving death and two involving traumatic brain injuries.

  • Handled coverage tender in multiple injury and multiple vehicle tractor/trailer accidents including the fire entrapment deaths of an engaged couple.

  • Handled a tractor trailer/van collision involving death of a mother, leaving the father a quadriplegic, with significant injuries to four children, caused by an inexperienced CDL driver with permanent lease/trip lease issues.

  • Represented a large distribution company involving alleged negligent retention of an independent contractor in a dedicated fleet situation. The accident resulted in a multiple vehicle collision and an infant burned to death.

  • Defense of trucking company whose truck lost a trailer dolly being towed behind a single 28' pup trailer. The detached dolly caused two deaths and one permanent injury, crushed legs.
    • Year Joined Organization:
    1996
    Areas of Practice:
    Trucking & Transportation Litigation
    Bar Admissions:
    Pennsylvania, 1978
    U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1978
    U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1983
    Education:
    Villanova University School of Law, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 1978
    J.D.
    Law Review: Member, Villanova Law Review, 1978


    West Chester University, 1975
    B.S.
    Honors: Cum Laude


    Published Works:
    Third Circuit Review: Evans v. Buchannan 23, Villanova Law Review 782, 1977


    Forum Non Conveniens Transfer of Venue Forecast: Continued Cloudy, Defense Digest, Vol. 2, No. 6, 1996


    "Serious Injury" Under the MVFRL: Serious Disagreement, Defense Digest, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1998


    Pennsylvania Supreme Court 'States' The Rule On Interstate Shipments, Defense Digest, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2003


    Representative Cases:
    Racz v. R.T. Merryman Trucking, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3840 (USDC-EDPA)
    Hughes v. Hemingway Transport, Inc., 539 F. Supp. 130 (ED Pa 1982)
    Classes/Seminars Taught:
    Presenting and Defending Claims Against Transportation Carriers, Transportation MegaConference II, American Bar Association, 1995


    Trying the Automobile Injury Case in Pennsylvania, National Business Institute, 1998


    Honors and Awards:
    AV Peer Review Rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell


    Pennsylvania Super Lawyer (2006)


    Professional Associations and Memberships:
    American Bar Association, Tort and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS), 2005 - Present; Commercial Transportation Committee, 2005 - Present, Vice Chair, 2005 - Present


    American Trucking Association, Litigation Center


    Defense Research Institute, Trucking Law Committee


    Philadelphia Bar Association, State Civil Rules Committee; Committee on Legislative Liaison; President Judges Select Committee on Trial Lists


    Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Judge Pro Tem and Certified Arbitrator


    Trucking Industry Defense Association


    Past Employment Positions:
    LaBrum and Doak, 1978 - 1995, Partner. Trial Department Administrator, Executive Committee

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