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Attorney Profiles

Ralph P. Bocchino 
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Shareholder
phone(215) 575-2634
fax(215) 575-0856
emailrpbocchino@mdwcg.com

A member of the firm since 1980, Ralph P. Bocchino is a senior shareholder and the Chair of Casualty Group I in Philadelphia. In this role he oversees the workflow and administration of files for 15 attorneys and support staff.

Ralph has litigated a plethora of civil defense matters in the areas of products liability, premises liability, construction law and defect litigation, and motor vehicle liability including truck and bus accidents. Ralph was formerly the Chair of the firm's Amusement, Sports & Entertainment Litigation Practice Group and, as such, represents amusement parks and entertainment venues.

In addition to his many achievements in the Casualty Department, Ralph has also litigated defamation and legal malpractice cases. He has represented universities, special needs schools, and institutions in claims alleging sexual, physical, and emotional abuse, and he has counseled nursing homes in elopement and sepsis cases.

When Ralph started at the firm, he was assigned to handle asbestos matters. At the time, the firm represented Johns Mansville Corporation, the largest producer of asbestos, and Ralph was the youngest attorney in the nation to successfully defend the company. His work earned him the "Order of the Salamander Award" for litigation excellence from Johns Mansville. (Coger v. Johns Mansville Corporation, et al.)

Ralph frequently lectures for continuing legal education of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the Young Lawyers Association of Philadelphia on current civil procedure and legal issues.

For more than 25 years, if Ralph is not in the office or in a courtroom, he can be found coaching various youth sports teams. Ralph is a licensed soccer coach and licensed referee.  He has been coaching soccer for more than 25 years.  He is the President of Hunter Soccer Club in Glenside, Pennsylvania.  Ralph and all of the volunteers at Hunter were honored by the Abington Community Task Force for Hunter's service to youth since 1962.

Significant Representative Matters

  • Defense verdict for manufacturer of concrete mixers in a suit claiming defective design in a truck roll-over matter.

  • Defense verdict for a garbage truck manufacturer for alleged defective design and failure to warn a truck driver who fell from the truck and required multiple surgeries.

  • Represented a personal care home in an elopement case where a resident left the premises and was found three weeks later drowned in the Delaware River. The court granted a compulsory non-suit based on the law of Pennsylvania and personal care homes.

  • Defense verdict on behalf of a manufacturer of a saw when a worker inadvertently sawed off part of his arm in a work-related accident.

  • Was the first attorney in Philadelphia to have an Azzarello hearing granted in a products liability case. A hearing was conducted before trial and then after the motion was granted, trial was commenced with products liability removed from the case, and a defense verdict was rendered thereafter by the empanelled jury. [Azzarello deals with having a court decide if a product is defective before trial, as a matter of law and fact.]

  • Received a defense verdict representing a 'mom and pop' hair salon when one of the customers claimed that they had a severe fall down the salon steps and required a hip replacement and knee replacement surgery.

  • Defense verdict received in representing an amusement park where a teenager drowned.

  • Defense verdict in a ski death case in upstate Pennsylvania.

  • Defense verdict in an asbestos case representing Johns Mansville Corporation, the largest manufacturer of asbestos products in the world in Philadelphia County, in 1980.

  • Defense verdict for an amusement park where a young child had severe lacerations and fractures from being injured in a sliding board accident.

  • Defense verdict in a gymnastics accident involving allegations of torn hamstrings, ruptured piriformus muscle and low back surgery following alleged improper stretching and warm-up exercises by a gymnastics instructor and coach.

  • Argued before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in an elevator accident case trying to maintain a Rule 50(A) Motion, which was granted at trial by the trial court, involving multiple back surgeries following an elevator accident.

  • Two defense verdicts in fraud matters involving staged automobile accidents.
    • Year Joined Organization:
    1980
    Areas of Practice:
    Premises Liability
    Entertainment, Sports, and Amusement
    Products Liability
    Motor Vehicle
    Construction Law and Construction Defect Litigation
    Bar Admissions:
    Pennsylvania, 1979
    U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1979
    U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1981
    U.S. Supreme Court, 1984
    Education:
    Temple University School of Law, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 1979
    J.D.


    La Salle University, 1976
    B.A.
    Major:  History


    Published Works:
    Challenges to Venue Produce Positive Result, Defense Digest, Fall, 1992


    The Blizzard's Backlash: A Symposium On Issues Confronting Pennsylvania and New Jersey Property Owners, Co-Author, Defense Digest, March, 1996


    Punitive Damages and Deceased Defendants, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, March 8, 1999 and, Defense Digest, Vol 4, No. 6, 1998


    When Pucks and Foul Balls Fly No Duty Rule of Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, 2002


    Classes/Seminars Taught:
    Discovery, Rules of Civil Procedure and Bad Faith in Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Bar Institute


    Releases and Uniform Contribution Among Joint Tortfeasors Act, LaSalle Alumni Law Luncheon


    Discovery Techniques and Trial Techniques, Young Lawyers Association of Philadelphia


    Potpourri, "The Black Box" discuss varying topics including computer chips and information, equipment in various vehicles, automobiles, and trucks (2005/2007).


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


    Pennsylvania Super Lawyer, 2006-2011


    Honored Member of Who's Who in Practicing Attorneys, 1990


    "Order of the Salamander Award," 1990


    Professional Associations and Memberships:
    American Bar Association


    Justinian Society


    Lawyers Club of Philadelphia


    Pennsylvania Bar Association


    Pennsylvania Defense Institute


    Philadelphia Bar Association


    Past Employment Positions:
    Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, Hon. Alex Bonavitacola, President Judge, Law Clerk, 1979

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