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Attorney Profiles

Mark T. Riley 
King of Prussia, Pennsylvania
Shareholder
phone (610) 354-8259
fax (610) 354-8299
email mtriley@mdwcg.com

A shareholder in the Casualty Department, Mark has spent his legal career defending insurance carriers, self-insured companies, and individuals on a broad array of matters including products liability, premises liability, motor vehicle accidents, and medical malpractice cases.

Mark leads a team of three experienced attorneys and a paralegal. He has over 20 years of litigation experience and has tried over 40 cases and hundreds of arbitrations and mediations.

His clients include two dozen insurance carriers, as well as multiple self-insured corporations including several major grocery chains, a home improvement center chain, a national building products manufacturer, several energy companies, electronics manufacturers, and municipalities.

Prior to joining Marshall Dennehey, Mark was in-house counsel at Traveler's Insurance Company for five years.

Mark is also a licensed pilot and has constructed two experimental aircraft.

Significant Representative Matters

  • Defense verdict for manufacturer of boat trailer hitch which allegedly severely injured owner. Plaintiff argued a defective design of the hitch caused it to come unhitched while being towed. The defense established that the design was safe and that the product was misused by plaintiff.

  • Tried motor vehicle case, which ultimately established new Pennsylvania motor vehicle case law permitting a defendant to get a sudden emergency charge to the jury in addition to an assured clear distance charge in rear end collision cases.

  • Multiple defense verdicts for health club chain for injuries allegedly caused by facility. These included allegations of defective flooring in aerobics studios allegedly causing ankle fractures, trip and fall cases, and negligent instruction claims.

  • Defended Township in case in which Plaintiff motorist was severely injured when a manhole cover detached, causing an accident. The case was dismissed on Motion for Summary Judgment for lack of notice.

  • Defense verdict in electrocution case allegedly resulting from inadequate lock-out/tag-out procedures. Plaintiff sustained catastrophic burn injuries over the majority of his body when he contacted a live circuit while cleaning switch gear in a large industrial plant. Plaintiff contended that the facility owner should have tagged the live circuits and locked all related switches. Defendant established that it need not warn or protect plaintiff, who had equal or superior knowledge of the hazards involved.

  • Dismissal of municipality for brain injuries sustained by sanitation worker based on immunities afforded by the Pennsylvania Political Subdivision Tort Claims Act. Plaintiff was walking behind a compacting trash truck at a landfill when its door flew open, striking him in the head.

  • Defense verdict in professional liability action against psychiatric practice group where Plaintiff committed suicide. Plaintiff was an editor of a city newspaper who had become suicidal. He had been admitted into an intensive outpatient treatment program and seemed to be making good progress. In the middle of the night, he left his family home, drove to a nearby bridge, and jumped to his death. Defendants established that the care provided was exemplary and that plaintiff's act could not have been foreseen or prevented.

  • Defense verdict for a driver involved in chain reaction collision with finding of no negligence on Defendant driver. The defendant established that he was presented with a sudden emergency created by local traffic conditions and limited visibility.
    • Year Joined Organization:
    1992
    Areas of Practice:
    Motor Vehicle
    Products Liability
    Premises Liability
    Municipal Liability
    Aviation Law
    Bar Admissions:
    Pennsylvania, 1987
    U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1987
    U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1988
    U.S. District Court Middle District of Pennsylvania, 1996
    Education:
    Villanova University School of Law, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 1987
    J.D.


    Villanova University, 1984
    B.S.
    Major:  Accounting


    Published Works:
    When Rules Collide: Pennsylvania Supreme Court Clarifies Relationship Between Assured Clear Distance Rule and Sudden Emergency Doctrine, Defense Digest, 1999


    Employment of Independent Contractors and the Peculiar Risk Doctrine, Defense Digest, 1993


    Practical Considerations in Defending the Peculiar Risk Case, Defense Digest, 1993


    Classes/Seminars Taught:
    Numerous presentations to insurance carriers regarding Pennsylvania Automobile Law


    Auto Law Update, Pennsylvania Bar Institute in Philadelphia


    Pennsylvania Evidence Update, Pennsylvania Bar Institute in Atlantic City, New Jersey


    Family Medical Leave Act, Pennsylvania Claims Association


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


    Professional Associations and Memberships:
    Montgomery County Bar Association


    Pennsylvania Bar Association


    Past Employment Positions:
    Travelers Insurance Company, Trial Attorney, House Counsel, 1987 - 1992

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