Defense Digest

On the Pulse...A Profile of the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Office
By Scott G. Dunlop, Esq.

The Pittsburgh office presently consists of 28 attorneys (including 13 shareholders), five paralegals, one law clerk, and a 27-member support staff (of which four work part time). The Managing Attorney is Scott G. Dunlop, a veteran of 22 years of practice in the state and federal courts in Western Pennsylvania and a 2005 Pennsylvania Super Lawyer. The efficiency of daily operations is overseen by office manager Rose Chulack and by Debbie Therisod, the assistant office manager. Since its inception, the office has been lodged on the 29th floor of the massive U.S. Steel Tower, a Pittsburgh landmark.

In keeping with the practice group management structure adopted by Marshall, Dennehey several years ago, the attorneys in the Pittsburgh office each concentrate their practices within one of the firm's designated practice areas, which are workers' compensation, health care liability, casualty (or general liability), employment, and professional liability.

The workers' compensation group in Pittsburgh is supervised by Bill Walls, a former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve JAG Corps. It is no surprise that this relatively small practice group enjoys oversized esprit de corps, working diligently and in close cooperation with each other to represent the interests of our clients in workers' compensation matters and federal black lung cases in the 17 counties which comprise Southwestern Pennsylvania. In addition to Bill Walls, our workers' compensation group consists of Estelle Kokales and Dan Deitrick, a shareholder.

The health care liability practice group in Pittsburgh is headed by Ron Puntil, a highly experienced trial attorney and a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for 2006 in the area of medical malpractice defense. Ron is assisted by attorneys David Chmiel and Michele Primis in representing physicians, dentists, oral surgeons, nurses, psychologists, chiropractors, hospitals, clinics, and long-term health care facilities against all varieties of medical malpractice claims. This group also boasts a unique resource in the person of Dr. Jo Marie Simpkins, an experienced general surgeon who now serves as our medical legal analyst for the entire firm. Jo is capable of providing insightful analysis of medical records at a fraction of the cost of outsourcing this service to an independent physician or nurse consultant, and she is able to provide excellent recommendations about the retention of experts in any personal injury case involving complicated medical issues.

The casualty practice group in Pittsburgh is supervised by Victor Sullivan, our most senior shareholder, in his 33rd year of defense litigation practice. The other shareholders in the casualty group are Tom Birris, a former U.S. Marine and law review editor, who principally defends and tries high-exposure personal injury and property damage cases; John Deasy, a 15-year practitioner who concentrates his practice in the areas of sports, amusements and entertainment liability, construction litigation and liquor liability; and Mike Karaffa, a 26-year practitioner who focuses primarily in the areas of trucking and transportation, product liability and asbestos. Ed Miller, a senior associate, chairs our asbestos liability team and also defends a wide variety of product liability cases. The very capable associate attorneys for the casualty practice group are Stu Sostmann, Heather Smith, Bob Cameron, and Melissa Devich-Cochran.

Scott Dunlop supervises the professional liability and employment practices liability groups. One of the established strengths of this group in Pittsburgh is its public entity defense practice, defending claims brought against local governments, their elected officials and employees, which has characterized Scott's practice for many years. That practice is augmented by the experience of two shareholders, one of whom is Patricia Monahan, whose practice is focused on both private and public employment discrimination law, public officials' liability, and the defense of insurance bad faith claims. The other is Paul Krepps, a former crime scene analyst for the West Palm Beach, Florida, Police Department, who is now predominantly engaged in defending civil right lawsuits brought against police officers. Shareholder Steve Poljak is our principal appellate practitioner in Pittsburgh and also offers knowledgeable experience in analyzing insurance coverage disputes. Jamey McGovern and Dennis Roman are the two shareholders who practice almost exclusively in the defense of professional errors and omissions claims. Dennis, a 2006 Pennsylvania Super Lawyer, represents insurance brokers and agents and is one of the leading defenders of legal malpractice cases in Pittsburgh. Jamey has defended architects and engineers, real estate agents, and other professionals with prominent experience in the defense of accountants, investment advisers, and securities brokers and dealers, being one of the very few defense attorneys in Pittsburgh with this kind of experience. The professional liability group also enjoys the support of an extremely able group of associate attorneys, including Alan Johnson, Christian Marquis, Mark Neff, Teresa Sirianni, Danielle Vugrinovich, Doug DeMartino, and Charlene Sten.

We are very proud of the skill, experience and professionalism of this group of attorneys, who will always be highly motivated to succeed in defending the interests of our clients. What is more, our attorneys realize that the concept of success must be defined by the client. The goal of every attorney in the Pittsburgh office is to provide excellent service, regular and accurate information, efficiently and at a reasonable cost. In its dedication to the goal of client satisfaction, the Pittsburgh office is typical of what you should expect from Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin.

*Scott is the managing attorney of our Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, office. He can be reached at (412) 803-1144 or sgdunlop@mdwcg.com.