Defense Digest 9/08: On The Pulse...Practicing Law A Serious Business In Home Of Dunder Mifflin
By Robin B. Snyder, Esq.*
Scranton, Pennsylvania, used to be one of the best places in Pennsylvania to sue somebody. That changed in 1992 when Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin opened an office here. Now, you will know it as the best place to turn when you need a professional and talented advocate on your behalf.
Since 1992, the firm's Scranton office has grown to more than 50 dedicated employees including 24 lawyers and six paralegals. Located in Lackawanna County, Scranton is home to one location of the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Lackawanna County seat, and three Workers' Compensation Judges. It's also home to the fictional TV series "The Office." Although some scenes for the comedy actually were filmed in our building, the legal advocacy provided by our team is serious business.
Our team of lawyers provides quality legal services to our workers' compensation, professional liability, and casualty clients. We routinely defend cases in historic counties known for their anthracite mining heritage, such as Lackawanna and Luzerne, as well as some of the fastest-growing counties in the state, including Pike, Monroe, Susquehanna, Wyoming, and Wayne.
Led by Joseph Vender, our workers' compensation department consists of an experienced team of customer-centric advocates. Along with Joe, Jim Pocius, Ross Carrozza and Jennifer Callahan offer expertise to self-insureds, employers and insurance carriers. In addition to specializing in workers' compensation, Jim provides additional value to clients by handling cases requiring approval from Medicare for its Set-Aside. Ross also has carved an important niche by defending federal black lung claims, an especially important service in this former mining region.
Most of the senior casualty lawyers in the office began with the firm over ten years ago, when the office was small and growing. This unique circumstance gave them the opportunity to develop specialties in more than one practice area. Our office now handles a diverse array of cases, including professional liability, automobile, premises, products liability, dram shop, casualty, medical malpractice, municipal, construction, employment, civil rights, and education/ school cases.
James Wilson handles legal, accounting, and broker malpractice cases. Jim, who is certified as a Civil Trial Advocate by the National Board of Trial Advocacy, has tried approximately 85 cases to conclusion before a jury. Notably, Eric Fitzgerald chairs the MDWC&G coverage and bad faith practice group firmwide from the Scranton office. Eric, who obtained his Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation in 1999, offers substantial experience and intellectual depth to the Marshall Dennehey team. For the northeastern Pennsylvania region (a nationally recognized hotbed of bad faith litigation), Eric's team consists of Mark Fontanella, Thomas Specht, Thomas Witowski, and Anthony Ross. Mark is also pursuing his CPCU and focuses exclusively on automobile coverage issues, with particular emphasis on UM and UIM issues. Tom Specht focuses his practice on bad faith litigation and brings his experience as a former plaintiffs' attorney to his considerable experience defending bad faith claims. Tom Witowski is a master of electronic databases and provides superior technical support for coverage litigation and opinions. Tony Ross also provides support for the group and further utilizes his experience as a former Assistant District Attorney to handle jury trials in a variety of matters.
Benjamin Nicolosi, Jr. joined Marshall, Dennehey in 1997. His practice consists of high-exposure personal injury cases including products liability, dram shop/liquor liability, automobile liability, bad faith litigation, and premises liability. Patrick Boland, a lawyer since 1995, enjoys a diverse practice which includes premises, municipal, and construction cases.
The lawyers who concentrate on our automobile liability cases have a proven track record of success, having tried well over 200 cases. Maureen Kelly, graduating Temple University School of Law in 1995, focuses in automobile and premises liability litigation. Jack McGrath began practicing in 1997 with Marshall Dennehey after a successful career in business. His practice balances a significant amount of Special Investigative Unit (SIU) litigation and automobile cases. Alicia Schweyer, Jack Nealon, and Leo Bohanski have proven themselves as excellent attorneys in the automobile practice group. Both Alicia and Jack find themselves in the courtroom often, and Leo has developed a sub-specialty in defending Lemon Law cases.
Robert Smith adds a unique capability as well. A lawyer since 1993, Rob practices exclusively in the area of Underinsured/Uninsured motorist litigation. In doing so, he offers a wealth of experience unlike any lawyer in northeast Pennsylvania.
Our medical malpractice group, including John J. Aponick Jr., the dean of defense lawyers in northeastern Pennsylvania, has four lawyers: John, Robin Snyder, Matthew Keris, and Vicky Crawshaw Scanlon. John, one of the best defense litigators in the commonwealth, has tried well in excess of 100 cases to verdict. As a past President/Board member of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute, John now concentrates in medical negligence, products liability, and general negligence cases. Robin Snyder, who joined the firm in 1994, divides her practice between medical malpractice, general liability, and civil rights/school law. Matthew Keris wields a significant medical malpractice caseload, having begun his practice with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Medical Professional Liability Catastrophe Loss Fund, now MCARE. Matt speaks regularly on the latest developments in risk management and medical malpractice litigation, a service regional clients value tremendously. Victoria Crawshaw Scanlon joined Marshall Dennehey this year. She has been practicing since 1999 in the areas of medical malpractice and products liability. We're already grateful for Vickie's vigor and expertise.
Together with Robin, Cynthia Banks and Angela Januski Evans defend school districts and municipalities in EEOC, PHRC, and federal litigation. A lawyer since 1995, Cindie has a wide range of knowledge and recently expanded her existing retail liability and premises liability practice to include civil rights and school litigation. Angie has litigated numerous due process cases and is rapidly expanding her expertise in defending automobile cases.
The legal professionals in the Scranton office are a tight group who are proud to serve our clients. Together, we offer an unbeatable combination of skill, professionalism, and attitude to not only get the job done, but to do the job right.
* Robin, a shareholder, serves as the Scranton, Pennsylvania, office's managing attorney and leader of the casualty and medical malpractice practice groups.
