Craig is the Director Emeritus of the Professional Liability Department. He is also a former member of the firm's three-person Executive Committee, the governing body of our law firm that serves to advance and implement our strategic goals. In his current role, Craig continues to assist with the strategic direction of the department and oversight of over 140 attorneys who focus on defending clients in professional liability claims and suits throughout the firm's 22 distinct areas of professional liability practice.
Craig joined Marshall Dennehey's Philadelphia office in 1993 and has been involved in the firm's management, both in Philadelphia and in Florida, since 1995. Over the years, he has served as the manager of the law clerk program, vice chair and chair of hiring, and as manager of the Philadelphia Professional Liability Group. In 2006, Craig relocated to Florida to manage the firm's Fort Lauderdale office, and more recently, he served as the Regional Managing Attorney for the entire state with responsibility for all four Florida offices and oversight of all their practice groups. In January of 2020, Craig assumed the role of Assistant Director of the Professional Liability Department and was elevated to Department Director in 2021. He works in Philadelphia while maintaining an office in Fort Lauderdale.
A trial attorney for over 30 years, Craig has litigated hundreds of cases in the state and federal courts of Florida, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, obtaining a majority of favorable jury verdicts in all three states. Over the course of his career, he has defended lawyers, accountants, architects, engineers, real estate professionals, property managers, debt collectors, insurance brokers and investment professionals in matters pertaining to malpractice, negligence and fraud. He has also represented law firms, lawyers and employers in all types of employment related litigation at the administrative level and in federal and state court.
Craig is rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating for an attorney’s professional competence. He has also been selected numerous times to the South Florida Legal Guide – Top Lawyers in Professional Liability Defense. He is a graduate of Villanova University and Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey School of Law – Camden.
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Defense Digest
Message From the Executive Committee
June 1, 2023
Beginning in April 2021 and extending through the end of this April, Marshall Dennehey added 14 lateral shareholders. While public pronouncements were issued at the time each joined our firm, I want to introduce them again as a group, to show how the addition of these shareholders reaffirms our continuing commitment to be the go-to civil defense firm in every jurisdiction where we practice. This influx of new, experienced attorneys took place in nine out of our 19 offices, in six states, and in all four of our practice departments. These shareholders augment our already deep roster of talented and experienced litigation specialists. They have an average of over 28 years of legal experience, representing clients in federal and state court. Together, they have handled over 375 jury trials and countless non-jury trials, arbitrations, mediations, and administrative hearings. Collectively, they have handled every imaginable type of civil litigation, and each of their practices and experiences add depth to our existing practices. Many of them are active in national, state, and local bar associations and industry groups, are frequent lecturers to attorneys and claims professionals, and are contributors to several legal publications. Seven of the shareholders who joined Marshall Dennehey over this period are in our Casualty Department. The most high-profile of these occurred this past October, when Jack Delany, a prominent, international, catastrophic damage trial attorney, decided to join our firm. Joining Jack as shareholders from his previous firm are Kristen Worley and Andrew Campbell. Jack and his team have been counsel in some of the most significant national and international civil litigation in recent memory, including lawsuits stemming from the Grenfell Tower fire in London, the Surfside condominium collapse in Florida, a recent factory explosion in Pennsylvania, and many other high-profile catastrophic events. Within weeks of joining Marshall Dennehey, Jack, Kristen, and Andrew began a large construction defect case in which the plaintiffs sought over $24 million in damages. After a three-week trial in federal court, the jury returned with a unanimous defense verdict. In February 2021, Melissa Devich Cochran was the first of the 14 shareholders to join Marshall Dennehey. Melissa was already familiar with Marshall Dennehey, having previously been a 12-year Marshall Dennehey attorney, who decided to return after several years at another firm. She rejoined our Pittsburgh office in our Asbestos and Mass Tort Litigation Practice Group. Melissa quickly settled back into familiar surroundings, bringing with her deep client relations and extensive knowledge and experience in defending national equipment manufacturers, outside contractors, and suppliers in asbestos litigation throughout Western Pennsylvania. Later in 2021, Vince Cononico joined our Cleveland office from a major insurance company’s staff counsel office where, for over 25 years, he handled a variety of significant automobile, premises liability, uninsured/underinsured motorist, and other personal injury matters throughout Ohio. Vince has first-chaired over 50 jury trials and several times was acknowledged by the insurance company as having the highest winning percentage of the staff counsel in his region. In 2022, John Yaninek, a 33-year trial attorney, joined our Harrisburg office. John, who is admitted in both Pennsylvania and Maryland, handles a variety of complex casualty matters in both states. John’s experience extends beyond his injury cases, as he has also defended clients in white-collar criminal cases and clients in real estate E&O matters. John is a decorated U.S. Army veteran of the Gulf War, where he managed legal issues for the Army in occupied Iraqi territory during the ground conflict. John retired from the Army Reserve as a Lieutenant Colonel. Just a few months ago, Keith McCabe joined our New Haven office, which we opened in February of 2022. Keith brings to this rapidly-growing office over 30 years of litigation experience, defending personal and commercial clients in the Connecticut federal and state courts. Keith has tried over 75 jury cases to verdict in a broad range of cases, including those that involve catastrophic injuries and deaths. Four of the 14 lateral shareholders joined our Health Care Department. The first is Bill Gianaris, who joined our Westchester office where he represents hospitals and medical providers in the five boroughs of New York City and upstate New York. A 34-year attorney, Bill spent the first 14 years of his career as an Assistant District Attorney in Queens County where he tried numerous criminal cases. Since leaving the District Attorney’s office, Bill has been primarily defending medical liability and general liability matters. He has tried numerous high-exposure cases involving medical professional liability across New York. Near the end of 2022, Suzanne Utke joined our Health Care Department in Philadelphia. Suzanne, who was a critical care nurse before going to law school, has over 20 years of experience defending physicians, nurses, and health care providers against medical and psychiatric malpractice claims. She also represents professionals in peer and credential reviews before various State Boards. This year, two additional shareholders joined our Health Care Department. In March, David G. Tomeo, a litigation leader with more than 30 years of experience across New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York, joined our Roseland office. In addition to his medical professional liability practice, Dave handles commercial and business litigation and insurance coverage matters. Dave is also frequently called upon to defend urgent care center franchisors in medical malpractice suits and handles other matters at the intersection of franchise and medical malpractice law. A few weeks later, experienced medical malpractice litigator Tracey S. McGurk joined Marshall Dennehey as a shareholder in the firm’s Cleveland office. A member of the Health Care Department, she focuses on the defense of medical professionals and providers, including physicians, hospitals, and nursing home/extended care facilities. In addition to her medical liability experience, Tracey also represents non-medical professionals, primarily real estate agents and agencies, in a variety of E&O and commercial matters. Two of the 14 shareholders who joined Marshall Dennehey over the last 24 months are in our Workers’ Compensation Department. The first is Michael Sebastian, who joined our Scranton office and has represented employers in workers’ compensation matters for over 30 years. Mike came to us with a loyal client following and vast experience at all levels of the workers’ compensation system. Next, Kristopher Starr joined our Wilmington office. Kris started his legal career as a Deputy Attorney General, prosecuting criminal cases. The Delaware Secretary of Labor appointed Kris as a Workers’ Compensation Hearing Officer, where he spent three years issuing opinions and orders, before leaving the bench to represent public and private employers, which he continues to do. Finally, Josh J.T. Byrne joined our Professional Liability Department in 2021 as a shareholder in the Philadelphia office. A well-known attorney in the Pennsylvania legal community, Josh has over 24 years of experience representing and defending clients in a variety of professional liability matters, as well as assisting those clients with professional disciplinary and licensing matters. Josh is a frequent commentator on legal malpractice, disciplinary matters, and attorney ethics. He also serves as chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Professional Liability Committee, co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar’s Amicus Curiae Brief Committee, and co-chair of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Professional Responsibility Committee. The successful integration of these 14 attorneys is the result of a disciplined process we employ at Marshall Dennehey. More than ten years ago, we created the role of Lateral Integration Coordinator to assist new shareholders in their transition to the firm. Since that time, Sandy Caiazzo, who is also Director of Administrative Services, has held this position. Sandy is the key internal point of contact for all lateral attorneys joining our firm. She works closely with these laterals before, during, and after their arrival to ensure a timely start and seamless transition. Many of these lateral shareholders brought with them other associates or special counsel, paralegals, and administrative staff, and Sandy oversees their onboarding as well. Among her responsibilities, Sandy liaises with the firm’s administrative departments to ensure that conflict searches are performed, client guidelines and rates are obtained, and press releases and marketing materials are prepared. From day one, she ensures that lateral shareholders who join Marshall Dennehey have the technological and administrative resources and training tools necessary to enable them to hit the ground running. Each of the 15 new shareholders was uniformly impressed with our lateral integration process and marveled at how quickly they were assimilated into Marshall Dennehey. I am very pleased to highlight the addition of our remarkable new lateral shareholders, who further enhance our firm’s extraordinary litigation talent across our many jurisdictions, offices, and practice areas. To a person, these new attorneys saw Marshall Dennehey as the perfect firm in which to further develop their careers and build meaningful professional and personal relationships. I am humbled by their confidence in us, and I firmly believe that they made the right decision in joining us. With their transitions eased by the efficiency of Sandy Caiazzo’s team and our firm’s many other administrative and technological resources, our new lateral shareholders position Marshall Dennehey very well for continued success in the service of our clients. I am also confident that, over the coming months, Marshall Dennehey will have the opportunity to welcome other lateral shareholders who will continue our tradition of finding the right attorneys to serve our clients. Defense Digest, Vol. 29, No. 2, June 2023, is prepared by Marshall Dennehey to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1. © 2023 Marshall Dennehey. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.
Defense Digest
Message From the Executive Committee
April 1, 2022
Over this past year, much has been written and said about what employees of today want from their employer, regardless of the industry. While every so-called expert and pundit has their own perspective, a few consistent themes emerge. Employees want their employer to be invested in their professional and personal development. Employees want constant feedback, affirmation and direction. Employees want to be treated with respect and dignity. Employees want their workplace to have a sense of community and to believe they are a part of a team. To Marshall Dennehey, the aspirations of today’s employees are nothing new. What today’s employees are purportedly looking for in their workplace environment has always been found at Marshall Dennehey. A staple of our culture has been to treat each and every employee, regardless of their position, with respect and dignity. We have long believed in creating a positive workplace environment that fosters a sense of community and teamwork. We have a tradition of making and keeping our commitment to every employee’s professional development. Our culture is why so many of our professional and non-professional staff spend their entire working life at Marshall Dennehey. It is why we have a number of shareholders who have spent their entire careers at Marshall Dennehey. It is why, when lateral attorneys join us, they lament that they failed to make the jump sooner. It is why many of our administrative directors and managers, who started at an entry level position, now find themselves responsible for numerous employees and key operational functions. Our desire is to attract employees who we believe will thrive at Marshall Dennehey. Our process is to involve a number of employees in recruitment and interviewing to bring different perspectives and life experiences to the table. This ensures that we embrace each potential employee’s differences. The paramount reason for doing so is to identify potential employees who will be successful regardless of their background. We look for individuals who have the potential to be long-term employees and who are themselves sincerely looking for such an opportunity. Our commitment to the long-term success of our employees is evident immediately after a person is hired and begins working at Marshall Dennehey. Long before “on-boarding” became a catch phrase, we expended a great deal of time, energy and expense in the training of new employees. Every new employee goes through our on-board program. The initial training includes sessions by our administrative departments on our structure, systems and best practices. The training also includes presentations on our history and culture. Additionally, the on-boarding process provides every new employee the opportunity to establish a rapport with other employees at Marshall Dennehey to facilitate teamwork. For attorneys, the on-boarding process does not end with their initial training session. Twice a year, we hold a “New Attorney” orientation, where we bring every newly-hired attorney, regardless of their experience, back to Philadelphia for a two-day meeting and dinner. At this two-day session, hosted by Larry Schempp, our Director of Professional Development and Training, recently hired attorneys meet the members of the Executive Committee, the practice group directors, our CFO, COO and other administrative directors. There are workshops and training sessions that are incorporated to enhance their professional development, as well as sessions dedicated to explaining Marshall Dennehey’s structure, history, and culture. For our associates in Philadelphia, Larry Schempp hosts frequent in-house “Lunch and Learn” CLEs that not only provide training and professional development, but they also create an opportunity for the associates, regardless of their practice group, to get to know one another and to establish relationships that serve them well during their careers. For the associates in our offices outside of Philadelphia, we hold similar training sessions. In addition, we hold annual two-day conferences that bring associates from several of our offices together. The program, designed by Larry, includes presentations from shareholders, administrative directors, and at least one member of the Executive Committee, all geared to enhance their professional development and success at Marshall Dennehey. Every associate is assigned to one of our four Practice Departments, and they are then assigned to work in smaller practice groups within their department. Every new associate is assigned a supervising attorney. Assigning a new associate to work with a limited number of attorneys allows each associate the opportunity to specialize in a particular area and to receive one-on-one training from a more seasoned lawyer. Supervising attorneys are charged with finding opportunities for the associates to interact with claims professionals, clients, opposing counsel, judges, and, when appropriate, to handle depositions and arguments on motions. We want our associates out front, and working with senior attorneys—not confined to working behind the scenes. We believe this is how you effectively train associates. In granting these opportunities, the associate becomes part of the team, and their hard work and accomplishments are recognized. Supervising attorneys and other senior lawyers are encouraged to provide constant feedback and mentoring to the associates in their group. Relatedly, every associate has formal mid-year and end-of-year review meetings with their supervising attorney. This lets the associate know what they are doing right and identifies areas that need improvement. During their review, the associate is encouraged to identify their accomplishments, raise any concerns they may have and specify how the firm can assist them in their professional development. Mentoring of associates at Marshall Dennehey has always played a key role in the development and retention of lawyers. I know that every shareholder at Marshall Dennehey recognizes that they had mentors who were instrumental in their success. Consequently, our more experienced attorneys embrace being a mentor themselves. While we have always encouraged and stressed the importance of mentorship to the success and retention of associates, our Executive Advisory Committee and our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee are both actively engaged in working with our Executive Committee to identify opportunities to further enhance the mentoring process. Perhaps nothing demonstrates our desire to create a workplace environment that is collaborative and provides opportunities for success better than having a compensation system for attorneys that is not origination-based. This has always been the foundation of our compensation system. Every attorney’s year-over-year compensation is based on their overall contribution to the firm, not just the hours they have billed or the work they have generated. In determining each attorney’s compensation, a number of factors are considered, including how an attorney treats staff members and other attorneys, and whether they are a team player, willing to assist others. Our system encourages our associates to help one another. Because our compensation system is not origination-based, our lawyers are more apt and, in fact, are encouraged to share opportunities with each other. The lack of an origination-based compensation system is also why our senior attorneys are so receptive to having associates communicate and work directly with clients and claims professionals. A non-origination-based compensation system also serves our desire to become a more diverse and inclusive workforce. When I interview associates from other firms, I am surprised to hear that at some firms, associates are not permitted to communicate directly with the client or claims professional. Apparently, this grows out of some concern that the associate may establish a relationship with the client or claims professional and someday take the client away from the partner. Such a concern does not exist at Marshall Dennehey. We want our associates to have direct communications with claims professionals and clients. In doing so, we make associates part of the team and invest them in serving our clients’ best interests. Another part of our firm structure and culture that creates a sense of being part of a team is that every shareholder owns one share of stock. We don’t have equity and non-equity shareholders. And we do elevate associates to shareholder. In fact, we do it every year. Just this past year, we welcomed 17 new shareholders. Many of them have spent their entire legal careers at Marshall Dennehey. These 17 newly-elected shareholders have demonstrated that they possess the talent, drive, and dedication to be successful attorneys and, importantly, that they have the qualities that enhance our firm’s culture. Perhaps there is no better example of Marshall Dennehey’s sense of commitment to its professional and non-professional staff than the fact that, back in the early stages of the pandemic, when we went into a “lockdown” of unknown duration, we decided that we would not lay off any employees or cut compensation. This was done because we at Marshall Dennehey are a community that stands together. As a community, we emphasize that we talk to each other face-to-face and not through a computer screen or during a scheduled Zoom call. We need to confront issues together and share our insights and experiences. None of this happens if we are working from home. This is why we adopted a hybrid return-to-the-office policy that requires professional and non-professional staff to work a specified minimum number of days in the office. A majority of our professional and non-professional staff have elected to return to their pre-pandemic routine of working in the office every day. This is a testament to our positive and fulfilling working environment. Marshall Dennehey’s desire to create a positive and enriching workplace environment is nothing new. We described our culture and our continued aspirations for that culture on our website well over a decade ago: • It’s a culture that treats employees fairly and respectfully, be they shareholders, associates, administrative assistants, receptionists or file clerks. • It’s a culture that recognizes and promotes diversity among its members. • It's a culture in which lawyers like and trust one another and like and trust their leadership. • It's a culture that hires employees with the hope and expectation they will finish their careers at the firm. • It's a culture that encourages and rewards loyalty, humility and teamwork. This statement of Marshall Dennehey’s culture remains just as accurate and important today as it did many years ago. It is a culture we are dedicated to preserving. Defense Digest, Vol. 28, No. 1, April 2022 is prepared by Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin to provide information on recent legal developments of interest to our readers. This publication is not intended to provide legal advice for a specific situation or to create an attorney-client relationship. ATTORNEY ADVERTISING pursuant to New York RPC 7.1. © 2022 Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin. All Rights Reserved. This article may not be reprinted without the express written permission of our firm. For reprints, contact tamontemuro@mdwcg.com.
