On the Pulse...Other Notable Achievements

Kate McGrath (King of Prussia, PA), Director of the firm's Healthcare Liability Department, has been named "Trial Lawyer of the Year " by the Board of the Trial Lawyers Section of the Montgomery County Bar Association.

Matthew Keris (Scranton, PA) was renamed statewide Secretary for the Pennsylvania Defense Institute at their annual conference at the Bedford Springs Resort, Bedford, Pennsylvania, on September 30, 2010 to October 1, 2010.

James Cole (Doylestown, PA) and Jeffrey Rapattoni (Cherry Hill, NJ) recently spoke in Orlando, Florida, at the International Conference of IASIU, the International Association of Special Investigative Units. The presentation was titled "Public Adjusters - An SIU Prospective." The conference was attended by 450 members of the insurance fraud community, including insurance claims representatives, investigators and executives.

Bradley Remick (Philadelphia, PA), a shareholder, has received the National Liberty Museum Volunteer Firefighter of the Year award.

Marc Jones (Cherry Hill, NJ) recently participated in a one-hour televised webinar entitled "What Risk Managers and Insurance Professionals Should Know About Today's Mounting Environmental Exposures." The webinar was conducted at AM Best's offices/TV studio in Oldwick, New Jersey. The webinar was very well attended, with over 500 participants on the web and on the phone. The webinar was geared to insurance professionals, claims adjustors and risk managers. Marc spoke on current trends in environmental litigation, changes in the regulatory environment for environmental remediations, the status of the absolute pollution exclusion in insurance policies as defined by courts in New Jersey and the U.S. and the legal impact of climate change legislation on insurance policies.

Andrew Davitt (Philadelphia, PA) and James McGovern (Pittsburgh, PA) recently spoke at the Investors Capital Corporation Annual National Convention in Boston, Massachusetts. Andy and Jamey put on a "Best Practices Boot Camp" risk management seminar to over 600 financial advisors from across the country in an interactive question and answer format.

Matthew Keris (Scranton, PA) co-organized and presented the Pennsylvania Defense Institute & Northeast Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers' Association's Third Annual "Civil Litigation Update" CLE and Cocktail Reception at the Mohegan Sun Casino in Wilkes-Barre on August 18, 2010. Attendance and participation in the event was at its highest levels as nearly 100 locally practicing attorneys, 20 insurance representatives from eight companies and 20 judges participated in the event.

Theodore Kobus (Philadelphia, PA) was a speaker at the NetDiligence Cyber Risk and Privacy Liability Forum on the topic of "Data Breach Liability: An Unstable Legal Environment." The conference was attended by all of the major insurance carriers and brokers from the U.S. and London.

Daniel McDermott (New York, NY) was selected by the Board of Directors of the American Institute of Marine Underwriters (AIMU) to participate in its strategic planning conference held at the premises of Swiss Re Insurance Companies in Armonk, New York. AIMU has over 100 years of service as the trade association representing the United States Ocean Marine industry as an advocate, educator and information center. Representatives from 30 U.S. marine insurers were in attendance. Dan was selected as the sole representative of the 22 maritime law firm members to represent the issues and interests of the Maritime Bar and is the first attorney to be invited to attend.

Jeffrey Rapattoni (Cherry Hill, NJ) and James Cole (Doylestown, PA) presented at a National Insurance Crime Bureau sponsored event that hosted approximately 200 people from a variety of backgrounds, including various insurance carriers and law enforcement agencies, on the topic of "Hail Storm and Property Damage Fraud." Jeff and Jim presented on the topic of civil litigation strategies related to fraudulent claims in New Jersey and Pennsylvania and offered advice as to how to effectively litigate same. At the conclusion of the seminar, Jeff and Jim were presented with awards from the National Insurance Crime Bureau for their continued dedication to the fight against insurance fraud.

Christopher Boyle (King of Prussia, PA) presented a seminar "Legal Updates for Law Enforcement Executives" at the yearly meeting of the Pennsylvania Chiefs of Police Association in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The seminar was attended by 120 chiefs and assistant chiefs from departments throughout the state.

David Shannon (Philadelphia, PA) recently had an article entitled Starbucks v. Charbucks, Substantial Similarity is not Required to Prove Dilution by Blurring in the Pennsylvania Bar Association Intellectual Property Law Section Summer Newsletter. David's article dealt with a recent Second Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals decision that held proof of "substantial similarity" between two trademarks is not required to establish dilution by blurring. This decision is likely to lead to more infringement litigation since large corporations with a famous trademark may be more inclined to pursue small business owners then to simply abandon their rights when they do not need to prove "substantial similarity. "

Defense Digest, Vol. 16, No. 4, December 2010