On the Pulse...Profile of Our King of Prussia, PA Office

To most people, the words "King of Prussia" bring shopping to mind. King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, is the home of one of the largest shopping malls in the United States. "Shop Until You Drop" -- and then some -- is what this shopping mecca offers. The mall brings millions of visitors to the area each year. But the King of Prussia area is also tied to this country's beginnings. The area was first settled by Welsh immigrants in the early 1700s. It became known as "King of Prussia" after Frederick the Great. Significantly, the Valley Forge National Park is located here. This is the place where General George Washington spent the winter of 1777-1778 with his Continental Army. The parkland is beautiful and serene now but holds the memories of the sacrifices and perseverance of the Continental soldiers who suffered severe conditions during their winter encampment there. King of Prussia, although not a town or a township, is a primary suburban area of Philadelphia, located about 20 miles northwest of the city. Its location, at the intersection of a number of major highways including the Pennsylvania Turnpike, US 202 and US 422, makes it an assessable and convenient place for one of the firm's larger regional offices.

Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin first came to King of Prussia in February 2005. At that time, the firm had regional offices located in Newtown Square, Delaware County; Plymouth Meeting, Montgomery County; and Norristown, Montgomery County, all to provide legal services in Philadelphia and its surrounding counties. With the changes in the practice of law and the growth of technology, a physical presence near each courthouse in Philadelphia's surrounding counties was no longer necessary. Instead, we wanted to create a larger office -- allowing for the sharing of resources and more collaboration among attorneys -- all with the goal to provide better and excellent legal services to our clients.

We now have 35 attorneys in this office representing all practice groups of the firm. The King of Prussia office provides a complete range of legal services to our clients. We handle cases not only in Montgomery County, where the office is located, but in Philadelphia, Delaware, Chester, Berks, Lancaster and Bucks Counties. Our attorneys are also available to provide presentations and seminars to our clients on topics of interest.

King of Prussia's great asset is the talented, dedicated and hard-working people who work here. Attorneys, paralegals and support staff - each one is committed to excellence in representing the firm's clients. I encourage you to look at the firm's website to learn more about each of our wonderful attorneys. There is not enough space here to do any of them justice!

Joe Santarone, chair of our firm's Public Entity Liability and Civil Rights practice group, and shareholder John Gonzales handle municipal liability, civil rights, public employment and a variety of related professional liability claims. They are assisted by associates Christopher Boyle, Larry Bartel and Genelle Franklin.

Tom McLaughlin, special counsel, and Greg Kelley, shareholder, are members of the firm's Professional Liability practice group and concentrate their practices in the defense of architects and engineers. Tom also continues to handle asbestos matters. Greg Kelley splits his time between the King of Prussia office and the Cherry Hill office, handling both Pennsylvania and New Jersey cases.

Audrey Copeland is a shareholder in the Appellate Advocacy practice group of the Professional Liability Department. She not only handles appellate matters, but assists our trial attorneys on research and special projects. Conrad Radcliffe, also in the Professional Liability practice group, handles coverage and bad faith matters.

Ed McGinn is the supervisor of the office's Casualty Department. He, along with shareholders Dave White, Mark Riley, John Riddell, Tim Hartigan, Adam Sorce and Kim Woodie, handle general liability matters including premises liability, products liability and automobile liability. Bob Kelly, special counsel in the Casualty Department, also adds expertise, particularly in products liability matters. These attorneys are very experienced with all litigation forums - jury trials, bench trials, arbitrations, mediations and other types of ADR. The group is rounded out by its excellent associates Michele Krengel, Brian McNulty and Brooke Soper.

The largest practice group in King of Prussia is the Health Care Liability Practice Group. Kate McGrath, director of the firm's Health Care Liability Department, has her office here, as does Kevin FitzPatrick, who is assistant director of the department. Kate and Kevin, in addition to their administrative responsibilities, continue to represent physicians and hospitals and actively try complex medical malpractice cases. In addition, Dan Sherry, chair of the firm's hospital liability group; Steve Ryan, chair of the firm's birth injury and pharmaceutical groups; and Chan Hosmer, chair of the firm's physician liability group, are in this office and, combined, have tried over 400 jury trials. Shareholders Jackie Reynolds, Ed Galang, Donna Modestine and I are also a part of this group, and Carolyn DiGiovanni, special counsel, and associates Paul Lefebvre, Kim McCarthy and Dave Krolikowski make up the balance of this group. We often roundtable cases and issues for our clients and hold continuing legal education meetings to stay current on new trends in the law.

In March 2011, the King of Prussia office welcomed Mark Mattioli as the new chair of the firm's Health Law practice group. Mark comes to Marshall Dennehey with over 20 years of experience in health law matters and will be working with Ted Kobus, chair of our Privacy and Data Security practice group, on data breach matters and providing his services on the ever-evolving health law issues.

Frank Wickersham rounds out our roster as the firm's workers' compensation attorney in King of Prussia.

We also have seven paralegals, seventeen support staff, three file clerks and three members of the accounts receivable department here, all of whom provide invaluable assistance. The office runs smoothly and efficiently because of our top-notch office manager Sandy Caiazzo and excellent assistant manager Martie Licwinko.

In King of Prussia, we work hard to stay up to date on legal issues that may affect our clients. We never stop trying to improve how we do things - all in an effort to provide our clients the best value available in outstanding legal services. We value teamwork and innovation, and I welcome you to contact me with any questions about how we may assist you. My email is wjbracaglia@mdwcg.com and my direct telephone number is 610.354.8256.

*Wendy is the managing shareholder of our King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, office and can be reached at 610.354.8256 or wjbracaglia@mdwcg.com.

Defense Digest, Vol. 17, No. 2, June 2011