On The Pulse...Profile of Our Pittsburgh Office

When traveling on business and being introduced to people from other cities as the managing attorney of our Pittsburgh office, the question I am most frequently called upon to answer is, "Pittsburgh? So, are you a Steelers fan?" While the answer, of course, must be "yes," the question never fails to amuse me. Pittsburghers are well known for loving their Steelers – perhaps a little too much. But our city offers so much more in the areas of culture and commerce that have remained a secret to the world at large. Long gone are the days when our grandfathers had to put on clean, white shirts after lunch to avoid spending the afternoon covered with soot. The steel mills are mostly all gone, and the laundries are doing half the business they once did. By now, Pittsburgh has been transformed into one of the best places on the continent to live and work. In 2011, our town was rated by the Economist Intelligence Unit as the most livable city in the United States, based upon the factors of stability, health care, culture and environment, education and infrastructure. Similar studies by Forbes magazine in 2010 and by Rand McNally Places Rated Almanac in 2007 also rated Pittsburgh the "most livable" city. To be candid, last year Bloomberg Businessweek slotted Pittsburgh at number 27 – obviously, few Steeler fans at Bloomberg.

Building for its future, Pittsburgh has become an overnight corporate hub for the energy industry, in the midst of the current natural gas-drilling boom in progress above the Marcellus shale formation. Small high-tech startup companies are ubiquitous. New residential towers are going up in the business district and struggling to keep pace with demand. The cultural district, multiple colleges and universities, recreational development of the riverfronts, sandwiches with French fries on 'em – well, enough hometown braggadocio.

Marshall Dennehey has grown along with Pittsburgh since the summer of 1993. At that time, we were the first defense firm to establish itself in each of Pennsylvania's two largest cities. Nineteen years later, we are one of the largest and most established defense litigation offices in Pittsburgh. Our thirty-five attorneys defend and try civil cases in all of the state and federal courts in the seventeen counties that comprise southwestern Pennsylvania. In addition, we frequently respond to client requests to defend lawsuits and workers' compensation claims in the neighboring state of West Virginia, where five of our lawyers are licensed practitioners. Our nineteen shareholders and sixteen associates are closely assisted by a thirty-six-member support team that has remained as stable and efficient as they come.

All of the firm's essential practice departments are well represented in the Pittsburgh office. The workers' compensation group, headed by shareholders Bill Walls and Dan Deitrick, defends state claims and federal black lung claims across our entire practice region. The Casualty Department handles all varieties of third-party personal injury actions, including product liability, asbestos and toxic tort cases, premises, automobile liability, liquor liability and intentional tort actions. Supervised by Ed Miller, the casualty group features several experienced trial attorneys, including shareholders Tom Birris, John Deasy, Mike Karaffa and Stuart Sostmann.

Pittsburgh's Professional Liability Department is devoted principally to the defense of claims brought against licensed professionals outside of the health care industry. Many of our insured clients are lawyers, accountants, insurance agents, investment counselors, securities brokers and real estate agents. Dennis Roman and Jamey McGovern head the legal professional liability and financial E&O practices, respectfully. Christian Marquis represents architects, engineers and construction industry professionals. Insurance companies and claims professionals are frequently represented by Patricia Monahan, a member of the firm's reputable Insurance Coverage and Bad Faith practice group. Paul Krepps focuses primarily upon the defense of law enforcement professionals and is presently defending numerous police officers from all over the United States in litigation spawned by the law enforcement response to the protests that arose during the international G-20 Conference in Pittsburgh in 2009. The office has long been known for the volume of its practice in the defense of civil rights, employment and municipal tort claims, which are handled by many of our professional liability attorneys, including Estelle McGrath and myself. This group also handles a sizeable volume of commercial litigation cases, D&O claims and suits brought under the Fair Debt Collection Act.

We are especially proud of the recent expansion of our Health Care Department in Pittsburgh. Already headed by excellent trial lawyers in Ron Puntil, Tony Williott and Michele Primis, this group was reinforced significantly in 2011 with the addition of high-profile attorneys Terry Cavanaugh and Steve Forry. The group has more than doubled in size in less than two years and represents well-known hospitals and institutional clients, in addition to nursing homes, physicians, nurses and dentists. These attorneys successfully try difficult cases throughout western Pennsylvania.

While space limitations prevent me from naming all of the attorneys in the Pittsburgh office in this article, the shareholders listed above owe much of their professional success to a tremendous group of intelligent, motivated and well-trained associates who are certain to be among the leaders of Pittsburgh's legal circles in due season. For Pittsburgh and for Marshall Dennehey's office here, things are looking good for the future.

*Scott can be reached at 412. 803.1144 or sgdunlop@mdwcg.com.

Defense Digest, Vol. 18, No. 3, September 2012