Marshall Dennehey Promotes James Cole and Sunny Sparano to Lead The Firm’s Professional Liability Department and Announces New Board of Directors Appointments
January 5, 2026
Marshall Dennehey announced today that James H. Cole has been appointed Director of the firm’s 140+ attorney Professional Liability Department and Sunny Marie Sparano has been appointed Assistant Director. Cole is succeeding Craig S. Hudson as department director as well as a member of the firm’s Board of Directors. Hudson will remain with the firm in an Emeritus role. The announcements were made following the firm’s shareholders’ meeting on December 9 and take effect January 1, 2026.
“There is no doubt in my mind that Jim and Sunny will be successful in leading and growing our award-winning Professional Liability Department,” said Marshall Dennehey President & CEO, G. Mark Thompson. “Their proven expertise and the respect they command within the department and across the firm ensures we will continue delivering exceptional results for our professional liability clients.”
Cole, who has served as the department’s assistant director since 2021, joined Marshall Dennehey in 1999 after nearly a decade as a claims professional with a national insurance carrier. His first-hand understanding of property and casualty insurance afforded him a true head start in the nuances of claims settlements, insurance risk and litigation, and he ascended to lead the firm’s Insurance Services; Property Litigation; and Fraud/Special Investigation Practice Groups.
Resident in the firm’s Philadelphia office, Cole is a nationally recognized authority on insurance law, frequently speaking at leading conferences on property damage, insurance fraud, and bad faith topics. For the past several years, he has been a featured presenter at many prominent insurance industry events including the Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Conference and the Property & Liability Resource Bureau (PLRB) conference. An active member of the Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (CLM), he serves as faculty for CLM’s Claims College, School of Property, where he helped shape curriculum on good faith claims handling and coverage issues. Cole holds an AV‑Preeminent rating from Martindale‑Hubbell and is listed among the Best Lawyers in America for Insurance Law. He earned his law degree from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 1999 and his undergraduate degree from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1990, and is admitted to practice in New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Sparano joined Marshall Dennehey’s Roseland, NJ office in 2005 and chairs the firm’s Architectural, Engineering and Construction Defect Litigation Practice Group where she oversees a firm-wide team of attorneys who defend design and construction professionals in complex construction defect suits. She is additionally a member of the firm’s Board of Directors.
Among her numerous professional activities, Sparano is a member of the New Jersey State, New York State and Essex County Bar Associations, and is a frequent speaker at various construction defect conferences, including the annual West Coast Casualty Construction Defect Conference.
Rated AV Preeminent by Martindale-Hubbell, she is recognized by the Best Lawyers in America organization for Construction Litigation. A graduate of Seton Hall University and Widener University School of Law, she is admitted to practice in New Jersey and New York.
Additional Board Appointments
Matthew S. Schorr, Executive Committee member and Director of the firm’s Casualty Department, replaces Hudson as Chairman of the firm’s Board of Directors. Since joining the firm in 2008, Schorr has held a series of key leadership roles, including Regional Managing Attorney of the Casualty Department for Northern New Jersey and New York; Assistant Director of the Casualty Department; Director of the Casualty Department; and ultimately Executive Committee member in 2024.
Additionally, shareholders Steven M. Christman and Michael A. Packer have been elected to the firm’s Board. They will serve three-year terms effective January 1, 2026.
Christman is the Managing Attorney of the firm’s New York City office where he defends insureds and self-insureds in a variety of complex casualty liability matters. His background in insurance coverage litigation encompasses the representation of both reinsurers and excess insurers. He also serves as supervisor of the office’s casualty litigation. A graduate of Providence College and the University of Dayton School of Law, he is admitted to practice in New York.
Packer is the Managing Attorney of the firm’s Fort Lauderdale office and co-chairs the firm’s Insurance Services Practice Group. He has almost 25 years of experience defending property insurers throughout Florida in first party coverage matters, and provides coverage analysis and opinions of third party claims. He is a graduate of the State University of Albany and the University of Miami School of Law. He is admitted to practice in Florida.
