Bruce
P.
Merenstein
Mr. Merenstein’s practice focuses primarily on appellate litigation in state and federal courts. He has handled appeals in many of the federal courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of the United States, as well as numerous state appellate courts, including those in California, Florida, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Maine and Pennsylvania. He also has extensive experience in state and federal trial courts, particularly in briefing and arguing various pre-trial issues and post-trial matters. Mr. Merenstein is an adjunct professor of appellate advocacy at The Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University, where he has taught since 2007. Before entering the legal profession, Mr. Merenstein worked for almost a decade in the labor relations field. Mr. Merenstein is chair of the Firm's Pro Bono Committee.
AREAS OF EXPERIENCE
Representative Appellate Practice
Mr. Merenstein's appellate matters include the following:
- Federal court appeals involving issues related to class actions, antitrust statutes, securities laws, RICO, labor and employment, trademark infringement, product disparagement, bankruptcy law, import regulation, and contract disputes;
- State court appeals involving products liability, trusts and estates, partnership disputes, banking law, defamation, fraud, legal malpractice, juror misconduct, separation of powers, real estate law, public utility regulation, free speech and free exercise of religion, and intervention rights of non-parties
- Pro bono matters involving prisoner civil rights, alien asylum applications, death penalty appeals, freedom of religion and habeas corpus petitions; and,
- An extraordinary King’s Bench Petition to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court that led to that court’s dismissal of the only challenge to the successful Barnes Foundation petition to amend its bylaws to permit a move of its gallery to Philadelphia.
Representative Litigation Experience
Mr. Merenstein's non-appellate matters include the following:
- A leading role in a two-week jury trial in a lender’s liability suit, with particular responsibility for the parties' damages experts;
- Major responsibility for the Barnes Foundation’s petition to amend its bylaws, including extensive pre-trial briefing and discovery, two separate bench trials and post-trial proceedings;
- Second chair at two first-degree murder trials; and,
- Briefing and arguing numerous pre-trial and post-trial dispositive motions.
COMMUNITY ACTIVITIES
- Upper Dublin Township Historic Preservation Committee, 2002-2005
- Upper Dublin School District Gifted Education Review Committee, 2007-present
- Or Hadash Reconstructionist Synagogue Board of Directors, 2002-2005
- Upper Dublin School District Educational Advisory Committee, 2000-2005
ATTORNEY NEWS
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08/04/2010
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06/29/2010
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06/03/2010
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05/28/2010
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02/01/2010
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11/26/2007
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12/09/2005
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10/20/2005
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02/10/2005
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ATTORNEY PUBLICATIONS
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06/23/2010
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06/07/2010
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01/12/2010
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01/05/2010
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09/16/2009
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07/21/2009
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06/30/2009
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06/27/2008
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06/13/2008
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06/11/2008
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10/01/2006
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05/05/1999
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05/05/1997
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Education
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University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., summa cum laude, Order of the Coif, 1998
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University of Massachusetts, M.S., University Fellowship recipient, 1988
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Brandeis University, B.A., magna cum laude, 1985
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London School of Economics, Certificate in Sociology/Economics, 1984
Court Admissions
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U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
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U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
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U.S. Supreme Court
Clerkships
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Edward R. Becker, Chief Judge, United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, 1998-1999
Professional Affiliations
- American Bar Association, member
- American Law Institute, member
- Bar Association for the Third Federal Circuit, member
- Pennsylvania Bar Association (and its Appellate Advocacy Committee), member
- Philadelphia Bar Association (and its Appellate Courts Committee), member
- Philadelphia Bar Association, Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention, investigator
- On-line columnist for appellate issues for The Legal Intelligencer Blog.
Other Distinctions
- Recipient, Earl G. Harrison Pro Bono Award, 2008
- Listed in The Best Lawyers in America for appellate law, 2008-2011
- Two time recipient of a Burton Award for Legal Achievement, in 2007 for co-authoring "Interim Issues Requiring Appellate Review—Pennsylvania’s Collateral Order Doctrine," and again in 2009 for co-authoring "Charities and the Orphans' Court."
- Honors from HIAS & Council, a public-interest immigration advocacy organization, in recognition of outstanding pro bono work on an asylum case, 2005
- Recognized as a ‘Pennsylvania Super Lawyer’ by the publishers of Law & Politics in the area of appellate law, 2009
- Recognized among ‘Pennsylvania Rising Stars’ by the publishers of Law & Politics and Super Lawyers in the area of appellate law, 2005, 2006, 2007
- Winner of the University of Pennsylvania Law School’s prestigious Keedy Cup moot court competition, 1998
- Graduation awards from the University of Pennsylvania Law School for best constitutional law paper, best civil procedure paper, and most significant contribution to the Law Review, 1998
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