Schnader Names Eight New Partners

New partners named in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Cherry Hill, and New York offices.

January 7, 2010 – Philadelphia, PA – Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP is pleased to announce that eight associates have been elected to partnership effective January 1, 2010. In the Philadelphia office, the Firm’s new partners are Meredith Brennan, Family Law; Alison C. Finnegan, Litigation Services; Stephen A. Fogdall, Litigation Services; and Thomas W. Hazlett, Litigation Services; in the Cherry Hill, New Jersey office, Harris Neal Feldman, Litigation Services; in the Pittsburgh office, Jon C. Hughes, Business Services; and, in the New York office, Emma H.C. Lee, Business Services; and, Matthew S. Tamasco, Litigation Services.

Meredith Brennan is a member of Schnader’s Family Law Department and her practice focuses on family law, including divorce, property division, alimony, child support, and custody/relocation matters. Additionally, she handles complex financial matters, appellate issues, arbitrations, and mediations. She has written and spoken extensively, particularly in the area of privacy, wiretapping, and email communications. Ms. Brennan is finishing her second term on the Executive Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Family Law Section, and serves as the co-chair of the Section’s Programs Committee. Active in the community, Ms. Brennan is the Chair of Philadelphia VIP’s Family Law Advisory Council, and serves on the Advisory Board of the First Colonial National Bank, the Board of Managers for the Camden County Health Services Center, and the Board of Editors of the Same Sex Partnership Law Report. She was honored in 2007 with the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Pro Bono Award for her dedication to public service and pro bono work, and was recognized by the First Judicial District’s Pro Bono Honor Roll for the last three years. In 2006, she was named a ‘Lawyer on the Fast Track’ by The Legal Intelligencer and has been consistently recognized among ‘Pennsylvania Rising Stars’ by the publishers of Law & Politics and Super Lawyers in the area of Family Law. Ms. Brennan graduated in 1998 magna cum laude from Georgetown University, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. She received a J.D. from New York University, where she graduated cum laude in 2001.

Alison C. Finnegan participates in numerous areas of the Firm’s commercial litigation practice. She has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in various commercial litigation matters at the trial and appellate level. Her work has included defending a major chemical company in a federal court medical monitoring class action and more than twenty state court actions based on allegations of chemical exposure; defense of financial institutions in matters brought under Articles 3 and 4 of the Uniform Commercial Code (UCC), including statutory conversion claims and indemnification claims on UCC endorsement warranties; defense of national railroad in litigation relating to construction along railroad right-of-way, including preparation of pretrial dispositive motions; defense of a manufacturing company in a conversion and insurance coverage dispute; and successful defense of an insurance broker and two employees in an injunction proceeding brought in an effort to enforce covenants not to compete. Ms. Finnegan also is a member of Schnader’s Aviation Practice Group and has represented domestic aircraft manufacturers and airlines. In 2008, she was recognized among “Pennsylvania Rising Stars” by the publishers of Law & Politics and Super Lawyers. Ms. Finnegan has argued in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in a pro bono immigration matter and, together with four other Schnader attorneys, was honored by HIAS and Council Migration Service of Philadelphia in 2005 for her work on another asylum case. She graduated summa cum laude from Albright College in 1998, and went on to graduate in 2001 from Boston College Law School, cum laude, where she was the Articles Editor for the Boston College Environmental Affairs Law Review. After law school, Ms. Finnegan was a clerk for the Honorable James H. Coleman, Jr. of the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

Stephen A. Fogdall participates in numerous areas of the Firm’s commercial litigation practice, including financial services litigation, product liability litigation, and class action defense. His representative experience includes representing a national heavy truck manufacturer in an appeal involving crashworthiness claims in the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; representing a major chemical company in an appeal in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania involving the question of whether Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation claims may be pursued as a class action; representing a national mortgage insurer in Pennsylvania state court in a dispute involving a secondary-market loan sale; representing a national bank in Pennsylvania state court in defense of claims of mismanagement of custodial accounts; defending a major chemical company in federal mass tort litigation seeking medical monitoring based on allegations of chemical exposure; and, representing a major metropolitan school district in opposing class certification of educational disability claims in federal court. Also active in and dedicated to pro bono work, he was the 2007 recipient of the Earl G. Harrison Pro Bono Award. Mr. Fogdall holds a B.A. from the University of Washington, where he graduated magna cum laude in 1990 and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa. He also received a Ph.D. from the University of Washington in 1997. In 2001, he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.

Thomas W. Hazlett’s practice focuses on complex, commercial litigation in federal and state court. He has tried a number of cases to verdict, and has acted as co-counsel on multiple jury trials. During the course of his practice, he also has participated in and managed large-scale electronic document productions and worked with expert witnesses to draft their reports and to prepare to testify. Representative experiences include the defense of one of several engineered wood product manufacturers named in an antitrust conspiracy class action in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania; the defense of a large national bank in a class action case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania alleging that the bank engaged in a conspiracy to defraud consumers; the defense of a national law firm in a professional malpractice case brought in the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, which resulted in a jury verdict in the client law firm’s favor; the representation of a large real estate developer before the Connecticut Supreme Court regarding litigation over the potential development of a competitor retail outlet; the defense of a large software company in a suit in the Central District of California brought by a former strategic partner, alleging antitrust violations and unfair competition, which included claims under the Sherman Act, California unfair competition statutes, and copyright law regarding the client’s project management software; the defense of a large national bank in several cases in Pennsylvania’s Orphans’ Court divisions arising out of the bank’s position as corporate trustee or executor of various trust and estates, including a case alleging millions of dollars in damages in which Mr. Hazlett acted as lead trial counsel; and the representation of a publicly traded electronic security company in a patent infringement case in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit. Mr. Hazlett was active in all aspects of the case, acting as co-counsel during the two-week jury trial. In 2006, Mr. Hazlett was recognized among “Pennsylvania Rising Stars” by the publishers of Law & Politics and Super Lawyers for civil litigation defense. He also maintains an active pro bono practice and has been a member of the firm’s summer associates’ committee for the past four years. Mr. Hazlett graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2001. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree (with honors) in biology from Trinity College and focused his undergraduate research on molecular developmental biology and the use of monoclonal antibodies to trace cellular development in prenatal mammals.

Harris Neal Feldman is a member of the Firm’s Litigation Department and has experience in all phases of civil litigation in state and federal courts at the trial and appellate level, with an emphasis on employment and product liability matters. He has successfully represented corporations, small businesses, management-level employees, and individuals at various hearings, mediations, arbitrations, and trials. His representative experience with regard to labor and employment matters includes successfully defending employers in state and federal court on complaints of discrimination and wrongful termination based on disability, gender, race, age, and retaliation claims. Examples of client successes include achieving summary judgment in favor of a Fortune 100 employer and manager dismissing claims of wrongful discharge and discriminatory failure to accommodate an alleged disability of a former employee; obtaining a voluntary dismissal with prejudice of a federal lawsuit alleging a discriminatory failure to hire; significantly limiting costly fact discovery with a successful federal court motion to dismiss multiple claims in a wrongful termination case; securing injunctive relief enforcing non-compete agreements on behalf of employers; negotiating, drafting, and reviewing severance agreements on behalf of employers; successfully arguing a motion for a new trial for an employer, vacating a $4 million verdict and limiting damages on retrial; and obtaining defense verdicts for employers at hearings before the Department of Labor. His representative experience in product liability matters includes successfully defending commercial and industrial equipment manufacturers and U.S. distributors in suits involving cranes, forklifts, batteries, battery chargers, etc., with a focus on specialized analyses of defenses and litigation strategy for crane manufacturers; securing protective orders limiting access to confidential manufacturing information and data; and, attaining numerous dismissals for automobile component part manufacturers in multi-party product liability litigations. He also dedicates significant time to pro bono each year. Additionally, Mr. Feldman is a qualified, court-approved state court mediator in New Jersey and is assigned by the Superior Court of New Jersey to mediate civil cases in select counties. Mr. Feldman has written extensively, most recently in the areas of defending crane manufacturers, advising and defending employers on hiring and firing issues, and succeeding at mediation in the current economic climate. Active within the community, he has served as a member of the Selective Service System Board in Camden County since 2004, and has acted as the vice chairman since 2008. Recognized for his professional achievements, he was named a New Jersey Rising Star by the publishers of Law and Politics and Super Lawyers in 2006 and 2007. Mr. Feldman received a B.A. in Journalism and Professional Writing from Trenton State College in 1997, and received a J.D. from Rutgers University School of Law – Camden in 2000, where he served as the Editor-in-Chief of the Rutgers Law Journal. After law school, he served as a law clerk for the Honorable Dorothea O’C. Wefing, Appellate Division of the Superior Court of New Jersey.

Jon C. Hughes concentrates his practice in general corporate governance; mergers, acquisitions and dispositions, corporate finance and venture funding; ERISA; and, employee benefits and executive compensation related matters. With regard to his corporate practice, representative matters include having represented both publicly and privately held entities in all facets of business transactions. He has negotiated and authored asset purchase, stock purchase and merger agreements; drafted contribution, assignment, subscription, confidentiality agreements; and negotiated and authored preferred stock designations. In addition, Mr. Hughes concentrates a significant amount of his corporate practice providing counseling to start-up companies. With regard to his ERISA practice, representative matters include having represented and counseled boards of multiemployer, single employer and public employers regarding defined benefit, defined contribution and welfare plans and has negotiated and reviewed contracts between qualified plans and third party service providers, drafted qualified plans and amendments thereto, and authored summary plan descriptions for qualified plans. He is experienced in collectively bargained defined benefit plans and issues unique to such plans and contributing employers. With regard to his employee benefits and executive compensation practice, Mr. Hughes’ representative experience includes having drafted stock option, phantom equity and top-hat plans, as well as having drafted 409A compliant and 409A exempt plans. Active within the community, Mr. Hughes is a member of the Pittsburgh Venture Capital Association. He graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in History from the University of Pittsburgh in 1995, He went on to receive a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1998, and an LL.M. in Taxation from New York University School of Law in 1999.

Emma H.C. Lee is a member of the Firm’s Business Services Department resident in the New York office and she concentrates her practice in finance, banking, mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and general corporate matters. She has represented domestic and international banks, agents and borrowers in a variety of lending transactions, including syndicated credit facilities, real estate financings, repurchase facilities, swaps, borrowing base loans, swingline loans and letters of credit. Ms. Lee has also represented health care facilities, assisted living facilities and schools as bond counsel in connection with bond financings. With respect to the firm’s foreign and domestic corporate clients, she has negotiated asset and stock sales and acquisitions, private offerings and various licensing arrangements. Ms. Lee has also worked with a number of non-profit organizations in connection with incorporation, dissolution, mergers and corporate governance issues. She maintains an active pro bono practice and has worked with the Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts in New York City for the past several years. Ms. Lee received a B.A. from Pennsylvania State University in 1993, and received a J.D. from Fordham University School of Law in 1998, where she was the recipient of the MCI International Law Fellowship.

Matthew S. Tamasco is a member of the Firm’s Litigation Services Department. He focuses his practice on business litigation matters, product liability law, toxic tort law, employment law and insurance litigation defense. His representative experience includes representing several companies in toxic tort matters throughout the country and as a member of a team serving as national defense counsel; trial experience defending premises liability, product liability, motor vehicle, workers’ compensation and personal injury matters in New York and New Jersey; counseling and representing corporations in general corporate matters including commercial lease, business transaction and employment related contract negotiations; and, representing corporations in business litigation matters such as business transaction disputes, Department of Banking and Insurance regulatory matters, commercial lease disputes and commercial loan defaults and has represented corporate clients at trial in connection with business transactions and environmental claims. Active within the professional community, Mr. Tamasco is a member of the Federal Bar Council, an organization of lawyers who practice in federal courts within the Second Circuit and are dedicated to promoting excellence in federal practice and fellowship among federal practitioners. He is also an alumnus of Seton Hall University School of Law and assists in organizing events for the New York City Chapter Committee. Mr. Tamasco graduated with a B.S. from Seton Hall University in 1994 and with a J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law in 2001.

ABOUT SCHNADER HARRISON SEGAL & LEWIS LLP
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP is a law firm of 200 attorneys with offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York, California, Washington, DC, New Jersey and Delaware. Schnader serves local, national and international clients ranging from large corporations to start-ups and entrepreneurs to individual clients in more than 40 areas of the law. In addition to the firm’s traditional strengths in complex litigation, commercial transactions, wealth management, and family law, the firm has significant experience and depth in intellectual property, international commerce and labor laws, financial services, construction law, real estate development, corporate governance, appellate services, technology-based companies, media and communications, environmental, non-profit, government relations and regulatory affairs, aviation issues, business reorganization, and securities and shareholder litigation. For more information visit www.Schnader.com or contact Caroline Brobeil Nassan, Public Relations Manager for the firm.

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CONTACT: Caroline Brobeil Nassan

Public Relations Manager

Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP

215-751-2061

cbrobeil@schnader.com