Schnader Names Four New Partners

January 20, 2011 – Philadelphia, PA: Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP is pleased to announce that four associates have been elected to partnership effective January 1, 2011: Melissa S. Blanton, Business Services Department; Morgen Cheshire, Tax and Wealth Management Department; H. Justin Park, Litigation Services Department; and Nilam A. Sanghvi, Litigation Services Department.

Melissa S. Blanton is a member of Schnader’s Business Services Department and the Financial Services, Real Estate Lending and Real Estate Transactions Practice Groups. Ms. Blanton represents financial institutions in various types of residential, retail and office development projects, in syndicated secured real estate credit facilities, and in the structuring, drafting, and negotiation of workout and forbearance agreements. She also represents investors and institutional clients in complex real estate sales and acquisitions. Ms. Blanton has significant experience representing landlords and tenants in commercial leasing transactions. In 2010, she was recognized as a”Pennsylvania Rising Star” by the publishers of Super Lawyers in the area of real estate. She is active in pro bono activities, participating in the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent program and other pro bono opportunities. She also has done significant work for the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission Diaspora Project, an ambitious effort started in 2006 that sought to take statements from the Liberian community in 12 cities across the United States, United Kingdom and Ghana, West Africa and document human rights abuses that occurred during the country’s 23-year civil war. She was honored by the Advocates for Human Rights for her work with this project. Also active within her community, Ms. Blanton is an Executive Board Member of the Perkins Center for the Arts. She received her J.D., cum laude, from Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University and a dual B.S./B.A. degree, summa cum laude, from Kutztown University of Pennsylvania.

Morgen Cheshire is a member of Schnader’s Tax and Wealth Management Department, serves as co-chair of the Firm’s Nonprofit Organizations Practice Group, and is a member of the Higher Education and Tax and Business Planning Practice Groups. She focuses her practice on the creation and continuing representation of nonprofit organizations, providing legal guidance on tax and governance issues. She also advises donors and board members of nonprofit organizations as well as entities that engage in transactions with nonprofit organizations. Ms. Cheshire is experienced in art law matters, having studied art law at Columbia Law School, and having served as a law clerk for the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. She also served as a legal service coordinator for Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and New York Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts. She is a regular speaker on issues of relevance to the nonprofit sector. In 2010, she was selected as one of Pennsylvania’s “Lawyers on the Fast Track” by The Legal Intelligencer, and was recognized as a “Pennsylvania Rising Star” by the publishers of Super Lawyers in the area of nonprofit law. Active in the pro bono community, Ms. Cheshire regularly volunteers for Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers in the Arts and Philadelphia VIP, where she counsels nonprofit and exempt organizations that do not have the financial means to pay for legal services. She was recognized for her dedication to pro bono matters in 2009 with a Pennsylvania Bar Association Pro Bono Award. Ms. Cheshire received her J.D., cum laude, from Temple University Beasley School of Law in 2003. While at Temple, she was a member of the Temple Law Review. She also attended Columbia Law School from 2002 – 2003. She received her B.A. from Grinnell College in 1997. After law school, she clerked for the Honorable William H. Yohn, Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

H. Justin Park is a member of Schnader’s Litigation Services Department and the Appellate, Insurance Recovery, and Government and Regulatory Affairs Practice Groups. Mr. Park represents municipalities, educational institutions, corporations, boards, and individuals in a broad range of litigation matters including cases involving insurance coverage claims, environmental law, property disputes, probate litigation, products liability, habeas corpus, and RICO. In his appellate practice, he has successfully handled pro bono appeals before the New Jersey Superior Court, Appellate Division, the New Jersey Supreme Court, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. In the area of administrative law, Mr. Park took part in shepherding the application of a gaming company through a months-long competitive application process before the newly created Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, resulting in the award of a gaming license for the Firm’s client. In 2003, he received his J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law, where he was the projects and technology editor for the Journal of Law and Politics, and managing editor of the Virginia Law Weekly. After law school, Mr. Park clerked with the Honorable Russell M. Nigro of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He received his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania.

Nilam A. Sanghvi is a member of the Litigation Services Department and the Appellate and Antitrust and Trade Regulation Practice Groups. Before joining Schnader, she was an antitrust, appellate, and litigation associate in law firms in Washington, D.C. and in New York. In her appellate practice, she has drafted briefs in federal and state appellate courts, and for the U.S. Supreme Court, including amicus briefs, petitions for writs of certiorari, and merits-stage briefs. She has also argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Ms. Sanghvi has participated in every phase of the trial process, including examining witnesses at trial, discovery, and drafting and arguing motions. In her practice, she has represented clients in a wide range of areas, including complex antitrust class actions, toxic tort cases, international arbitrations, commercial litigation, and pro bono criminal, immigration, administrative law, and prisoner civil rights cases. She also counsels corporations on antitrust matters and has advised on internal investigations, drafted regulatory submissions and compliance policies, and drafted submissions to the European Commission and Canadian Competition Bureau regarding antitrust investigations. In 2010, she was selected as one of Pennsylvania’s “Lawyers on the Fast Track” by The Legal Intelligencer and was the recipient of the Earl G. Harrison Pro Bono Award, a firm-wide award recognizing excellence in pro bono service, for the significant commitment she made to pro bono matters since joining the Firm, in addition to maintaining an active and demanding case load for fee clients. In particular, she was recognized for being an integral part of the Schnader team that successfully obtained a full acquittal on murder charges brought against the Firm’s pro bono client William J. Barnes in 2010. She received her J.D., cum laude, from Georgetown University Law Center, where she served as administrative editor for the American Criminal Law Review and was a member of the Appellate Litigation Clinic. She received a B.A. in political science from Columbia College of Columbia University in 1999. After law school, Ms. Sanghvi served as a law clerk to the Honorable William B. Shubb of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California and to the Honorable Thomas L. Ambro of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

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, D.C., 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, nonprofit, 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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