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Scope of Work

Schnader has a long standing reputation as a preeminent litigation firm of trial and appellate lawyers. Our Litigation Services Department, the Firm’s largest, has achieved notable successes at both the trial and appellate levels in sophisticated litigation throughout the United States.

Our litigation partners have substantial courtroom experience and are able to advocate our clients’ positions on a wide variety of substantive legal issues in virtually any forum in the country. Most simply put, we try cases. We are at home in courts, agencies, and informal settings. We are involved in every type of civil proceeding, including bet-the-company litigation, and in internal investigations and criminal cases as well. We are known for our skill, aggressiveness, creativity, hard work, and ingenuity.

In addition to handling individual cases, our lawyers have served as national trial and coordinating counsel in multidistrict matters and disputes involving up to 1,000 related lawsuits. In this capacity, we have experience in developing consistent defenses, effective fact witnesses, and experts who can communicate with juries in a variety of courtroom settings, which enhances the likelihood that our clients will obtain not only favorable litigation results but also cost effective settlements.

Our Clients 

Clients whom we have represented in major litigation include advertising companies, accountants, automobile dealers and manufacturers, aircraft manufacturers, airlines, asbestos manufacturers, brokerage houses and brokers, corporations, computer manufacturers, construction engineers, department stores, drug companies, electronics companies, financial institutions, food service companies, health care providers, insurance and reinsurance companies, investment bankers, lawyers, motion picture producers and distributors, oil companies, professional service firms, publishers, real estate developers, telecommunication companies, television networks and other broadcasters, tire manufacturers, tobacco companies, trade associations, transportation companies, steel producers, utility companies, and a host of others.

Our clients tell us that we staff matters efficiently and are responsive to their need to budget and manage litigation costs. Our general approach to litigation is aggressive and proactive, and based on the early identification and pursuit of key issues. We seek to avoid costly and inconclusive “wars of attrition” by focusing the litigation on these issues instead of taking a purely reactive approach to the other side’s agenda. We use state of the art litigation support software, and have an experienced in-house litigation support team that works with our trial teams from day one of a litigation to ensure the efficient handling of e-discovery, document management, and other related trial preparation and presentation needs.

Our Attorneys

In recognition of their excellence at the trial and appellate bars, several of the Firm’s lawyers are Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers, the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, and the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. In addition, one of our attorneys is a former judge of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and one of our former partners now serves on the bench of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. 

Our litigators are active members of professional associations including the American Law Institute, the American Bar Association, and the Defense Research Institute. They have also served in numerous leadership positions including chairman of the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, president of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers, president of the Third Federal Circuit Bar Association, and chair of the Federal Courts Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

In addition to breaking ground in the courtroom and at the negotiating table, our lawyers are known for their contributions to law reviews and trade journals as well as entire books. Recent examples include texts on the admissibility of expert scientific evidence, damages experts, deposition tactics, the spoliation of evidence, trial and appellate practice, environmental law, internet-related issues, antitrust and distribution law, securities fraud, and product liability law.

Our attorneys are admitted to practice in federal and state courts throughout the United States, including the Supreme Court, District Courts, Courts of Appeals, Tax Court, Court of International Trade, and Patent and Trademark Office. We regularly participate in alternative dispute resolution proceedings sponsored by the American Arbitration Association (AAA). One of our attorneys is a member of the board of directors of the American Arbitration Association (Executive Committee member), the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution, and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution.

Areas of Practice

While Schnader has always engaged in a general litigation practice, below is a sampling of our practice areas:

Alternative Dispute Resolution

Antitrust and Trade Regulation

Appellate Practice

Aviation

Construction

Criminal Defense

Environmental, Energy, and Sustainability

Financial Services

Government Contracts

Insurance

Intellectual Property

Labor and Employment

Product Liability

Real Estate

Securities Litigation

Our Attorneys

Karen Baillie 412-577-5118 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Jeanne Schubert Barnum 856-482-5728 Cherry Hill, NJ Download vCard
Roberta A. Barsotti 215-751-2494 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Michael G. Bock 412-577-5213 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Lisa M. Brauner 212-973-8170 New York, NY Download vCard
Jodi A. Buratti 212-973-8022 New York, NY Download vCard
M. Christine Carty 212-973-8012 New York, NY Download vCard
Robert L. Collings 215-751-2074 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Ronald S. Cusano 412-577-5203 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Kristi J. Doughty 302-482-4038 Wilmington, DE Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Frantz J. Duncan 215-751-2255 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Stephen H. Dye 415-364-6713 San Francisco, CA Download vCard
John A. Eberlein 415-364-6759 San Francisco, CA Download vCard
Ashley Evans (215) 751-2252 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Jay Evans 412-577-5122 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Arlene Fickler 215-751-2332 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Stephen A. Fogdall 215-751-2581 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Eric Garcia (856) 482-5758 Cherry Hill, NJ Download vCard
Heather Janis Gaw 212-973-8066 New York, NY Download vCard
Laurel Gift 412-577-5115 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Thomas F. Giordano 212-973-8120 New York, NY Download vCard
Alison R. Gutierrez 412-577-5202 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Charles F. Harlow 415-364-6731 San Francisco, CA Download vCard
Arleigh P. Helfer 215-751-2430 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Craig L. Hodgson 415-364-6726 San Francisco, CA Download vCard
Raymond J. Hunter 215-751-2253 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
John D. Iskrant 215-751-2338 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Alice Sacks Johnston 412-577-5121 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Anne E. Kane 215-751-2397 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Ronald E. Karam 215-751-2364 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Wilbur L. Kipnes 215-751-2336 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Carol Notias Kotsinis 212-973-8148 New York, NY Download vCard
Ellen H. Kueny 856-482-5720 Cherry Hill, NJ Download vCard
Hon. Timothy K. Lewis 412-577-5290 Pittsburgh, PA Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Richard J. May 415-364-6727 San Francisco, CA Download vCard
Leo J. Murphy 415-364-6709 San Francisco, CA Download vCard
Cynthia A. Murray 212-973-8077 New York, NY Download vCard
Polly Phillippi 856-482-5725 Cherry Hill, NJ Download vCard
Kenneth R. Puhala 212-973-8140 New York, NY Jakarta Download vCard
Ira Neil Richards 215-751-2503 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Brandy S. Ringer 412-577-5222 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Lisa J. Rodriguez 856-482-5741 Cherry Hill, NJ Download vCard
Deborah A. Rouse 412-577-5227 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Carl J. Schaerf 212-973-8005 New York, NY Download vCard
Deena Jo Schneider 215-751-2166 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Michael B. Sena 212-973-8008 New York, NY Download vCard
Cary Stewart Sklaren 212-973-8033 New York, NY Download vCard
Jonathan B. Skowron 412-577-5113 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
David Smith 215-751-2190 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Gary N. Smith 212-973-8023 New York, NY Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Dennis R. Suplee 215-751-2068 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Jennifer K. Thai 415-364-6732 San Francisco, CA Download vCard
John R. Timmer 215-751-2451 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Paul H. Titus “In Memoriam” 412-577-5224 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Anthony Watkins 215-751-2367 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Ralph G. Wellington 215-751-2488 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Scott J. Wenner 212-973-8115 New York, NY San Francisco, CA Download vCard
Keith E. Whitson 412-577-5220 Pittsburgh, PA Download vCard
Saul Wilensky 212-973-8044 New York, NY Download vCard
Jasmine Williams 215-751-2499 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard
Stephenie Wingyuen Yeung 楊穎苑 215-751-2277 Philadelphia, PA Download vCard

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