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Areas of Practice
ARBITRATION, MEDIATION AND DISPUTE RESOLUTION
Our attorneys have extensive experience in presenting cases at mediation, arbitration and private dispute resolution. We have handled arbitrations through the American Arbitration Association.
BUSINESS DISPUTES AND LITIGATION
We have handled the defense of many cases involving claims of securities fraud and unfair trade practices, as well as actions brought pursuant to RICO. A recent case involving those issues was resolved for less than 20% of the anticipated defense costs after focused discovery and a motion for summary judgment resulted in dismissal of all federal claims and a remand to state court.
When an angry client called with respect to a competitor's advertisement which contained a false comparison, we obtained within two weeks the offender's agreement to retract, to refrain from further comparison advertisements, and to reimburse our client's counsel fees.
Daller Greenberg & Dietrich, LLP, has worked on high-profile class actions in both Pennsylvania and New Jersey. We have gained experience in dealing with proposed classes comprised of hundreds of thousands of members. Our favorable results have been upheld by appellate courts including the United States Supreme Court.
Business disputes make up a significant portion of our practice. We have experience representing parties in litigation involving securities, real estate transactions, partnership dissolution, leases and unpaid debts. We apply our knowledge of business and accounting principles to help our clients achieve successful outcomes in a cost-effective manner.
An air conditioning maintenance worker walking on an office building roof heard a crunching sound as he walked across the surface of the roof. Some areas actually gave way under foot. When the roof was opened, investigators discovered that the plywood structure had deteriorated. The building owner engaged us to recover the cost of replacing the roof. We sued the general contractor and architect who asserted that the roof was constructed of fire retardant treated plywood which complied with all applicable codes and which was an appropriate material for the application. The general contractor and architect claimed that they had no way of knowing that the FRT plywood would deteriorate prematurely. The matter was referred to mediation and was settled favorably. Our client recovered a significant portion of its repair costs and avoided the expense of taking the matter to trial.
Employment litigation is now widespread and the case law is rapidly developing at every level. We regularly represent employers in a wide variety of cases. Frequently, a plaintiff claims breach of an employment agreement, employment discrimination, sexual harassment, or the violation of state or federal statutes including the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Violence Against Women's Act and the Employee Retirement Income Security Act. We have also represented employers in litigation to enforce employment agreements and have defended former employees opposing the attempt of a former employer to enforce trade secret and non-competition clauses.
When a corporate client was named by the United States Environmental Protection Agency as the principal responsible party at a Super Fund site in Maryland, our firm was selected to bring a civil action to recover past and future costs under sections 107 and 113 of CERCLA against other potentially responsible parties. The client asked that the action be concluded promptly if possible. A Complaint was filed in August 1994. We handled the case with a small team of lawyers in cooperation with the client's in-house attorneys and a group of high caliber experts and investigators. By March 1997, after an expedited disclosure and discovery schedule were negotiated and completed, something extraordinary occurred. After we assembled the defendants for a presentation and demonstrated through our experts the strength of our case, the client's claims against over ninety PRP's were successfully settled for an amount in excess of $10,000,000. The in-house attorney handling the matter received an award from the client for outstanding litigation management, and the lawyers from Daller Greenberg & Dietrich, LLP, were invited to a dinner with the client's General Counsel and CEO to celebrate what we believe to be one of the most quickly resolved CERCLA actions. Good judgment, creativity and hard work paid off for our client and demonstrated our ability to handle CERCLA actions efficiently and successfully.
INSURANCE BAD FAITH LITIGATION AND RETROSPECTIVE PREMIUM COLLECTION DISPUTES
Our attorneys have extensive experience handling insurance bad faith cases and were involved in some of the landmark cases interpreting Pennsylvania's bad faith statute, 42 Pa. C.S.A. § 8371. Building on that foundation, we have developed an ability to prosecute claims to collect loss sensitive (including retrospective) insurance premiums and in defending claims of professional malpractice and bad faith that are often asserted as counterclaims by the delinquent policy holders. These premium disputes are complex and the stakes are sometimes very high. These matters require a mastery of actuarial science, claims adjusting procedures, insurance regulations and bad faith law. Often these cases involve tens of thousands of pages of documents, countless depositions and numerous expert witnesses. Efficiency can only be achieved through creative case management and litigation solutions. The controlling law is still evolving, and almost every case presents an opportunity to break new legal ground.
We represent nationwide operators of motels, restaurants, convenience stores and automobile service centers. Through our representation of those clients, we have gained extensive experience in the defense of matters involving slip and falls, assault and battery, rape, murder, automobile accidents and various other kinds of incidents. Some clients value our abilities in this area so much that they have engaged us to participate in matters pending in distant jurisdictions.
An existing client asked us to defend a matter pending in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Litigation had been ongoing for several years, our client had been penalized for discovery violations and trial was scheduled to begin in four months. Plaintiff's decedent allegedly sustained fatal gunshot wounds on our client's premises. Plaintiff alleged that our client had not provided adequate security. We worked with local counsel to cure deficiencies in discovery responses and we prepared offensive discovery to position the matter for summary judgment. We engaged new defense experts and filed a summary judgment motion asserting that there was no basis for relief under Virginia law. Our client obtained a favorable settlement prior to trial.
Daller Greenberg & Dietrich, LLP, has a distinguished reputation for the representation of manufacturers, distributors and their insurers in cases challenging the manufacture and/or design of a product. By working with our client and carefully selected expert witnesses, we develop a discovery strategy to achieve the best defense. Known as an aggressive litigation firm we have experience defending complex cases and significant injury claims including wrongful death, brain injury and limb loss.
Morton F. Daller is the Editor-in-Chief of the Product Liability Desk Reference: A Fifty-State Compendium. In addition to acting as Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Daller and other members of the firm authored the Pennsylvania and New Jersey chapters, which are accessible on our Publications page.
Some of our recent cases include:
A fork lift truck driver sustained crush injuries when the unit he was operating allegedly malfunctioned and crashed into the racking system in a warehouse. Aggressive and focused discovery revealed several instances of lying on the part of the plaintiff and errors on the part of his expert witnesses. The jury returned a verdict in favor of our client, the manufacturer.
A woman walking to work where she was a counselor for retirees, was struck in the head by a portion of a multi-piece rim from a passing truck, causing very serious brain damage, partial paralysis and very significant degenerative personalty change. An aggressive defense establishing probable liability on the part of a co-defendant and the strength of our client's defense, resulted in a very reasonable settlement.
We represent product manufacturers, motel operators, restaurants and convenience stores in a wide variety of tort and personal injury matters. Morton F. Daller is the Editor-in-Chief of the Tort Law Desk Reference: A Fifty-State Compendium. In addition to acting as Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Daller and other members of the firm authored the Pennsylvania and New Jersey chapters, which are accessible on our Publications page.
Some of our recent cases include:
Our client's truck crossed the center line of a rural road and struck an oncoming car resulting in the death of the car's driver after about 30 days in the hospital. Our client was prepared to settle for more than a million dollars. Aggressive investigation and discovery resulted in our joinder of two additional parties and a settlement just before trial for a small fraction of that sum, the remainder being paid by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (for negligent design and maintenance of the road) and a treating physician (for medical malpractice).
An explosion in a sintering furnace in New Jersey expelled a blast of burning gases engulfing a worker at the plant. He was severely burned over more than 80% of his body resulting in burns that left heavy scarring over most of his body. An aggressive defense positioned us to resolve this case on behalf of our client for less than ten percent of the evaluated verdict.
Daller Greenberg & Dietrich, LLP, has handled cases involving claims of injury resulting from exposure to consumer, commercial, toxic and hazardous substances. Some of these cases involved individuals claiming that their exposure led to a hypersensitivity to other products. Our extensive experience in this field enables us to select critical liability and damage expert witnesses.
We engage in litigation involving trust and estate matters. The most recent case involved representation of a claimant, the adopted son of the decedent, in connection with his claim against a multi-million dollar estate.
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Last update: Saturday, 23-Feb-2008 03:23:23 PST