Elected and Appointed

Blank Rome partner Daniel E. Rhynhart was appointed to the corporate council of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Chaired by Chris Gheysens, president and CEO of Wawa Inc. and Don Smolenski, president of the Philadelphia Eagles, the corporate council is composed of executives from the region who believe in the hospital’s mission, are committed to advancing its research and clinical priorities and are dedicated to the health and economic growth of Greater Philadelphia. Rhynhart provides counsel to executives in a variety of industries, including software and technology, telecommunications, financial services, banking and real estate.

Speakers

Joseph Traub spoke at the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Society’s patient safety and risk management conference that took place in Lafayette Hill and was also presented by live webcast in Pittsburgh. Traub co-led a “Workshop on Psychiatric Malpractice.” Traub is an attorney at the Raynes McCarty law firm. He practices plaintiffs’ personal injury litigation, principally representing people injured by medical malpractice.

*****

Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young partners Keith R. Dutill, Joseph T. Kelleher and Marissa Parker presented a webinar for the Mutual Fund Directors Forum. The webinar titled, “Opt-In or Opt-Out: The Changing Landscape of Securities Class Actions and Its Impact on Mutual Funds” discussed the data driving the growing opt-out trend among mutual funds, the increase in foreign securities litigation and the policies and procedures needed to address these issues moving forward. Dutill, Kelleher and Parker are members of Stradley Ronon’s investment management litigation practice group that represents investment companies, institutional investors, investment advisers and independent directors in a broad spectrum of litigation matters, including opt-out litigation.

*****

Wisler Pearlstine partner Amy T. Brooks presented on the topic of “Ethical Issues in Special Education Settlement and Due Process Hearings” at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s 2017 Exceptional Children’s Conference. The session used hypotheticals, breakout groups, whole group discussion and attempts at humor to explore the ethical issues that arise in the context of resolving and, if that fails, litigating special education due process hearings. Brooks works with school clients helping them to understand and navigate the existing legal framework in order to proactively achieve their goals. Brooks litigates for school clients in administrative and local agency proceedings up through the appeals process.

Additions

Andrew J. Sciolla joined Ostroff Injury Law as a senior litigation attorney. Sciolla has experience representing plaintiffs in all aspects of personal injury matters, employment disputes and class action litigations. Since 2006, Sciolla practiced civil litigation in Conshohocken where he concentrated in the areas of drug and device litigation, personal injury, wage-and-hour violations and consumer fraud. Sciolla received his undergraduate degree from the University of Pennsylvania and law degree from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law.

Announcements

The Legal and Pennsylvania Law Weekly are looking for verdicts and settlements to report. If you’re a plaintiffs or defense attorney who has obtained a verdict or settlement in Pennsylvania county or federal court recently, email Zack Needles at zneedles@alm.com.