Philadelphia, PA, September 23, 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Buchanan Ingersoll PC announced today that five Saul Ewing litigators will be joining the firm in Philadelphia. Shareholders John J. Barrett, Jr., Rudolph Garcia, Edward J. Kelbon, Jr., Paul C. Madden and James O’Toole will be joining Buchanan Ingersoll’s Litigation Section.
The group has more than 120 years of combined federal and state litigation experience, and has provided civil and criminal litigation counsel to Fortune 500 companies across the nation. The attorneys have handled matters that range from general commercial litigation, antitrust and securities to insurance coverage and environmental law.
“The talent that this group brings to the firm is instantly recognizable, and gives us what we consider to be unparalleled depth in Philadelphia in terms of experienced trial lawyers,” said Tom VanKirk, CEO of Buchanan Ingersoll.
Some of the group’s highlights include:
Jack Barrett has more than 30 years of complex litigation experience, with many trials to verdict in jurisdictions in this area and around the country. He secured a verdict that, at the time, was the largest personal injury verdict in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
Rudy Garcia won one of the largest jury verdicts in the country and the largest in Pennsylvania in 2002 in a federal antitrust case involving the electronic article surveillance industry. He is also the co-chair of the State Civil Litigation Section and immediate past Chair of the Federal Courts Committee.
Ed Kelbon has argued cases before many Pennsylvania and New Jersey courts and has represented national corporations in litigation ranging from products liability and toxic tort to insurance coverage and bad faith.
Paul Madden has a national practice dealing with complex litigation and commercial disputes, and has handled a large number of complex commercial and securities actions in jurisdictions around the country, including representing the underwriters in an action arising out of a $100 million offering of high yield securities.
Jim O’Toole’s practice focuses on complex commercial, environmental and antitrust litigation, and internal investigations. He acts as lead environmental and toxic tort litigation counsel for Waste Management Inc. He serves on boards at Drexel University and the National Brownfield Association.
Barrett indicated that the group had been looking to join a firm that not only has an established litigation presence in Philadelphia but a strong national one in a variety of areas. “We chose Buchanan because it has extraordinarily well managed practice growth and a business development model that encourages teamwork. That’s precisely what we wanted,” he said. “We hit it off, simple as that. We meshed well with the management of Buchanan and the opportunities and needs that Buchanan’s Philadelphia office had matched up exactly with our business,” he added.
Howard Scher, head of the firm’s Philadelphia office, said, “We’ve been looking for the right team of litigators to join us, and we have undoubtedly found them with this group. This group adds unparalleled depth to our complex commercial trial experience.”
About Buchanan Ingersoll
Buchanan Ingersoll PC is one of the largest law firms in the nation. The firm has 400 attorneys and government relations professionals practicing throughout the United States, with offices in Philadelphia, Washington, D.C., Alexandria, New York, Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Buffalo, Miami, Aventura, Tampa, Wilmington, Princeton, Cleveland, San Diego and Silicon Valley.
This group of litigators is the latest in a series of acquisitions and additions that Buchanan Ingersoll has undertaken this year. In June, the attorneys and patent professionals of Burns, Doane, Swecker & Mathis — an IP boutique with more than 55 attorneys and patent agents — joined the firm. Then in April and May, a team of IP and business litigators joined in San Diego, while a group of three government relations professionals was added in Washington, D.C. Additionally, a group of seven high-profile tax and immigration lawyers in Miami made the move to Buchanan Ingersoll in March. The firm kicked off the year with the acquisition of the national litigation boutique of Slotnick, Shapiro & Crocker in New York.
