Cozen O Connor

The Cozen O'Connor law firm announced what it said was a succession plan Wednesday in which Michael Heller, chair of the business law department, will take on additional responsibilities as president, and Vince McGuinness will become managing partner. Tad Decker, who will give up the title of president but remain chief executive officer, said the two had been involved in strategic planning at the firm for some time, and that the announcement of a succession plan portended no major changes.

After decades under the control of two strong-willed, entrepreneurial leaders, a changing of the guard is under way at the Cozen O'Connor law firm, a Philadelphia institution that has grown from a handful of lawyers to one of the largest firms in the nation. The firm has announced a huge reorganization that dilutes control of founding member Stephen Cozen and Patrick O'Connor, and today will disclose that it has named its first board of directors as part of the transition. Sometime next month, the firm also is expected to name a new chief executive officer who will handle much of the day-to-day management and join the 16-member board.

The Center City law firm of Cozen & O'Connor said yesterday it would hire most of Sherr, Joffe & Zuckerman's 25 lawyers, including the West Conshohocken firm's three named partners. The addition of the 18 lawyers will give Cozen & O'Connor its first suburban Philadelphia office and an international estates and tax component that will allow it to open an office in London, said Joseph Gerber, chairman of client relations and business development at Cozen & O'Conner. Stanley Joffe, a partner at Sherr, Joffe & Zuckerman, said the firm chose to join Cozen & O'Connor in order to expand.

Cozen O'Connor, a 575-lawyer firm based in Center City, said today it will expand its New York office with 19 lawyers from Cohen Pontani Lieberman & Pavane L.L.P., a high profile intellectual property law firm based in New York, effective July 1. The Cohen Pontani firm represents domestic and foreign clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical device, automotive and telecommunications industries, among others, in patent prosecutions, licensing...

What with layoffs, deferments, and daily industrywide hand-wringing, it would seem this isn't an opportune time to start practicing law. But that is not the way David Girard-diCarlo sees it. Girard-diCarlo, the former managing partner and chairman of the Blank Rome L.L.P. law firm and a primary fund-raiser for former President George W. Bush, said that because the economic downturn had greatly sharpened competition, businesses that succeeded in these hard times would do so on merit.

INQUIRER STAFF WRITER An ambitious lawsuit by the Philadelphia firm of Cozen O'Connor blaming the government of Saudi Arabia for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks was dealt a sharp setback yesterday when a federal appeals court ruled that the desert kingdom could not be sued for acts of terrorism. The ruling followed years of hard-fought litigation in which lawyers for Cozen and other firms representing Sept. 11 victims traveled the globe tracking down witnesses with information about how Saudi money found its way to al Qaeda.

Cozen O'Connor, the Center City law firm, said Tuesday that 14 lawyers from the Houston office of Epstein Becker Green have joined the firm. Heading the group are A. Martin Wickliff Jr. and Alton J. Hall Jr. The two lawyers had previously founded the largest minority-owned law firm in Texas, with many corporate clients. Cozen, a 550-plus lawyer firm with 22 offices in the United States, London and Toronto, has two Texas offices, one in Dallas and one in Houston. The firm said the latest additions will join its Houston office and bolster the firm's labor and employment, commercial litigation, and energy and public utilities practices.

Cozen & O'Connor, which built its reputation defending insurance companies in litigation, took another step yesterday in its drive to become a full- service law office by luring big names from other firms. It snagged Neal D. Colton, 50, chairman of the bankruptcy department at Dechert Price & Rhoads, who represented the Foundation for New Era Philanthropy when it went under last spring. Colton has spent his entire 25-year career at Dechert, the city's second- largest firm.

The BP gulf-compensation fund has hired Center City lawyer Stephen Cozen to draft rules on how the $20 billion fund will be distributed to businesses and individuals who suffered losses from the oil spill. Although BP has been paying out limited emergency claims, the compensation fund will begin formally evaluating losses in about a month, said the fund administrator, Kenneth Feinberg. "There is no one else in the nation who has Steve's grasp of these issues or his experience," Feinberg said in an interview Thursday.

Pennsylvania's Commonwealth Court yesterday dismissed a challenge to a section of the city's campaign-finance law that holds that caps on political contributions remain after an election. The case stemmed from nearly $450,000 in fees that U.S. Rep. Bob Brady owes the law firm Cozen O'Connor for work it did during the Democrat's mayoral bid in 2007. The firm defended Brady against rival Tom Knox's efforts to bounce him from the ballot for omitting certain information from a personal financial statement.

Firstrust Bank , Conshohocken, has hired John D. Rooney as senior vice president, director of new business development for commercial lending. He had been senior vice president for commercial banking at Wells Fargo Bank. Public Health Management Corp. , a Philadelphia nonprofit public health institute, has hired Renée Cromartie as managing director for Total Quality Management. She had been director of quality assurance and performance improvement for South Jersey Healthcare LIFE.

The Philadelphia Holocaust Remembrance Foundation , a nonprofit organization, has elected the following to its board: Marcel L. Groen , partner at Fox Rothschild L.L.P. and chairman of the Montgomery County Democratic Party. Marcia Sachs Littell , professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies and the founding director of the Master of Arts Program in Holocaust and Genocide Studies at The Richard Stockton College of New Jersey and executive director of the Philadelphia Center on the Holocaust, Genocide and Human Rights.

The Cozen O'Connor law firm announced what it said was a succession plan Wednesday in which Michael Heller, chair of the business law department, will take on additional responsibilities as president, and Vince McGuinness will become managing partner. Tad Decker, who will give up the title of president but remain chief executive officer, said the two had been involved in strategic planning at the firm for some time, and that the announcement of a succession plan portended no major changes.

TOP-10 law firms used by the school district since 2006 1. Blank Rome: $6.3 million 2. Saul Ewing: $1.16 million 3. Ballard Spahr: $848,997 4. Tucker Law Group, LLC: $581,305 5. WolfBlock: $454,496 6. Cozen & O'Connor: $434,936 7. Feldesman Tucker Leifer & Fidell: $431,015 8. Archer & Greiner: $406,755 9. Fineman Krekstein & Harris: $404,726 10. Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis: $386,655 ...

Cozen O'Connor, a 575-lawyer firm based in Center City, said today it will expand its New York office with 19 lawyers from Cohen Pontani Lieberman & Pavane L.L.P., a high profile intellectual property law firm based in New York, effective July 1. The Cohen Pontani firm represents domestic and foreign clients in the biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, medical device, automotive and telecommunications industries, among others, in patent prosecutions, licensing...

In the Region FTC: Outlaw 'pay for delay' drug deals The Federal Trade Commission urged an appeals court in Philadelphia to outlaw settlements between brand drug makers and generic-drug makers on patent expirations. The agency asked the U.S. Court of Appeals to reverse a lower court's ruling that accords between Merck & Co.'s Schering-Plough unit and generic makers of the K-Dur 20 high-blood-pressure medicine didn't violate antitrust laws. Merck has major operations in the Philadelphia area.

Cozen O'Connor, the Center City law firm, said Tuesday that 14 lawyers from the Houston office of Epstein Becker Green have joined the firm. Heading the group are A. Martin Wickliff Jr. and Alton J. Hall Jr. The two lawyers had previously founded the largest minority-owned law firm in Texas, with many corporate clients. Cozen, a 550-plus lawyer firm with 22 offices in the United States, London and Toronto, has two Texas offices, one in Dallas and one in Houston. The firm said the latest additions will join its Houston office and bolster the firm's labor and employment, commercial litigation, and energy and public utilities practices.

LOS ANGELES - For many of the nation's biggest law firms, this sprawling city of glitz and grit is, above all, the golden gateway to Asia's economic boom. But for a steadily growing number of Philadelphia law firms, the city's mammoth entertainment industry - with its studios, its stars, and its seemingly limitless litigation - also is a rich source of revenue. Nine of Philadelphia's largest firms have offices in Los Angeles, and most have entertainment practices they are looking to expand.

Protesters, cool your heels, please! The politicians are here. That was the message last week as candidates for City Council practically took over a protest of a proposed prisoner reentry facility in Southwest Philadelphia. Eager demonstrators had to wait through political speeches by no fewer than four City Council candidates before shutting down Grays Avenue and Lindbergh Boulevard. Signs of election season were in the air at the event, which took place Wednesday in the Third Councilmanic District at 52d Street and Grays Avenue.