Thomas R. Schmuhl focuses his practice on international law, financial restructuring, and corporate finance. He is former chair of Multilaw, a worldwide association of law firms in more than 50 countries comprising more than 5,000 lawyers. He is also the co-chair of the firm's International Practice Group. Mr. Schmuhl has handled legal matters involving more than 60 countries.

He is a member of the International and Inter-Pacific bar associations, the Union Internationale des Avocats and the American Foreign Law Association.

He is a 1971 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and holds both undergraduate and graduate degrees from The Johns Hopkins University.

Representative Matters

A variety of special, confidential matters including the rendering of advice to the government of a foreign nation.
Mr. Schmuhl represents corporate and governmental clients in complex commercial and financial transactions on local, national and international levels. He has handled matters for clients involving more than sixty countries throughout the world. A number of corporations from other countries rely on him as their principal lawyer and coordinator of legal affairs in the United States. Matters he has handled include public and private corporate financings; corporate counseling; mergers and acquisitions; Eurobond issues; international joint ventures; international arbitrations; public investment; bond issues; and investment company and mutual fund matters.
Specific matters in which he has been involved include:
- Multi-billion dollar international workout and restructuring of an Irish-based aircraft leasing group
- Conrail's divestiture of its passenger service assets to transit agencies throughout the northeastern United States
- Service as counsel to the independent trustees of investment companies
- Default crisis of the Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency (1976)
- Litigation against the Government of Iran before the International Claims Tribunal at the Hague
- Organization and international capital financing of a financial services company, including broker-dealer and investment advisory operations, with more than $12 billion under management
- Rendering advice in a confidential matter to the government of a foreign nation
- Conceiving the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Cooperation Authority and developing its format and foundations, which resolved the potential bankruptcy of the City of Philadelphia

Professional Activities

Multilaw
- Chairman, 2000-2003
- Mr. Schmuhl was the only American ever to serve as chairman of Multilaw and he became the second recipient of the organization's Hawley Award in 2003
- Executive Council Member, 1990-present
- Management Committee Member, 1994-present
International Bar Association
Union Internationale des Avocats
Inter-Pacific Bar Association
American Foreign Law Association
American Bar Association
Pennsylvania Bar Association
National Association of Bond Lawyers
- Vice Chairman, Committee on General Obligation Bonds, 1979-1981
Pennsylvania Association of Bond Lawyers
Philadelphia Bar Association

Admissions

Pennsylvania
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
United States Supreme Court

Education

University of Pennsylvania Law School, J.D., 1971

University of Pennsylvania Law Review)

The Johns Hopkins University, A.B. and M.A., 1968

Experience

Duane Morris LLP
- Partner, 1997-present
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Chairman, International Practice Group, 1990-1997
- Chairman, Business Department, 1984-1990
- Partner, 1979-1997
- Associate, 1971-1978
Military Service:
- Army Officer (Captain, TC) in various reserve components, 1968-1975
- Commanding Officer, 1070th Transportation Company, 1973-1975

Civic and Charitable Activities

Board of Trustees, Beaver College, 1991-1999
Committee of Seventy, 1976-present

Selected Publications

"The Commercial Laws of the United States," Digest of Commercial Laws of the World, Oceana Publications, 1999
"Punitive Damages in the United States," International Legal Practitioner, December 1997
Co-author, "International Sales Contracts Under the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods," Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 1991
Co-Author, "Recent Developments in Director's Liability and Indemnification in Pennsylvania and Delaware," Winchell Press, 1987

Selected Speaking Engagements

"The Art of Doing a Deal," Quebec, Canada, August 2002, 2003, 2004, and 2005
"New US Regulation of International Hedge Funds," New York, American Conference Institute, January 2005
"Letters of Intent," Philadelphia, Atlas Seminars, June 2005
"Recent Developments in Money Laundering Controls," Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, January, 2002
"Corporate Defense and risk Management," Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, January, 2001
"Extra-territorial Application of United States Money Laundering Laws," 1998 International Fraud and Money Laundering Conference, London, England, December, 1998
"The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods: An Overview for Attorneys Representing U.S. Clients," CLE program sponsored by the American Corporate Counsel Association, August, 1997
Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Numerous Topics)
Dickinson School of Law CLE Program
"Doing Business in the United States," City University of London, England, 1987