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Releases and Announcements

Duane Morris Names 13 Attorneys to Partnership

January 3, 2012

Duane Morris Names 13 Attorneys to Partnership

January 3, 2012

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PHILADELPHIA, January 3, 2012—Duane Morris LLP is pleased to announce that it has promoted 13 associates and special counsel in seven of the firm's practice groups to the firm partnership.

These newly named partners are located in seven of the firm's offices and are as follows:

Heather Carmody practices in the areas of corporate and securities law, focusing on mergers and acquisitions; securities law; private equity; corporate finance; and general corporate matters. She has experience representing private and public companies in connection with stock and asset transactions as well as capital-raising activities, including private placements and public offerings of equity and debt securities. In addition, Carmody advises companies with respect to SEC regulations, governance issues and other corporate and securities law matters. She is a 2003 graduate, with honors, of Rutgers University School of Law-Camden, and a 1997 graduate of the College of Wooster.

Cyndie M. Chang litigates complex business and commercial disputes involving contracts, unfair competition, trademark, trade secrets, products liability, entertainment and real estate law. She also handles insurance coverage matters involving environmental, asbestos and toxic tort claims. In addition, Chang is a licensed California Real Estate Broker. She has represented many businesses, including Fortune 500 companies, and has obtained favorable results in trial and arbitration. She was named one of the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association 2010 "Best Lawyers Under 40," awarded to 20 lawyers nationwide. She was also named a 2010 and 2011 "Rising Star" in Los Angeles Magazine's Super Lawyers section.

Chang has been featured in the Los Angeles Business Journal, the Daily Journal and other publications. She serves on the boards of various bar associations and nonprofits. She served as judicial extern to the Honorable Stephen Reinhardt of the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals. She is a graduate of Loyola Law School, where she was an editor of the Entertainment Law Review, and a member of the National Moot Court Team. She is a 2000 graduate, with honors, of Johns Hopkins University.

Joel N. Ephross practices in the area of corporate law, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance and real estate. Ephross has substantial experience in all aspects of energy and natural resources, including mining; oil and gas; oil field services; midstream and transportation; and power generation. He has experience with domestic and cross-border transactions. Ephross' practice includes corporate governance matters, including advising on issues of fiduciary responsibilities and Sarbanes-Oxley matters, and he has represented special committees conducting investigations and advising on strategic alternatives. He has worked in all aspects of commercial real estate, including leases, acquisitions and divestitures, mortgages and easements.

Ephross is a 1993 magna cum laude graduate of South Texas College of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and was elected to the Order of the Lytae. He holds an M.B.A. from Rice University, Jones Graduate School of Business, and is a graduate of Yale University.

Stephanie L. Kosta represents a diverse clientele in complex business litigation, class actions, liquidation and bankruptcy, and employment disputes, including appeals and petitions to the Supreme Court of the United States. Kosta provides counsel in government relations, as well as such litigation alternatives as settlement and mediation. She served as an intern in the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and as a judicial intern for Chief Justice Rehnquist of the United States Supreme Court. From 2008 to 2010, Kosta was special counsel to the chairman and chairman pro tem of the United States Postal Service Board of Governors (USPS). In this role, she advised on business, financial, employment and policy issues relating to the management of the USPS.

Kosta is a 2002 graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, where she was a staff member of The Georgetown Immigration Law Journal, and a summa cum laude graduate of Temple University, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She was named a Pennsylvania "Super Lawyers Rising Star" in 2007, 2010 and 2011 and is conversant in American Sign Language.

Jessica E. La Londe practices in the area of civil litigation, with experience in a broad variety of cases, including commercial and insurance coverage litigation. La Londe has represented companies in suits involving business contracts, employment disputes, products liability, Proposition 65, environmental law and consumer class actions. She has additionally been involved with agency litigation concerning water and property rights. La Londe devotes part of her practice to litigation and counseling services for insurance companies, where she has handled matters in various lines of insurance, including general liability policies; environmental pollution policies; architects and engineers professional liability policies; excess liability policies; auto liability policies; project policies; and directors and officers policies. She was also named a "Northern California Rising Star" by Super Lawyers magazine in 2010 and 2011.

La Londe is a 2003 graduate, with honors, of the George Washington University Law School, where she was articles editor of The Public Contract Law Journal, and a graduate of the University of California, Davis. She also studied international human rights law at the University of Oxford, New College.

Matthew A. Olins practices in the area of business reorganization and financial restructuring. Olins represents lenders and all types of other creditors in every aspect and during all stages of the bankruptcy process. He also represents debtor business organizations that are reorganizing or liquidating under the Bankruptcy Code. Additionally, Olins represents lenders, special servicers and other creditors in workouts, commercial foreclosures and other proceedings. He also represents lenders and borrowers in connection with credit facilities. Olins graduated from Washington University School of Law in 2001, where he served on the editorial board of the Washington University Law Review (then the Washington University Law Quarterly), and received his B.A., cum laude, from Kenyon College in 1996.

Chad J. Rubin practices in the areas of corporate and securities law. Rubin represents public and private companies in connection with mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and compliance and general corporate matters. He also represents independent trustees of mutual funds. He earned his J.D. in 2003 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and graduated with a B.A. in 2000 from Duke University.

Mark J. Silberman practices in the area of health law. Prior to joining Duane Morris, Silberman acted as general counsel for the Illinois Health Facilities Planning Board and served as deputy chief counsel at the Illinois Department of Public Health. He began his career as a prosecutor, serving as chief of drug prosecution for the Sangamon County State's Attorney's Office and as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Central District of Illinois. Silberman was named "Young Professional of the Year" in 2001 and "Prosecutor of the Year" in 2003.

Silberman focuses his practice on governmental and regulatory compliance in healthcare and related white-collar criminal defense. He provides counsel and litigation services to healthcare providers, including pharmacies, physicians and hospitals facing administrative actions, audits or investigations. Silberman advises clients regarding the Certificate of Need process, False Claims Act/qui tam defense, DEA issues, Medicare/Medicaid reimbursement, Stark compliance and related transactional matters. Silberman is also the outside general counsel of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists. He is a 1998 cum laude graduate of the University of Illinois College of Law and a 1995 cum laude graduate of Brandeis University.

Laura A. Vogel practices in the area of intellectual property law with an emphasis on Hatch-Waxman (ANDA) litigation. She is a registered patent attorney and represents high-tech and generic pharmaceutical companies in both opinion and litigation matters. Vogel also has significant experience representing clients in interferences before the United States Board of Patent Appeals and Interferences, as well as in the preparation and prosecution of U.S. and foreign patent applications in the areas of biotechnology, food sciences and molecular and cellular biology, recombinant DNA technology, therapeutic proteins, diagnostic assays, gene therapy, vaccines and tissue sealant technology.

Vogel is a 2002 graduate of Tulane Law School, where she was senior business editor of Tulane Journal of Technology and Intellectual Property, and a cum laude graduate of the University of New Hampshire (University Honors; Honors in Major), where she earned a B.S. in Animal Science: Pre-veterinary Medicine.

Daniel R. Walworth practices in the area of litigation. He represents corporate and individual clients in a variety of criminal and civil litigation matters, including commercial and criminal proceedings in state and federal courts, government enforcement actions by, and disputes with, state and federal agencies. Both a former Assistant Federal Defender and seasoned civil litigator, Walworth counsels clients in a wide range of commercial, regulatory, and criminal matters, including the Securities Exchange Act of 1933, the False Claims Act, business disputes, and internal investigations.

Walworth is a 2003 cum laude graduate of Cornell Law School and a cum laude graduate of the University of Dayton.

Jonathan D. Wetchler practices in the area of employment law. With more than 20 years of experience exclusively in employment counseling and litigation, including as an in-house attorney, he is actively involved in the negotiation and development of executive employment contracts as well as noncompetition and anti-piracy agreements and programs. Wetchler handles a wide variety of high-exposure employment litigation, including claims of employment discrimination; sexual assault; sexual harassment; violations of ERISA; employee piracy; breach of covenants against competition and misappropriation of proprietary and confidential information; violations of wage payment statutes and the FLSA; OSHA; breach of employment contracts; defamation; and discharges in violation of public policy. He works with employers to develop and implement policies, practices and training programs designed to reduce their potential exposure to liability in all areas, including employment discrimination; sexual harassment; and occupational safety and health.

Wetchler received his J.D. in 1981 from Northwestern University School of Law and graduated with a B.A., summa cum laude, from State University of New York at Buffalo in 1978.

Megan Worrell practices in the area of U.S. and international tax and wealth transfer planning. She assists clients with formulating, implementing and administering their estate plans, in particular those with cross-border issues. Worrell regularly handles issues related to foreign trusts; pre-immigration and expatriation planning; generation-skipping transfer tax planning; asset transfers; beneficiary conflicts; and compliance with federal and state estate, gift, inheritance and income tax returns and accountings. She also has extensive experience with clients who have made voluntary disclosures to the IRS, including clients disclosing overseas accounts. In addition, Worrell has formed and provided counsel to nonprofit entities.

Worrell earned her J.D. in 2003 from Fordham University School of Law, where she was a member of the Fordham International Law Journal, and received her M.S. in Taxation, summa cum laude, from Widener University in 1998. She graduated with a B.S. in Accounting, summa cum laude, in 1997 from Salisbury State University.

Michael S. Zullo concentrates his practice in litigation matters within the financial services industry, including the defense of lender liability claims; FINRA arbitrations; securities matters; and disputes under various loan agreements. Zullo regularly counsels clients in matters involving diverse federal and state statutes, such as antitrust and trade laws; the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO); the Securities Exchange Act of 1933; the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA); and the New Jersey Franchise Practices Act (NJFPA). Zullo has significant experience counseling clients in franchise and distribution law. He has served as first chair in a variety of commercial arbitrations before AAA, FINRA and the Philadelphia arbitration center. In addition, Zullo has defended clients in various civil and criminal matters before state and federal courts.

Zullo is an alumnus of the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC) Trial Academy. He earned his J.D. with honors in 2003 from the George Washington University Law School, where he served as senior notes editor of the Public Contracts Law Journal. He is a 2000 magna cum laude graduate of Boston College, where he was a member of Phi Beta Kappa.

About Duane Morris

Duane Morris LLP, a full-service law firm with more than 700 attorneys in offices in the United States and internationally, offers innovative solutions to the legal and business challenges presented by today's evolving global markets.