Summary of 2011

OUR TEAM

2011 was a truly remarkable year for MDPCE. In addition to the many successes for our clients, the firm was recognized by U.S. News & World Report’s Best Lawyers with the designation of one of the “Best Law Firms” for 2011-2012. Partners Jim Denlea, Myra Packman, and Barry Cepelewicz were selected as Super Lawyers, partners David Meiselman and Jeff Carton were named to the Top 25 Super Lawyers in Westchester County, David and Jeff were also selected as Fellows in the American Bar Foundation, an honorary society comprising less than 1% of practicing attorneys in the United States and Jeff was named to the “Best Lawyers in America” in the practice area of commercial litigation. As these accolades can only be bestowed upon us by our peers, we are humbled and privileged to have received such recognition.

Our team also grew in 2011 with the addition of Kerry Cunningham, Jeremiah Frei-Pearson and Todd Garber. Kerry, Jeremiah and Todd each have more than a decade’s worth of litigation experience, and join us after their successful associations with DLA Piper, Kaye Scholer and Lowey Dannenberg, respectively.

COMPLEX LITIGATION

Our litigation department had a remarkable year successfully representing plaintiffs and defendants in both state and federal courts in numerous and diverse venues. To begin, we filed actions in federal courts in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut against each of those states’ presiding justices on behalf of the law firm of Jacoby & Meyers in its constitutional challenge to the rule of professional conduct which prevents non-lawyers from owning equity in law firms. This landmark case has been widely reported in multiple media outlets, including the New York Law Journal and the Wall Street Journal. The actions seek to effect the most profound change in the practice of law in nearly a century. In addition, after many months of contentious litigation, we successfully resolved the claims of the three largest and most successful personal injury and worker’s compensation firms in the state, against a terminated shareholder’s claims.

Our efforts on behalf of the USTA continued in full force as we successfully resolved a dispute with a significant sponsor of the US Open, and generally advised the Association on various matters of importance. We also continued to represent a prestigious marine terminal in Portland, Maine in its defense of a wrongful death action brought against it by a port captain. Additionally, we completed an arbitration before the Society of Maritime Arbitrators regarding the scope of a contractual indemnity clause between two large, multinational cargo shipping companies.

The firm was also retained to defend a prominent television journalist in a contract dispute with her former manager; retained to represent Premier Exhibitions, the entity behind the widely acclaimed “Bodies” exhibits, in a breach of contract and tortious interference action against its competitor, Plastination; hired to represent one of the largest Hunts Point auto parts retailers; and retained to represent an ABC evening news anchor in an employment dispute with her station. In addition, we were engaged to represent Heineken in a breach of contract action with a former marketing partner and were hired to represent the interests of a Middle Eastern Royal Family in a dispute with one of Manhattan’s landmark destinations.

The diversity of matters we handled in 2011 remains a testament to our creativity, unflinching advocacy and our willingness to master the facts and law of any dispute, regardless of its venue or subject matter.

NATIONAL CLASS ACTIONS

MDPCE continues to champion consumers’ rights in courts throughout the country representing victims of unfair and deceptive acts and practices. In 2011, we settled a nationwide class action against Sears on behalf of consumers who were denied full refunds on their purchases after receiving rewards cards; reached a settlement in principle with Sam’s Club, concerning litigation challenging the warehouse club’s backdating of renewal memberships; settled a nationwide class action in Florida against magicJack, an on-line telephone service provider; and successfully prosecuted a class action against the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas for collecting a “mandatory housekeeping gratuity” that is not given exclusively to housekeepers.

2011 also saw significant progress made in: our continued prosecution of consumer fraud claims against the popular diet supplement Relacore in an action in which we were appointed lead counsel on behalf of a class of New Jersey consumers; the New York-based federal litigation against Bayer regarding its “combination aspirin” products, a matter in which we serve on Plaintiff’s Executive Committee; and the parallel actions we are prosecuting in California and Connecticut, against chapters of the AAA, concerning their membership renewal practices. We look forward to bringing these matters to trial in 2012.

New class actions instituted by the firm in 2011 include: claims against Visa for marketing a non-reloadable debit card that consumers have difficulty depleting; against Adaptive Marketing, to redress their on-line ‘cramming’ practices; against Michael’s Craft Stores for their unlawful invasion of consumers’ privacy through their collection of personal information in connection with credit card transactions; against Sirius XM radio for their unlawful business practice of renewing periodic memberships without giving consumers sufficient advance warning; against service workers’ union 32-BJ’s 401K retirement plan for breach of fiduciary duties; against Rexall Sundown for a health supplement falsely claiming that it can rebuild cartilage; a $4.9 billion data theft/breach of privacy action against Tricare and the Department of Defense arising from their failure to protect the medical records of nearly five million service members and their families; against Energy Plus Holdings, LLC, for deceptive advertising and billing practices; against Smart Balance for falsely claiming that their fat free milk contains no fat; and against Pizza Hut on behalf of their under-compensated delivery drivers for wage and hour violations.

Our consumer interest blog (classactionblog.mdpcelaw.com) attracted nearly 100,000 unique visitors in 2011 and many of our consumer alerts led to CEO’s of various companies contacting us directly to pro-actively address misrepresentations regarding their products and to correct their corporate practices going forward. We are proud of the profound changes our investigations have achieved in helping consumers across the nation. We salute the bloggers who helped to make our forum one of the “40 Essential Consumer Advocate Blogs” in the country, as determined by on-line advocates.

CATASTROPHIC INJURIES

MDPCE continued its long and illustrious history of successfully representing victims of serious personal injury, by obtaining multiple seven figure settlements. We were successful in settling the personal injury claims of a man who sustained injuries arising from an electrical explosion that occurred on a technology campus. In addition, we successfully resolved a case involving a metal worker who was severely injured when a welding spark caused an explosion in a nearby waste oil tank. Some of the cases we are currently prosecuting involve an injured construction worker who was buried alive when a trench he was working in collapsed; the wrongful death of a landscaper who sustained a fatal head injury while cutting down trees; and the personal injuries sustained by several women from the prescription birth control pill Yaz/Yasmin.

FIGHTING FOR PHYSICIANS

Since its inception in 1976, MDPCE has fought for our physician-clients. In 2011, the firm continued its proud history of representing physicians, medical groups, hospital medical staffs and county medical societies in New York, Connecticut and throughout the country, in personal and professional matters. Most recently, the firm was retained by the Connecticut Orthopaedic Society, as their General Counsel.

Led by physician-attorney and nationally recognized practitioner Barry Cepelewicz, MDPCE continued to successfully represent doctors in disputes with hospitals, third-party payors, insurance and managed care companies, and state and federal investigative agencies. In addition, we counsel physicians in the business aspect of their practices. This includes employment, partnership and shareholder issues; contract and restrictive covenant disputes; managed care issues; the creation, merger and dissolution of medical practices; asset protection plans; and in the management, growth and financing of practices.

In addition, MPDCE’s medical malpractice litigators had another successful year in representing our physician-clients. Some of our current cases include the defense of: five physicians against allegations of negligence involving a lacerated femoral artery; a urologist and his group against allegations of complications following bladder surgery; three doctors in a difficult case regarding the alleged failure to diagnose lung cancer in an Orange County woman; a plastic surgeon against allegations of complications following a breast reduction; the Director of Radiation Oncology of a local hospital regarding claims of negligent radiation therapy treatment; and a neurosurgeon who was sued for an alleged failed lumbar microdiscectomy. Also, we are involved in a whistleblower action regarding Medicare fraud and abuse.

The firm is proud to have continued its 35-year tradition of successfully representing the medical community and defending some of the most serious and challenging cases.

CONCLUSION

As we enter the new year, we want to thank our clients for entrusting us with difficult, challenging cases, confronting many of the nation’s largest and most well-recognized firms, in litigation across the country. To emerge victorious, as often as we do, is a testament to the passion, commitment, intellect and advocacy that our attorneys bring to every engagement. We look forward to the new and exciting challenges of 2012.