Summary of 2006

THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST

2006 was another great year for Meiselman, Denlea, Packman, Carton & Eberz.  Evidence of the firm's continued growth and success is best reflected by the extraordinarily talented attorneys who joined us in 2006.

We are proud to welcome Ron Ball, Wayne Rubin, Lindsay Held, Tara DiLuca and Christine Stea.  Ron is a University of Pennsylvania and Boston College Law School graduate.  Having tried 35 felony cases to verdict while an Assistant District Attorney in Westchester County, Ron has also tried numerous medical malpractice and other personal injury cases to verdict including those involving brain damaged infants and adults, cancer, paralysis and amputation.  Ron's extensive experience, trial skills and record of achievement is a valuable addition to our litigation team.  Wayne Rubin is a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Amherst and Cornell Law School.  Having litigated a wide breadth of insurance issues, professional malpractice, product's liability and construction accidents, Wayne's experiences complement well those of the firm. 

Lindsay Held is an exceptional transactional, litigation and class action attorney.  A magna cum laude graduate of Dartmouth College and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar at Columbia Law School, Lindsay also holds an MBA from Wharton.  Lindsay's experiences offer the Firm a perfect blend of business and legal acumen.   Tara DiLuca has worked on significant securities fraud class action cases including the largest ever against a European company in the United States.  A graduate of Fordham University and Pace Law School, Tara was a Division 1-A track and field star.  Joining us from Brooklyn Law School where she was Dean's List and winner of several prestigious academic awards is Christine Stea who has recently passed the Bar Exam and is awaiting admission.  To learn more about our talented attorneys, visit us at www.mdpcelaw.com

In addition, senior partners David Meiselman, Myra Packman and Jim Eberz, were once again recognized as the best in our profession.  In 2006, David, Myra and Jim were acknowledged by New York Magazine amongst the "Best Lawyers in the Tri-State Area" as selected by their peers.  They were also included in the 2006 book "Best Lawyers in the US".  While there are many fine and deserving attorneys who may not have been named in these particular surveys, we are nevertheless very proud that our law firm was the only one in Westchester to have three of its partners so honored.

NATIONAL CASES    

We are proud to share with you our success in the nationwide class action we brought in Orange County, California against the popular diet supplement "Cortislim."  In addition to changing the marketing tactics for this product, our partner, Jeff Carton, achieved a settlement in which consumers will recover nearly $6,000,000 in redress.  MDPC&E initiated 12 major class action lawsuits in 2006.  Among the corporations we sued were Old Navy and The Gap, Costco, Hollywood Tanning Systems Inc., Webster Financial Corporation, Wal-Mart, Shell Oil, American Express and United Health.  Our already existing class action cases against Ortho-Evra, Relacore and Strivectin continue to be actively litigated.  The firm is currently investigating nearly 20 potential class action cases and we look forward to 2007 being a very exciting time for our firm litigating these significant matters.  We hope our cases will result in a safer and more protected consumer environment.

CATASTROPHIC INJURIES

The firm continued its nearly 30 year history of success representing victims of catastrophic personal injury.  In December, our partner Jeff Carton won a $4.5 million jury verdict in Columbia County for a 24 year old high voltage lineman who was horribly inured in an electrical accident on the campus of RPI. 

Among the new cases we were retained to prosecute in 2006 include a 27 year old man who lost his dominant hand when a machine malfunctioned; a 50 year old man who was severely injured as a result of an explosion at a cement plant; a 15 year old boy injured in a school sanctioned sports practice with possible permanent loss of vision in one eye; and a 31 year old electrician severely burned over 40% of his body as the result of an explosion in Orange County, New York.  We are also suing the Guidant Corporation for the wrongful death of a North Carolina man from a defective pacemaker.  We are proud to have taken on the case of a non-smoking casino worker in Atlantic City who was diagnosed with lung cancer as a result of inhaling second-hand smoke at the Tropicana.  This is a case which could have significant national impact in protecting the health of non-smoking workers who are exposed to the dangers of second-hand smoke.

GENERAL LITIGATION

In addition to our class actions, catastrophic personal injury cases and general liability and medical malpractice defense, the firm had an extraordinary year in the general litigation area. 

Partners Jim Denlea and David Douglas spear-headed an extensive complex insurance litigation resulting in a multi-million dollar settlement on the eve of trial.  Partners David Douglas and Jeff Carton won a federal trademark infringement action in which our client was accused of infringing upon a competitor's service mark.  The matter was dismissed when we successfully argued that the mark was merely descriptive and belonged to no one.  

In 2006, we were also retained to defend an owner of a professional hockey team for alleged stock fraud; to defend a financial services firm from claims of unfair trade practices; to defend a corporation in Illinois Federal Court for alleged breach of a contract regarding Internet advertising; and to prosecute a limited partnership dispute concerning the development of a commercial and residential complex project in downtown White Plains. 

In addition, we are lead counsel in an international contractual dispute between a financing company and a product manufacturer in Equador; representing Getty Petroleum in defending a personal injury case; pursuing a claim of legal malpractice against a law firm for failing to properly file tax certiorari claims in behalf of a major real estate company; and defending a nursing home owner against allegations of fraud and patient abuse by the New York State Attorney General's Office.  Notably, we were also retained to represent the interests of a defendant who is alleged to have been at fault in the deaths of more than 20 people in the unfortunate capsizing of the "Ethan Allen" on Lake George.  This is obviously a very serious and nationally publicized matter and our firm was proud to have been chosen to defend these complex and significant lawsuits.

FIGHTING FOR PHYSICIANS 

Since its inception in 1976, MDPC&E has fought for doctors and for the preservation of the best medical care system in the world.  In 2006, the firm continued its proud history of representing physicians, medical groups, hospital medical staffs and county medical societies as well as litigating cases in behalf of the Medical Society of the State of New York.  We continue to represent doctors in New York, Connecticut and elsewhere on their professional matters including employment issues, contracts, managed care disputes, the creation, merger and dissolution of partnerships and corporations; audits by third-party payors seeking either reimbursement for prior payment or denying payment properly due our physician clients.  We are working with a large medical group opposed to a new economic credentialing policy of a regional medical center and we are on the cutting edge representing radiologists who are pursuing teleradiology on a worldwide basis.  We are also challenging in New York and Connecticut the anti-competitive effects of the merger of United Health and Oxford. We had another successful year fighting for doctors regarding licensure issues and hospital privilege disputes. 

In the malpractice arena, we were retained to tackle some of the most challenging matters including the representation of a physician alleged to have missed a corneal abrasion in a young patient leading to a corneal transplant and a surgeon for allegedly failing to properly harvest a bone graft from a patient's leg.

Heading up our Health Care Department is physician-attorney Barry Cepelewicz.  Once again this year, Barry has been called on to write articles and speak all over the country.  Barry is the author of numerous articles on medical malpractice, class actions and physician protection.  Barry has represented clients such as NYU, Columbia Presbyterian, Stanford University Medical Center, The Cleveland Clinic and Johns Hopkins and continues to serve as the firm's liaison to the Fairfield County Medical Association for whom we are privileged to serve as General Counsel.

TRANSACTIONAL HIGHLIGHTS

Our transactional department had many interesting matters to work on this year including: the merger of two large accounting firms; the expansion of a specialty chemicals company into international markets; the severance agreement of several powerful and highly compensated executives in the financial services markets; and the negotiation and enforcement of our clients' intellectual property rights.

*     *     *

2006 was an incredible year!  For a firm our size to have handled the scope, complexity and geographic diversity of the matters we were privileged to handle, is a testament to the intellectual capital, passion and energy we bring to every engagement.  We enjoy our clients and value the bonds we forge with them.  Although 2006 may have raised the bar for us yet again, we look forward to the challenges and successes of 2007.