Elected and Appointed

John J. Hare, co-chair of the appellate advocacy and post-trial practice group at Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, and Heather Russell Fine, shareholder in the firm's casualty department, were selected to join the International Association of Defense Counsel.

The IADC is an invitation-only organization of 2,500 inside and outside counsel and insurance industry executives.

As appellate and litigation counsel, Hare represents individuals, insurers and corporations in litigation.

He is an appointed member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court's civil procedural rules committee and formerly served on the board of governors of the Bar Association of the Third Federal Circuit and as co-chair of the amicus curiae committee of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute.

Fine is a trial attorney focusing her practice on complex products liability and mass tort defense matters, with emphasis on the representation of automotive manufacturers, regional product manufacturers, food service retailers and retail corporations.

Through her practice, she manages all aspects of complex products liability cases from inception through verdict and appeal.

She is a member of the American Bar Association and the Defense Research Institute.

Events

As part of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Law Week 2019, lawyers are set to offer free legal advice for residents of Philadelphia and the surrounding counties, visit school classrooms, guide children on tours of the city's courtrooms, and present mock criminal trials for grade school students during the weeklong celebration.

This year's Law Week theme, as identified by the American Bar Association, is “Free Speech, Free Press, Free Society.”

Upcoming events are set to include “Lawyer for a Day” at 8:30 a.m. Thursday and “'Gold E. Locks and the Big Bad Wolf' and 'Jack and the Beanstalk' Mock Trials” at 9 a.m. Friday.

During “Lawyer for a Day,” Philadelphia Bar Association members are set to accompany Philadelphia high school students into the city's courtrooms to witness live court proceedings at City Hall and the Juanita Kidd Stout Center for Criminal Justice.

The event is scheduled to conclude with a luncheon at the association, where Chancellor-Elect A. Michael Snyder will welcome students.

At the mock trials, volunteer judges from the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas and lawyers dressed as characters from “Gold E. Locks and the Big Bad Wolf” and “Jack and the Beanstalk” are slated to perform mock criminal trials based on these fairytales for elementary school children.

Following opening remarks in the Ceremonial Courtroom, students and volunteers will disperse to City Hall courtrooms to act as prosecutors, defense attorneys and witnesses in the criminal mock trials that will include opening statements, examinations and cross-examinations of witnesses, closing arguments and instructions for the juries.

After each trial, the students act as the jury and determine whether the characters are guilty of a crime.

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Members of the bench, bar and public are invited to the portrait unveiling ceremony for retired Judge Paul P. Panepinto of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas, scheduled to be held in Room 653, City Hall at 4 p.m. May 9.

A reception with light refreshments is set to take place in City Council Room 401, City Hall, immediately following the ceremony.

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Lamb McErlane partners James C Sargent and Maureen M. McBride were course planners at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute's program on “Advanced Appellate Advocacy, Presenting Complex Appeals in the PA Courts.”

The program included a panel of appellate judges and appellate lawyers that explained the process of appealing a case to a higher court.

At Lamb McErlane, Sargent is co-chair of the firm's appellate advocacy group and litigation department.

He represents manufacturers in litigation and appeals involving class action, products liability, taxation, warranty, fraud, employment and consumer protection law claims.

McBride is co-chair of Lamb McErlane's appellate department and a member of the litigation department and the firm's executive committee.

She concentrates her practice on appellate law and litigation in state and federal courts.