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Elected and Appointed

Loren L. Speziale, deputy managing partner with Gross McGinley, was elevated to equity partner status with the firm.

Speziale focuses her practice in the areas of business, real estate and employment matters, including workplace issues, policies and procedures, contracts, business structure, sales and acquisitions, and commercial real estate.

She also works with financial institutions on commercial loan transactions and assists private equity firms with the acquisition and handling of distressed loans.

Speziale serves as president for the Women's Resources of Monroe County board of directors and as a member of the board for the Rodale Institute.

She is a board member for the chamber's small business council as well as the Easton Area Chamber of Commerce.

She also currently serves as chairperson of the City of Bethlehem Human Relations Commission.

Speziale received recognitions including Lehigh Valley Business's Women of Influence. She and earned her Juris Doctor from Seton Hall University School of Law in 2002.

Additions

Saxton & Stump added attorney Jason G. Benion as shareholder and chair of the firm's newly formed death care group.

With nearly 15 years of legal experience, Benion counsels clients through complex litigation, business and contract disputes and regulatory matters.

He will also practice in the firm's commercial litigation and business and corporate groups.

In his death care practice, Benion represents funeral homes, cemeteries, crematories and cremation societies, preneed marketers, insurance agents, merchandise companies, pet cemeteries and industry associations.

He litigates commercial and contract disputes, trade secret and noncompete claims, consumer protection matters, and fraud and defamation claims.

Benion represents clients before licensing boards and regulatory agencies and advises clients on business formations and acquisitions.

Benion previously served as federal law clerk to U.S. District Judge John E. Jones III of the Middle District of Pennsylvania.

After he received his Juris Doctor from Georgetown University Law Center, Benion began his career with Morgan, Lewis & Bockius as an associate in their Washington, D.C., office.

Most recently, he was a principal in the business law and litigation practice group in the Harrisburg office of Post & Schell.

*****

Dilworth Paxson announced the addition of Andrew Leven as of counsel to the firm's white-collar and government investigations department, resident in its Princeton, New Jersey, office.

Leven has experience as a federal prosecutor and defense attorney.

He also served as the worldwide health care compliance director at the Cordis Corp., a medical device company, then owned by Johnson & Johnson.

At Cordis, Leven participated in business decisions with the senior management team, trained marketing and sales components, led internal investigations, and led the implementation of HCC policies.

During his time as a federal prosecutor, Leven specialized in economic and health care fraud prosecutions.

Leven also conducted insurance, bank, mortgage, wire, tax and mail fraud grand jury investigations.

Additionally, he served as the criminal tax intake prosecutor for the District of New Jersey.

As a defense attorney, he secured non-prosecution decisions for executives under investigation in the health care, insurance and financial sectors from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.

In his practice, Leven handles matters for health care, corporate, insurance and financial sector clients facing potential fraud-based criminal or civil challenges as defendants, plaintiffs, witnesses and victims.

Leven is a graduate of the Syracuse University College of Law.

Announcements

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