Elected and Appointed

Stephen A. Ryan, practice group chair in the health care department at Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, was inducted as a fellow into the College of Physicians of Philadelphia.

Ryan is one of 21 newly elected fellows of the college and the only attorney in this current class, which is made up of civic leaders, public health advocates, academics and other professionals.

As part of its mission to advance the cause of health while upholding the ideals and heritage of medicine, the college strives to enable individuals, families and communities to take greater responsibility for their health; improve the health of the public through service to health professionals; enhance appreciation of the heritage of medicine; and provide information for the development of health policy.

Ryan chairs both the birth and catastrophic injury and the medical device and pharmaceutical liability practice groups at Marshall Dennehey.

He has over 40 years of medical malpractice litigation experience.

In addition to defending hospitals, physicians and other health care facilities and professionals, Ryan also represents drug and medical device manufacturers in litigation and monitors these cases and all birth injury defense cases firmwide.

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Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young announced Gretchen Santamour, partner and member of the firm's finance practice group and the business reorganization and bankruptcy practice group, was appointed to the board of directors of Hyperion Bank.

Santamour concentrates her practice on business restructurings, loan workout, loan documentation, bankruptcy, collection and foreclosure litigation.

She represents financial institutions, real estate investors, landlords and other business organizations.

Santamour currently serves as the board president of Education Law Center of Pennsylvania. She also serves on the board of trustees at Arcadia University.

Events

Henry E. Van Blunk, a shareholder at Eastburn and Gray, is slated to serve as a judge at the first Spark Bowl, a "Shark-Tank"-like competition to be held at Delaware Valley University on Dec. 11.

The competition will feature five local contestants—entrepreneurs, businesses and nonprofit organizations—vying for funding to help them address social, consumer or business-oriented challenges in and around Bucks County.

Van Blunk practices in Eastburn and Gray's business/corporate and litigation practice groups.

He represents entrepreneurs, mature businesses and government bodies in business and corporate law, litigation, banking law, labor law, real estate law and public finance.

Additionally, he assists clients with initial formation, financing, employment issues, acquisitions and sales, liquor license issues, shareholder agreements and succession planning.

Spark Bowl is presented by DelVal's department of business and information management and the Central Bucks Chamber of Commerce.

As part of DelVal's experiential learning program, student teams are working with the contestants to prepare for the competition under the guidance of DelVal faculty.

The first-place award for the competing organization will be $13,500 in funding. Additional prizes will be awarded to the second- and third-place teams, as well as the top student teams.

The competition is a free, public, community event.

Speakers

McNees Wallace & Nurick attorney Denise Elliott is set to present at Trout, Ebersole & Groff's Payroll & Business Seminar in Lancaster on Dec. 12.

Elliott will present on the topic of medical marijuana in the workplace.

She will focus on the impact of the Pennsylvania Medical Marijuana Act on employment, covering random and reasonable suspicion drug testing and workplace safety.

Elliott practices in the McNees labor and employment practice group where she focuses on defending self-insured employers in workers compensation matters and providing representation and counsel to clients in employment discrimination litigation, ADA/FMLA compliance, drug and alcohol issues in the workplace, and health and safety.

She is certified as a specialist in the practice of workers' compensation law by the Pennsylvania Bar Association workers' compensation law section.