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Gemberling, M. Scott

Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin
1845 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4797
Phone: (215) 575-2714
Fax: (215) 575-0856
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Summary
Current Employment Position(s)
Shareholder
Year Joined Organization: 1980
Lawyer Overview
For nearly 30 years, Scott has focused a significant portion of his practice on the defense of liquor liability and significant exposure excess insurance claims. Scott has tried over 100 cases to verdict, many involving dram shop cases.
In addition to his law practice, Scott has lectured extensively to various claims and trial lawyer associations concerning liquor liability and other topics. He serves as the National Litigation Coordinator for high exposure liquor liability, professional liability and excess claims for a number of national insurance companies. He has actively defended liquor liability claims in a variety of jurisdictions including Florida, New York, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Oklahoma, Michigan, Minnesota, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, New Jersey, Connecticut, among others. Scott travels extensively throughout the United States mediating significant exposure liquor liability and excess claims in his role as national counsel at the request of his clients.
Since 1995, Scott has served on the faculty of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute for its annual Tort Law Update Program lecturing attorneys concerning subjects including dram shop liability and the admission of evidence of alcohol in civil cases. As well, Scott has served as a Judge Pro Tem in Delaware County (1997-2002), Co-Chairman of the Delaware County Civil Trial Practice Committee (1998-2002) and served as a member of the Delaware County Judicial Advisory Committee. He also serves as both Coordinator and Faculty for a Pennsylvania Bar Institute sponsored Dram Shop Liability Seminar presented every two years since 1999.
Scott graduated from Clarion State University in 1974, completed masters credits toward a Master of Psychosocial Science at The Pennsylvania State University from 1976 through 1978. He concluded his legal education at Widener University School of Law in 1981. Scott began his career with Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman and Goggin as a law clerk in 1979 and continued employment with the firm following his admission to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1981.
Significant Representative Matters
Areas of Practice
- Liquor Liability
- Professional Liability-Legal, Accounting, Directors & Officers
- Excess Insurance Claims
West Practice Categories
Alcoholic Beverages, Professional Malpractice Law, Professional Responsibility, Products Liability Law
Qualifications
Bar Admissions
- Pennsylvania, 1981
Professional Associations and Memberships
- American Board of Trial Advocates, Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter
- Defense Research Institute
- Delaware County Bar Association
- Delaware County Judge Pro Tem, 1997 - 2002
- Delaware County, Judicial Advisory Committee (1998-2002); Co-Chairman, Civil Trial Practices Committee (1998-2002)
- Litigation Counsel of America, Fellow
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Pennsylvania Defense Institute
- Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel
Honors and Awards
- AV Peer Review Rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell
- Pennsylvania Super Lawyer, 2006 - 2009
Classes and Seminars
- Mealey's Retail Hospitality Liability Conference, Las Vegas, Nevada - October 2005
- Annual Symposium on Alcoholic Beverage Law, National Alcohol Beverage Control Association, Inc., Arlington, Virginia - March 2004
- Dram Shop Liability, The Insurance Society of Philadelphia - December 2003
- Liquor Liability, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association - November 1999
- Tort Law Update (Evidence and Expert Witnesses), The Pennsylvania Bar Institute, 1995 - Present
- Liquor Liability Seminar, The Pennsylvania Bar Institute (Pittsburgh, Mechanicsburg and Philadelphia), 1999 - Present
- Defending Liquor Liability Cases, Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association - June 1992
- Dram Shop Liability, Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association - Winter 1991
- American College of Forensic Psychiatrists, (1992, 1994, 1996, 1999)
- Evidence of Intoxication, Philadelphia Bar Education Foundation - December 1995
Education
- Widener University School of Law, Wilmington, Delaware,
1981
J.D. - Clarion State University,
1974
B.A. - The Pennsylvania State University,
1978
M.Pssc
Fraternities/Sororities
- Phi Delta Phi
Articles
Published Works
- The Dram Shop Act in Pennsylvania: Strategies for the Defense, (Co-Author), American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, Vol. 13, No. 3, 1992
- No Social Host Liability for "Minors", Defense Digest, Summer, 1992
- Estate of Boudwin v. Dino's Lounge, et al.: A Dram Shop Act Case, (Co-Author), American Journal of Forensic Psychiatry, Vol. 15, No. 3, 1994
- "After Hours" Service of Alcohol Not A Basis For Liability Under PA Dram Shop Act, Defense Digest, October, 1995
- Dram Shop Liability, Pennsylvania Bar Institute No. 1999-2074
- Recent Dram Shop Developments, The Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, Vol. 70, No. 3, July, 1999
- Direct vs. Circumstantial Evidence of Visible Intoxication in Dram Shop Case - Kelly Hotel Continues The Trend, Defense Digest, Vol. 5, No. 3, 1999
- Direct vs. Circumstantial Evidence of Visible Intoxication in Dram Shop Case - Kelly Hotel Continues The Trend, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, July 19, 1999
- Defense of Contributory Negligence In A Dram Shop Case Involving An Adult Consumer of Alcohol, Defense Digest, Vol. 5, No. 2, 1999
- Defense of Contributory Negligence In A Dram Shop Case Involving An Adult Consumer of Alcohol, The Legal Intelligencer, June 14, 1999
Office Information
Address
1845 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4797
Phones
(215) 575-2714
Faxes
(215) 575-0856