Current Employment Position(s)

Shareholder

Year Joined Organization: 1996

Lawyer Overview

Jim is a shareholder in the Philadelphia office of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin where he concentrates his practice on fleet transportation litigation in the Casualty Department.

In over three decades of practice, Jim has focused his practice in the representation of self-insureds and insurers in complex tort and coverage litigation involving all types of common carrier and private transportation fleets, including interstate trucking, waste haulers, taxicab, shuttle and bus operators, loading dock matters, rental vehicle fleets, and paratransit and ambulance services. These have frequently involved issues of driver qualification records, hours of service and log violations, and driver supervision and training, as well as off dispatch and independent contractor issues.

He has handled all types of personal injury, cargo, hazardous materials, indemnification, and insurance coverage issues in this area of practice. Jim has handled numerous fatality cases arising out of transportation accidents, including three defense verdicts and several wage earner brain damage cases.

In addition to having handled cases of accidents involving multiple claims of fatality/injuries, Jim has successfully coordinated policy tender in multiple claimant situations involving disaster type damages and insufficient coverage. He is frequently brought in to supervise the initial accident response in major crashes, coordinate the investigation, handle record and evidence preservation, and oversee expert activity and spoliation prevention issues.

Jim earned his B.S. degree, cum laude, from West Chester State University and his J.D. degree from Villanova University where he served on the Law Review. He speaks frequently on transportation law topics for business professionals and was a speaker at the American Bar Association's Transportation Mega Conference II . Jim is the author of a number of articles on transportation law published in Defense Digest.

Jim was named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer in 2006 in the area of Transportation.

Significant Representative Matters:

Areas of Practice

• Trucking & Transportation Litigation

Representative Cases

• Racz v. R.T. Merryman Trucking, 1995 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 3840 (USDC-EDPA)
• Hughes v. Hemingway Transport, Inc., 539 F. Supp. 130 (ED Pa 1982)

West Practice Categories

Transportation Law, Litigation & Appeals, Personal Injury -- Defense, Insurance Law

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania, 1978
• U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1978
• U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit, 1983

Professional Associations and Memberships

• American Bar Association, Tort and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS), 2005 - Present; Commercial Transportation Committee, 2005 - Present, Vice Chair, 2005 - Present
• American Trucking Association, Litigation Center
• Defense Research Institute, Trucking Law Committee
• Philadelphia Bar Association, State Civil Rules Committee; Committee on Legislative Liaison; President Judges Select Committee on Trial Lists
• Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, Judge Pro Tem and Certified Arbitrator
• Trucking Industry Defense Association

Honors and Awards

• AV Peer Review Rating by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell
• Pennsylvania Super Lawyer, 2006

Classes and Seminars

• Presenting and Defending Claims Against Transportation Carriers, Transportation MegaConference II, American Bar Association, 1995
• Trying the Automobile Injury Case in Pennsylvania, National Business Institute, 1998

Past Employment Positions

• LaBrum and Doak, 1978 - 1995, Partner. Trial Department Administrator, Executive Committee

Education

• Villanova University School of Law, Villanova, Pennsylvania, 1978
  J.D.
  
  Law Review: Member, Villanova Law Review, 1978
• West Chester University, 1975
  B.S.
  Honors: cum laude

Published Works

• Third Circuit Review: Evans v. Buchannan 23, Villanova Law Review 782, 1977
• Forum Non Conveniens Transfer of Venue Forecast: Continued Cloudy, Defense Digest, Vol. 2, No. 6, 1996
• "Serious Injury" Under the MVFRL: Serious Disagreement, Defense Digest, Vol. 4, No. 1, 1998
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court 'States' The Rule On Interstate Shipments, Defense Digest, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2003

Address

1845 Walnut Street
Philadelphia, PA 19103-4797

Phones

(215) 575-2783

Faxes

(215) 575-0856

Emails

Contact Us

Websites

http://www.marshalldennehey.com