Cozen O'Connnor issued the following announcement on Sept. 17.
Cozen O’Connor is pleased to announce the promotion of eight members to shareholders of the firm: Joseph C. Bedwick, Leni Morrison Cummins, Lynnette Espy-Williams, Daniel W. Hardwick, Hugh J. Marbury, Sean J. Riley, David B. Sunshine, and George A. Voegele, Jr.
“We are so proud of what this group of attorneys has accomplished to lead up to this recognition,” said Michael J. Heller, Executive Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Cozen O’Connor. “They have demonstrated a commitment to the firm, their clients, and the legal profession. We look forward to seeing all the great things they will do in the future.”
Bedwick concentrates his practice in general business and corporate law, with an emphasis on mergers and acquisitions. As co-chair of the firm’s Cannabis Industry Team, Joe has spearheaded the development of a multidisciplinary cannabis practice into a full-service industry team comprising attorneys from virtually every practice group within Cozen O’Connor and with an industry team representative resident in 13 of the jurisdictions across the country in which cannabis is legal at the state level. He applies his corporate knowledge and counseling background to help clients navigate this rapidly developing regulated industry, most notably in utilizing his mergers and acquisitions experience to structure and document acquisitions of cannabis license holders.
Cummins has extensive experience representing both the sponsor-developers of condominiums (condos) and cooperatives (co-ops), as well as condo, co-op, and community association boards. Her work on behalf of sponsor-developers deeply informs her work on behalf of boards — and vice versa. She routinely advises clients on plans for new construction and condominium conversions and has extensive experience negotiating issues pertaining to construction, development, and statutory compliance. She is well known for her ability to resolve contentious disputes between sponsor-developers and boards, and frequently mediates fraud claims under the Martin Act before the New York State Office of the Attorney General.
Espy-Williams has experience in litigating a wide variety of civil and commercial matters, including matters pertaining to mass and complex torts, professional liability, premises liability, products liability, contract disputes, and extracontractual disputes, including defending bad faith claims. She has extensive experience in defending many high-exposure products liability and premises liability matters. With respect to products liability cases, she routinely represents manufacturers, distributors, and retailers of allegedly defective products in negligence actions stemming from allegations, including, but not limited to, failure to warn, breach of implied and express warranties, and any other theory in tort or contract. Espy-Williams also serves as the firm's chief diversity officer.
Hardwick focuses his practice in real estate law, specifically real estate financing, acquisition and disposition, and joint ventures. He has represented both landlords and tenants in the negotiation and auditing of complex office, retail, and industrial leases. His finance experience includes the drafting and negotiation of loan documents, due diligence review, and closing coordination for a variety of financial arrangements, including construction and permanent loans, mezzanine debt financings, assumptions, pool facilities, participations, and loan modifications.
Marbury focuses his practice on business and intellectual property litigation. His business litigation practice focuses on complex financial transactions and commercial disputes across multiple sectors. His intellectual property litigation practice includes patent, trademark, copyright, and trade secret litigation in diverse technological areas across many industries. Marbury has more than two decades of experience utilizing his considerable knowledge to counsel clients in a wide variety of industries on critical challenges facing their businesses. With a broad range of experience in complex issues, he offers his clients a nuanced perspective on the convergence of technology, business, and law.
Riley has significant background handling inquiries for clients before state attorneys general (AGs) in all 50 states. Riley has experience from both sides of the state AG lens. He was a senior executive in a state attorney general’s office from 2009-2015, and in private practice with the government investigations and white collar group of a global law firm advising their pharmaceutical and medical device industry clients on state AG matters. His litigation, regulatory, and policymaking background has intersected many industries, including pharmaceuticals and health care, environmental and energy, financial services, new and disruptive technologies, gaming, and communications.
Sunshine focuses his practice on patent, trademark and copyright litigation, anti-counterfeiting enforcement, proceedings before the Trademark Trial and Appeal Board, domain name disputes, U.S. and international trademark prosecution, and copyright registration and practice. He represents a formidable list of domestic and multinational clients in a variety of industries, including apparel, luxury consumer and designer goods, jewelry, food and beverage, consumer products, consumer electronics, publishing and media, health care, e-commerce, telecommunications, publishing and sports, among others. On behalf of several major luxury brands, Sunshine develops and implements comprehensive worldwide anti-counterfeiting enforcement strategies. As a result of those strategies, he has succeeded in shutting down scores of counterfeit operations around the world.
Voegele has been advising employers in labor and employment matters for more than 20 years, with a focus on traditional labor matters such as collective bargaining and union-management relations, employment litigation, and wage and hour advice and litigation in both the public and private sectors. Voegele represents businesses, municipalities, nonprofits, and educational institutions in all aspects of labor and employment law, including federal and state court trial proceedings involving equal employment opportunity laws, such as Title VII, the Americans With Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, and the New Jersey Law Against Discrimination.
Original source can be found here.