Reed Smith trial lawyer Robert A. Nicholas, a senior litigator in the firm’s Global Commercial Disputes Group, resident in Philadelphia, has been named a member of the 2022 “Best of the Bar” in business litigation by the Philadelphia Business Journal.
Nicholas has had extensive first-chair trial experience at Reed Smith representing many of the firm’s largest clients. His most recent win came on July 4, 2022, in a high-profile bellwether case in which he co-led the defense of AmerisourceBergen, a major pharmaceutical distributor, against public nuisance claims brought by city and county plaintiffs in West Virginia that was part of a massive consolidated multidistrict litigation. Working alongside two other law firms representing other large pharmaceutical distributors, the team achieved the most expansive favorable verdict on which the wide range of opioid claims defendants have yet prevailed, setting an important precedent not only for the current opioid litigation, but also for future opioid litigation.
Nicholas has long been an active member of Reed Smith’s management team, including in former roles as a member of the firm’s Senior Management Team and Executive Committee, and as the office managing partner of both the firm’s New York and Philadelphia offices.
Now in its sixth year, the “Best of the Bar” awards recognize the most impactful lawyers in the Greater Philadelphia region. Nicholas and others will be honored at an October 20 event at the Crystal Tea Room and profiled in a special edition of the publication on October 21.
Lawyers across Greater Philadelphia were nominated by the public and evaluated by an independent panel of judges that included Mark Bernstein, former Philadelphia County Court of Common Pleas judge; JoAnne Epps, former Temple University Beasley School of Law dean; and Andrea Utecht, former general counsel at FMC Corp. The judges took into consideration each nominee’s demonstrated success over the past 15 months, including the significance of the matters and the magnitude of their results.
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