Beth Carter, a member of the firm's product liability and auto teams, has been elected to the Board of Governors for the Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel. Her term will begin in September 2010. Beth recently discussed Medicare liens at a CLE presented by the Pennsylvania Defense Institute. Beth's portion of the presentation covered key aspects of Medicare liens, including an update on the Medicare Secondary Payer Act. For more information, please feel free to contact Beth. She was also recently appointed to a co-chair position on the amicus committee for the Pennsylvania Defense Institute. As a co-chair Beth will work with the committee in making Amicus brief recommendations with regard to appellate issues pending in Superior and Supreme court. For more information on these topics, please contact Beth at (215) 665-3311 or carter@bbs-law.com.

The Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel (PADC) has honored David Prewitt with its Distinguished Service Award which is given annually to honor the member of the Bar who "best exemplifies the qualities of professionalism and dedication as defense counsel in the practice of law and in the promotion of the highest ideals of justice in the community". If you would like to speak with Dave or offer congratulations, he can be reached at (215) 665-3379 or prewitt@bbs-law.com.

2010 Super Lawyers® Kevin M. Blake Louis E. Bricklin Pamela A. Carlos Victoria Komarnicki W. Bourne Ruthrauff Rising Stars James Blumenthal Beth A. Carter Charles Lanzalotti William Sylianteng Michael A. Weiner The firm is pleased to announce that members Kevin Blake, Louis Bricklin, Pam Carlos, Victoria Komarnicki and W. Bourne Ruthrauff have been selected for inclusion in Super Lawyers 2010, a publication of Thomson Reuters business, in accordance with its procedures. In addition, James Blumenthal, Beth Carter, Charles Lanzalotti, William Sylianteng and Michael Weiner have been selected for inclusion in Rising Stars 2010, a publication of Thomson Reuters business, in accordance with its procedures.  Past year Super Lawyers® include Kevin M. Blake (2009), Edward J. Bradley (2008), Louis E. Bricklin (2007, 2008 and 2009), Pamela A. Carlos (2009) and  W. Bourne Ruthrauff (2007, 2008 and 2009) and as well as "Rising Stars" Kevin M. Blake (2005 and 2006) and Will Sylianteng (2007, 2008 and 2009).

The Villanova School of Law has selected Danielle Wesley to join their "Writing in Practice Partnership". Members of the new partnership share valuable insight and perspective about the current expectations of prospective employers in the area of legal writing, research, and analysis. These ideas are used to enhance Villanova’s legal writing curriculum and training to ensure new graduates are prepared for the high-level demands of practice in today’s legal market. Danielle is an associate in the firm’s Premises Liability and Construction Litigation Department. If you would like to know more about Villanova’s "Writing in Practice Partnership", please contact Danielle at (215) 665-3336 or wesley@bbs-law.com.

Managing attorney Louis Bricklin and member Katherine Cole Douglas spoke at an Insurance Bad Faith presentation on April 12th. They presented Recent Developments in Pennsylvania Bad Faith as part of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute's 14th Annual Insurance Institute at the CLE Conference Center at the Wanamaker Building in Philadelphia. Information concerning that seminar is available by clicking here. Louis also recently teamed up with Judge Richard Klein, (ret.) to discuss insurance bad faith basics as part of the Dispute Resolution Institute's "Personal Injury Potpourri" at the Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia on April 6th.

Louis, working with Harrisburg attorney, Charles E. Haddick, Jr., has produced for Lawline, a leading on-line CLE provider, a one hour video presentation on the "Fundamentals of Bad Faith" litigation. The presentation has been approved for CLE credit in several states with approval pending in Pennsylvania. You may view a portion of the presentation or obtain further information about the entire program by clicking here.

For more information on these topics, please contact Louis at bricklin@bbs-law.com or (215) 665-3400.

William Sylianteng of our subrogation team recently spoke at Claims magazine's "America's Claims Event" in Las Vegas, NV on June 22-24, 2010. William discussed cost-effective subrogation techniques and subrogation recovery theories which are often overlooked. The PA Superior Court in Jones v. Nationwide issued an order on May 24, 2010 upholding the Insurance Regulation allowing PA automobile insurers to reimburse their insured's deductibles on a "pro rata" basis after a subrogation recovery, even if PA is a "made whole" state.  A copy of the opinion can be found here: http://www.pacourts.us/OpPosting/Superior/out/a05017_10.pdf.  William wrote the amici brief on behalf of the National Association of Subrogation Professionals, the PA Defense Institute and the Insurance Federation. William has also been appointed vice-chair of the Montgomery County Bar Association Diversity Committee for 2010. The committee is tasked with organizing the Diversity Summer 1L Program and other diversity initiatives in the county. He has also been elected to the Pennsylvania Defense Institute's (PDI) Board of Directors. Please feel free to contact William at sylianteng@bbs-law.com for more information.

Member Katherine Cole Douglas presented at the Philadelphia Bar Association's State Civil Litigation Section Meeting "UM/UIM Practice and Procedure Post-Koken and the Developing Impact on the Civil Litigation System" on March 3, 2010. For more information on these topics, please contact Kathy at douglas@bbs-law.com or (215) 665-3364. Kathy also recently presented at the Pennsylvania Association for Justice's annual bad faith seminar in Philadelphia. Kathy spoke about issues arising from litigating the UM and UIM case together with a bad faith claim and on matters of attorney client and work product privilege. For more information on the topics discussed, please feel free to contact Kathy at (215) 665-3364 or douglas@bbs-law.com. Nicholas Cummins has been appointed Vice-Chair of the newly created Pennsylvania Defense Institute Young Lawyer Committee. The Committee is tasked with the duty to plan and provide training seminars geared specifically for the development of young insurance attorneys as well as to provide an engaging and social atmosphere for PDI's young lawyers. Nick is an associate in our Philadelphia office. If you would like to know more about the YLC, please feel free to contact Nick at cummins@bbs-law.com.