Walt focuses the majority of his practice on post-trial appellate advocacy with particular emphasis in the areas of public entity liability and civil rights, insurance coverage/bad faith litigation, and professional liability. He has handled several hundred appeals to date, many of which have been in representation of physicians and attorneys, in appeals connected with malpractice litigation. In his capacity as an appellate attorney, Walt has developed extensive experience briefing and arguing cases before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Pennsylvania's intermediate appellate courts, the Superior Court and Commonwealth Court, and New Jersey's intermediate court, the Appellate Division. As well, Walt has experience, thus far, up to the petition stage before the United States Supreme Court. In addition to Walt's involvement in the appellate courts, he has also briefed and argued cases and motions before the Pennsylvania Board of Finance and Revenue, the Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas, and the New Jersey Superior Court Law Division. Walt is a graduate of Glassboro State College and the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he achieved his Juris Doctor, cum laude, in 1998. While at Pitt Law, he was the recipient of the Dean's Scholarship for three years, first year moot court competition award for "Best Brief," and served as an officer in Phi Alpha Delta Legal Fraternity. In 1999 Walt joined Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman & Goggin as a member of the Appellate Group. Since that time, Walt has developed an proficiency in all aspects of appellate law, from legal research, brief writing and other written advocacy to oral argument, and appellate-level motion practice. Walt's published opinions in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals have established and clarified important legal principles on subjects ranging from insurance coverage and remittitur, to informed consent claims in medical malpractice actions, and contributory negligence in accountant malpractice cases. Since December 2002, Walt has also worked as the editor of Defense Digest - Marshall Dennehey's quarterly newsletter updating our clients on the important legal cases and issues of the day. Significant Representative Matters · Successfully briefed arbitration argument and achieved a defense result in multi-million dollar binding arbitration in construction defect case. · Successfully persuaded the Appellate Division to reinstate multi-million dollar complaint dismissed in the Law Division. · Successfully argued for the reversal of a dismissal of the insurance carrier's fraud complaint, which clarified the operation of the entire controversy doctrine in New Jersey. · Successfully argued that a minor deviation on the form for rejecting the stacked limits for UIM coverage was not enough to vitiate the policy-holder's rejection of stacked coverage. · Successfully argued that a trial court committed reversible error when, after the Appellate Division found the verdict to be excessive and remanded the case for remittitur, remitted the verdict by one cent. · Successfully argued that parties who were found guilty of criminal tax evasion were estopped from denying their contributory negligence in a civil suit against their accountant, stemming from the preparation of those income tax returns. · Successfully argued that the term "advertising injury" in policy was limited to claims arising out of the misappropriation of advertising ideas or style of doing business. · Successfully argued that a plaintiff who was successful against a carrier's policyholder has no claim against the carrier for the amount of the self-insured retention of the policyholder. Year Joined Organization: 1999 Published Works: De Facto Appeals Eliminate Federal Jurisdiction, Defense Digest, Vol. 10, No. 4, 2004 Pennsylvania Superior Court Rejects Request To Void Stacked Coverage, Defense Digest, Vol. 10, No. 3, 2004 "Advertising Injury" in the Third Circuit: A Frog Switch and a Green Machine, Defense Digest, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2003 An Injury Is Not An "Injury" If The Pain Is Non-Compensable, Defense Digest, Vol. 8, No. 2, 2002 Superior Court, S.I.R.'s and the Direct Action Statute: Contracts Rule, Penna. Bar Ass'n, Civil Litigation Newsletter, orig. published in the Defense Digest, 2002 Pennsylvania Appellate News, Defense Digest, Vol. 7, No. 1, 2001 Appellate Courts Refine Pennsylvania Settlement Law, Defense Digest, Vol. 6, No.1, 2000 Pennsylvania Appellate News, Defense Digest, Vol. 5, No. 4, 1999 Representative Cases: Allstate New Jersey Ins. Co. v. Cherry Hill Pain & Rehab. Institute, 389 N.J. Super. 130 (App.Div 2006) Marran v. Marran, 376 F.3d 143 (3d Cir. 2004) Vosk v. Encompass Ins. Co., 851 A.2d 162 (Pa. Super. 2004) Columbia Med. Group, Inc. v. Herring & Roll, P.C., 829 A.2d 1184 (Pa. Super. 2003) Tomaino v. Burman, 364 N.J. Super. 224 (App. Div. 2003) Green Machine v. Zurich-American Ins. Co., 313 F.3d 837 (3d Cir. 2002) Hohns v. Gain, 806 A.2d 16 (Pa. Super. 2002) Kleban v. National Union Fire Insurance Co., 771 A.2d 39 (Pa. Super. 2001) Miller v. Sacred Heart Hospital, 753 A.2d 829 (Pa. Super. 2000) Past Employment Positions: LaVerne Lair Sochats, P.C., Law Clerk, 1997 - 1998 |