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Duane Morris LLP
Headquarters	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
No. of Offices	24
No. of Attorneys	594[1]
Major Practice Areas	Full Service
Key People	John Soroko (Chairman), Charles J. O'Donnell (COO)
Date Founded	1904
Founder	Russell Duane, Roland S. Morris
Company Type	Limited Liability Partnership
Website	duanemorris.com

Duane Morris LLP is a law firm headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1904 as Duane, Morris, Heckscher & Roberts,^[2] the firm has 24 offices in the United States, London, Singapore and Vietnam^[3]. In addition to legal services, Duane Morris has independent affiliates employing approximately 100 professionals engaged in other disciplines.

Contents 1 Ranking and recognition 2 Growth 3 Notable cases 4 Contingency fee practice 5 Industries Served 6 Notable alumni 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Ranking and recognition

In 2009, the National Law Journal ranked Duane Morris as the 72nd largest law firm in the U.S. based on October 2008 attorney headcount, which was stated to be 594.

In 2007, Duane Morris was named one of the 20 best companies for working women by Philadelphia Magazine^[4] and one of the top 50 law firms for women by Working Mother magazine and Flex-Time Lawyers LLC, a national consulting firm focused on the retention and advancement of women.^[5]

Harvard Business School completed a case study of the firm entitled "Duane Morris: Balancing Growth and Culture at a Law Firm," which was presented in curriculum during the 2006-2007 academic year.^[6][7]

[edit] Growth

Under the ten-year leadership of Chairman Sheldon Bonovitz from early 1998 to early 2008, Duane Morris grew from a little more than 200 lawyers in 1998 to more than 650 by January 2008. Revenues increased over that period from $70 million to $375 million for 2007.^[8] Bonovitz stepped down at the beginning of January 2008, replaced by former Vice Chairman John J. Soroko.

[edit] Notable cases

• Markman v. Westview Instruments, Inc. : Duane Morris represented the plaintiff Markman.^[9]

• Airis SFO LLC, Airis Holdings LLC, and Duane Morris LLP v. City and County of San Francisco: On October 10, 2008, San Mateo Superior Court Judge Carol Mittlesteadt awarded San Francisco $3.43 million in attorneys’ fees and costs to be paid by Duane Morris and its client, Airis Holdings LLC of Houston, Texas, following a four-year legal battle against the San Francisco International Airport. It is the largest fee ever awarded to San Francisco for the successful defense of a lawsuit. The case is notable not only for the size of the fee award but the fact that the law firm is liable for the fees and costs of its opponent. In an unusual fee agreement, Duane Morris became a co-plaintiff with its client, Airis Holdings, in the unsuccessful breach-of-contract lawsuit.^[10][11]

• Tobacco Industry Litigation: Along with the Pittsburgh law firm of Buchanan Ingersoll, Duane Morris represented the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in a 46-state class action lawsuit against the tobacco industry. The litigation concluded with a landmark $206 billion global settlement agreement for the 46 suing states.^[12][13][14]

[edit] Contingency fee practice

Duane Morris claims that it is unique among large law firms by maintaining an active contingency fee practice.^[15] This practice raised concerns in the press after Duane Morris twice teamed up with the plaintiff firm of Coughlin Stoia Geller Rudman & Robbins, which was founded by William Lerach, who was sentenced to prison for offering kickbacks to lead plaintiffs.^[16][17]

Duane Morris represented on contingency, six of the nine whistleblowers in a case against Eli Lilly in which the nine were rewarded with $78 million from the federal criminal settlement after it was found guilty of illegally marketing the anti-psychotic drug Zyprexa for off-label use.^[18]

[edit] Industries Served

• Automotive
• Capital Markets
• Commercial Lending
• Construction
• Energy
• Financial Markets
• Financial Services
• Gaming
• Healthcare
• Information Technologies and Telecom
• Insurance and Reinsurance
• Manufacturing
• Pharmaceutical & Biotechnology

[edit] Notable alumni

• Roland Sletor Morris, former United States Ambassador to Japan, one of the founding partners of the firm
• Barbara Adams, General Counsel of Pennsylvania
• Michael M. Baylson, a Federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• Marjorie Rendell, a Circuit judge in the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• Gene E. K. Pratter, federal judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania

[edit] References

1. ^ American Law Journal, Annual survey of the nation's largest law firms as of October 2008
2. ^ Past and Present, Duane Morris website
3. ^ http://www.duanemorris.com/site/offices.html
4. ^ Duane Morris Website
5. ^ Duane Morris press release, August 14, 2007
6. ^ ABA Journal, Dec. 2006
7. ^ Duane Morris Press Release, October 5, 2006
8. ^ Sheldon Bonovitz Steps Down as Duane Morris Chairman, John Soroko Takes Over Law Firm Leadership January 4, 2008, The Legal Intelligencer
9. ^ Duane Morris website
10. ^ San Francisco Nabs $3.4 Million in Fees, The Recorder (via law.com), October 13, 2008
11. ^ Newdorf Legal Wins $3.4 Million in Attorneys' Fees for San Francisco, Business Wire, 2008-10-13
12. ^ National Association of Attorneys General, Master Settlement Agreement, Page 174
13. ^ PA Bulletin Volume 30
14. ^ Duane Morris website
15. ^ martindale.com Practice Areas & Industries: Duane Morris LLP
16. ^ Duane Morris' New Co-Counsel Is Raising Eyebrows, Susan Beck, The American Lawyer, December 13, 2007
17. ^ Law Blog Trend Of the Day: Big Law’s Switch Hitting, The Wall Street Journal, Peter Lattman, December 13, 2007
18. ^ Eli Lilly to Pay $1.42 Billion to Settle Zyprexa Marketing Suits

[edit] External links

• Official website
• Practice Areas

v • d • e Philadelphia-area Corporations (Including the Delaware Valley) Philadelphia-based Fortune 1000 Corporations (by rank) Sunoco (60) • Comcast (84) • Cigna (139) • Aramark (214) • Crown Holdings (328) • FMC Corp. (781) • Pep Boys (794) Delaware Valley-based Fortune 1000 Corporations (by rank) Companies listed above, plus: AmerisourceBergen (29) • DuPont (74) • Lincoln National Corporation (277) • Campbell Soup (311) • Toll Brothers (375) • Unisys (400) • UGI Corp. (435) • Jones Apparel Group (470) • SunGard (472) • Ikon Office Solutions (507) • Universal Health Services (511) • Burlington Coat Factory (579) • VWR International (609) • Charming Shoppes (642) • Airgas (671) • Teleflex (708) • Vishay Intertechnology (724) • Penn National Gaming (797) • Ametek (915) • Genesis HealthCare (927) • Cephalon (930) Other notable Philadelphia-based businesses Amoroso's • AppLabs • Beneficial Bank • Colonial Penn • Philadelphia Media Holdings • Radian Group • Tasty Baking • Urban Outfitters Notable Philadelphia-based professional partnerships Ballard Spahr • Blank Rome • Cozen O'Connor • Dechert • Drinker Biddle & Reath • Duane Morris • Morgan, Lewis & Bockius • Pepper Hamilton • Saul Ewing Other notable Delaware Valley-based businesses Aqua America • Bentley Systems • Brandywine Realty Trust • Boscov's • Carpenter Technology Corp. • GSI Commerce • Forman Mills • Liberty Property Trust • Rita's Water Ice • Vanguard • Wawa • Wilmington Trust • WSFS Bank Notable Delaware Valley-based US headquarters of foreign businesses ACE • AgustaWestland • AstraZeneca • GlaxoSmithKline • HSBC Bank USA • ING Direct • SAP America • Siemens Medical • Shire Pharmaceuticals • Sovereign Bancorp • Subaru • Teva Pharmacueticals • TD Bank Notable Delaware Valley-based division headquarters of US corporations Acme (SuperValu) • AlliedBarton & Pinnacle Foods (Blackstone) • Keystone Helicopter (United Tech.) • Centocor (J&J) • Delmarva Power (Pepco Holdings) • Hercules (Ashland) • MAB Paints (Sherwin-Williams) • MBNA (Bank of America) • McNeil Laboratories (J&J) • Neoware (Hewlett-Packard) • PECO (Exelon) • QVC (Liberty Media) • Rohm and Haas (Dow Chemical)