Alan Nash, shareholder with Marshall Dennehey, left, and Stephen Gross, special counsel with the firm, right. Courtesy photos
Following several Florida tort reform measures, aimed at limiting lawsuits for personal injury claims, property insurance claims and construction defect claims, Philadelphia-based Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin keeps hiring throughout the state for litigation work with insured clients.
Earlier this year, the Florida legislature passed one of its latest attempts to cut back on personal injury lawsuits, sending lawyers into a frenzy to file suits thousands of cases before the law passed. The reason for the frenzy was due to an expectation that the law would dampen the practice entirely. But while some firms pull back, Marshall Dennehey claims it's still full steam ahead at its Florida offices.
"When the tort reform was percolating, I was already out there looking for folks to be sure that we can properly service our clients," said Alan Nash, shareholder at Marshall Dennehey in charge of its Fort Lauderdale casualty group. "We see litigation continuing to trend upward."
The reason the team is continuing to get work is because they don't just focus on insurance work, instead offering big clients a broader range of services, said Nash. Because they've gone on a hiring spree instead of toning down their growth, he says clients are noticing and directing work toward them.
Last week, the firm hired Fort Lauderdale special counsel Stephen Gross from boutique firm Davant Law. Since May, Nash, along with the firm's support, added three additional associates to its casualty group in Florida.
"I've done significant amounts of hiring over the last six to nine months, if not more than that," said Nash.
And Gross, who's specifically focused on construction matters within the practice group, is excited to start work on the pile of cases he keeps getting, even amid some current challenges.
Just as Nash is seeing increased litigation in spite of the new statutes, Gross is not seeing interest rate hikes depressing construction lending for now. Instead of dealing with traditional banking, clients are finding different avenues of lending like going to private equity and hard money lenders, he said.
"I'm very excited to be here. I think they have the right formula in place," Gross said. "They're in a great position, and they do things a little different than the competition."
Alexander Lugo
Alexander Lugo is a business of law reporter based in Miami who is focused on covering law firms in South Florida.