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Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, Company

Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A. Expands the Brooklyn Heights Office by the Addition of a New Associate
Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A., the nation’s largest creditors’ rights law firm based on revenue and placements according to Collections & Credit Risk magazine, welcomes new associate Ted M. Traut.

Ted M. Traut will be working in the Collection Services department of the Brooklyn Heights office. Mr. Traut has a B.S. in Advertising from Kent State University (1995) and a J.D. from the University of Cincinnati College of Law (2000). He was previously employed at Kreiner & Peters Co., L.P.A, where he practice in subrogation litigation for six years. Mr. Traut was also a member of Law Review during law school. A member of the Ohio State Bar Association, Mr. Traut is licensed in the state courts of Ohio and Pennsylvania and is admitted to practice before the U.S. District Court (Northern District of OH) and the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. Mr. Traut is currently a member of the National Association of Subrogation Professionals.

07-14-2006

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Weltman, Weinberg & Reis, Company

WWR Associate Appointed to Credit Union Board of Directors
James Kozelek, an associate at the law firm of Weltman, Weinberg & Reis Co., L.P.A. (WWR) has been appointed to the Board of Directors for First Service Federal Credit Union (First Service F.C.U.) in Columbus, Ohio. James was a board member with Children’s Hospital Federal Credit Union prior to its merger with First Service F.C.U. on May 1, 2006. While the membership typically selects board members, the Board of Directors actually appointed Jim because he is serving the last year of a three-year term. If so desired, James will need to run for re-election in May 2007.

As a board member for First Service Federal Credit Union, James’ primary responsibility is corporate governance. Meeting formally once a month and informally as needed, the Board of Directors works to ensure that the credit union is following regulations, maintaining compliance with state and federal laws, making sure proper controls are in place for management and staff, developing strategic policies and directives, managing any business or personal conflicts that may arise, and while the credit union is not required to do so, the board also directs on compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.

Celebrating its 50th anniversary, First Service Federal Credit Union was the first community credit union in Franklin County, Ohio. Originally servicing military personnel as Lockbourne Air Force Base Federal Credit Union and Ohio Military Federal Credit Union, they evolved into First Service F.C.U. in 1984 when they gained community charter for Southeast Franklin County. Paving the way for other credit unions to gain community charters, First Service F.C.U. was able to expand their community charter to include all of Franklin County in 1998.

Mr. Kozelek is an associate in the collection services department of WWR and is located in the Grove City operations center, near Columbus, Ohio. He earned his J.D. cum laude and order-of-the curia from Capital University Law School in 2001 and his B.A. in English from The Ohio State University in 1997. A member of the Ohio and Columbus Bar Associations, Mr. Kozelek is licensed in the state courts of Ohio. He is admitted to practice before the U.S. Bankruptcy Court and the U.S. District Court (Southern District of OH). Mr. Kozelek is a member of the Commercial Law League of America (YMS Executive Council, Midwest Region Executive Council, YMS Co-chair on Membership and YMS Co-Rep. to the National Committee on Professionalism) and a former board member of the Columbus Children's Hospital Federal Credit Union. He is actively involved with the Whetstone Community Recreation Council (President), and is a frequent lecturer on creditors’ rights issues.

07-14-2006

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Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young, LLP

Stradley Ronon Partner Presents at Main Line Association for Continuing Education Seminar
Stradley Ronon partner Steven A. Scolari recently participated at the Main Line Association for Continuing Education’s seminar, “Business, Legal & Financial Implications of Buying/Starting a Business,” attended by Delaware Valley area CPAs for continuing professional education credit. Scolari’s presentation focused on the legal aspects of buying a business.

As co-chair of Stradley Ronon’s closely held business practice group and based in the firm’s Malvern, Pa., office, Scolari helps clients achieve their business goals through the formation of new enterprises, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures and other strategic alliances. He also serves as a mediator of closely held business disputes and is a member of Stradley Ronon’s ADR practice group.

07-14-2006

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Shapiro Sher Guinot & Sandler

Raising the Bar: "Arguing with Zing"
The column below is adapted from “The Winning Argument,” a book published by the ABA Section of Litigation and co-authored by Paul Mark Sandler, Ronald Waicukauski and JoAnne Epps.

Vivid language causes people to think in mental pictures, which in turn can help you a great deal in persuading a skeptical listener in court. As Aristotle said, you cannot create an image without thinking and you cannot think without creating an image.

But if images are essential to thought, rich language is not always easy to develop. Like so much else, for some, a proclivity to speak vividly must be nurtured.

Think of the difference between saying that something “smells bad” or “reeks,” or that someone was “sad” or “heartbroken.” Such choices greatly impact your arguments and should be made carefully so that your language best suits the desired message.

Effective speech is not about picking the most extreme words available, but the most apt words. Depending on the circumstances, “sad” may be a more appropriate word than “heartbroken.” A person may be sad that her regular bus driver has been transferred, but heartbroken? Such overstatement will likely provoke the “give me a break” response from your listeners and diminish your credibility.

The key to effective word choice is a large vocabulary. In the long term, the best way to improve vocabulary is to read a great deal, especially lucid, powerful prose by great writers.

You can also resort to a thesaurus, which will help you find language that best express your message. That said, if you craft a speech peppered with polysyllabic “highfalutin” words culled from a thesaurus, your message will most certainly suffer. Use this reference as an aid to, not a substitute for, your own creativity.

Legalese

As you craft your arguments, beware of legalese. Many of us have spent countless hours consciously and subconsciously adopting the language of our profession, believing that if we sound like successful lawyers, we might be perceived as successful lawyers. In the process our speech can change from ordinary, commonplace speech to a stilted form known as “legalese.”

Sometimes legalese involves certain words: “hereby,” “herewith,” “testator,” “prosecutrix.” Sometimes it is old pleading language: “party of the first part,” “said individual,” “duly incorporated.” Legalese can also be a matter of syntax: “We should ask the court to consider …”

Legal jargon may impress but it does not inform. While the use of legal terms may be necessary at times, legalese can usually be avoided. Your goal should be to speak in terms that are understandable. Where terms and phrases must be defined, define them. A speaking style that requires constant translation will undermine your success.

One way to improve your diction is to pay attention to it on regular basis. Replay in your mind the casual conversations you have and compare them to the speech used in more formal settings. Is your public speaking more stilted than your normal manner? If so, you may want to practice and develop a more natural courtroom demeanor.

Rhythm

Finally, consider the appeal of rhythm. When you are speaking with rhythm, you know it and your listeners know it — you are on a roll, words are flowing, and the audience is captivated.

Rhythm is not about speaking in rhyme or a sing-song manner with a repetitive lilt in your voice. Rhythm is a vehicle for achieving euphony — overall appeal to the ear. It is typical of emotional speech but is not limited to it. Rhythm means creating expectations that subtly invite your listener to come along with your speech rather than simply receive it.

Here is a list of schemes that contribute to the development of rhythm in speech. Their Greek names are provided for the linguistic purists among you, but they are not critical to know. What’s important is to realize the wide range of vehicles available to you to give your next argument some zing.


* Repeat initial words (anaphora): “They planned to buy the stock. They planned to raid the company. They planned to leave the investors with nothing.”


* Repeat the final word or words (epistrophe): “Ask the plaintiff’s attorney to explain to you when it happened, how it happened, and why it happened.”


* Repeat initial and final words (epanalepsis): “Day followed day, week followed week, but the plaintiff saw the sky not one day and not one week.”


* Use the final word of a clause to start the next (anadiplosis): “Aboard my ship, excellent performance is standard. Standard performance is substandard. Substandard performance is not permitted to exist.”


* Use order of importance (climax): “The company’s behavior was shameful, it was illegal, and it cost the plaintiff her life.”


* Repeat words in reverse grammatical order (antimetabole): “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.

07-14-2006

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Rawle & Henderson, LLP.

Rawle & Henderson Adds Bankruptcy Practice
Rawle & Henderson LLP is pleased to announce that Gary F. Seitz has joined the firm as a partner in the Philadelphia office. He was formerly Of Counsel at The Bayard Firm in Wilmington, Delaware. Gary concentrates his practice in the areas of commercial bankruptcy, commercial litigation and maritime law. He serves as a Chapter 7 Trustee in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the District of Delaware. He has extensive experience handling bankruptcy matters for creditors, asset purchasers and trustees. Gary also has expertise in maritime litigation and transactions with particular emphasis on marine financing and vessel foreclosures.

Gary is admitted to practice in Delaware, Pennsylvania and New Jersey, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third and Fifth Circuits and the United States District Courts for the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Pennsylvania, the District of New Jersey and the District of Delaware.

Gary graduated magna cum laude from Buena Vista University in 1983 and from the University of Iowa College of Law in 1986. He obtained his Master's degree in Admiralty Law from Tulane University in 1988. In the course of obtaining his law degree, Gary studied at the Shanghai Law Research Institute in the Peoples Republic of China and at the Bentham House Faculty of Laws of the University of London.

He has been designated a ""Proctor in Admiralty"" by Maritime Law Association of the United States. He is a member of the National Association of Bankruptcy Trustees, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference, the Delaware Bankruptcy American Inns of Court and the Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and American Bar Associations. He is also a member of the Transportation Lawyer’s Association, the Philadelphia Maritime Association and the American Bankruptcy Institute.

07-14-2006

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Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP

Smith Joins Charleston Metro Chamber’s Developers Council Steering Committee
The Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce has tapped Jack Smith, an experienced environmental and regulatory lawyer in Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough’s Charleston office, to serve on their Developers Council Steering Committee.

“I’m grateful for the opportunity to serve in this capacity,” Mr. Smith said. “Our region is growing dramatically, and the council has the opportunity to work with developers and the community to assure that we maintain quality growth in residential, commercial and industrial development projects.”

The Developers Council was created in 2002 by the Charleston Metro Chamber to pull together professionals to start a dialogue between the development community and local governments about growth regulations and their impact on the business community, in particular, work force housing affordability. Today it has grown to nearly 300 members. Past chairs of the Developers Council, in conjunction with chamber leadership, have designated people to serve on a reactivated steering committee to identify key issues and ensure the mission and scope of the Developers Council remains focused.

Mr. Smith practices in Charleston in the areas of environmental law and litigation, administrative law, and constitutional law. His extensive knowledge of environmental policy and regulations stems from his prior work for state and federal government agencies. He has held attorney positions with S.C. DHEC’s Office of Coastal Resources Management’s predecessor, the S.C. Coastal Council; the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration; the U.S. Department of Commerce; and the U.S. Senate Commerce Committee, National Oceans Policy Study. Mr. Smith was an alternate delegate for the State of South Carolina to the Coastal States Organization, 1982-89.

Mr. Smith’s environmental practice includes matters of administrative law, land use planning and zoning law, and he has worked with brownfields redevelopment, environmental insurance and regulatory permitting. Additionally, he is experienced in hazardous waste site management and remediation, contaminated property liability negotiation, litigation, redevelopment and related regulatory counseling.

His CERCLA experience includes pre-disclosure counseling of corporate clients with CERCLA liability, counseling on environmental liability issues of real property ownership and transactions, brownfields redevelopment projects, negotiation of contract language for contaminated property transactions and environmental insurance. He has represented potentially responsible parties in complex private and government litigation, including environmental issues in international transportation liability. Mr. Smith has experience with RCRA in the areas of compliance counseling, audit programs and permitting, wetlands enforcement defense and wetlands permitting, NPDES permitting, Water Quality Certification permitting and appeals, tank issues and regulation, and stormwater management projects in impaired and sensitive aquatic areas.

In demand as a speaker and for seminar faculties, Mr. Smith is prominently affiliated with the American Bar Association (ABA) and its Administrative Law, Environment, Energy and Resources, and International Law and Practice sections. Mr. Smith is the founding chair of the South Carolina Bar’s Environment and Natural Resources Section. He served on the Governing Council of the Environment and Natural Resources Section and is former chair of the SC Bar’s Disaster Legal Assistance Committee, Young Lawyer Division. Mr. Smith is also chairman of the board of directors of the South Carolina World Trade Center (2005-06). He is listed in The Best Lawyers in America (1993-2006 editions), and he is the author of Analysis of the Regulation of Beachfront Development in South Carolina, 42 S.C. L. REV., 1991.

Mr. Smith earned a Juris Doctor from the University of South Carolina School of Law in 1978 and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from the University of South Carolina in 1974.

Nelson Mullins, established in 1897, has more than 360 attorneys practicing from offices in Atlanta, Boston, Charleston, Charlotte, Columbia, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Raleigh, Washington and Winston-Salem. For more information on the Firm, go to www.nelsonmullins.com, or call (803) 255-9794 or (803) 255-9280.

07-14-2006

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Maynard Cooper & Gale, P.C.

STEPHEN W. STILL JOINS FEDERATION OF REGULATORY COUNSEL
Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C. is pleased to announce that Stephen W. Still was admitted to the membership into the Federation of Regulatory Counsel (“FORC”). Still is the only attorney in Alabama who is a member of the FORC. “This is a great achievement for Steve and it will allow him to better serve our clients,” says Fournier J. Gale, III, Chairman of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Still serves as chair of Maynard Cooper’s Governmental and Regulatory Affairs practice group. This practice group is responsible for representing clients before legislative, regulatory, and governmental bodies, including the U.S. Congress, departments and agencies of the federal government, the Alabama State Legislature and departments and agencies of state and local government. Still has extensive experience working in Washington, D.C., Montgomery, Alabama and numerous other states. He served as Vice President and Associate General Counsel of Torchmark Corporation for nine years where he managed all federal, state and local government affairs for the company. Prior to joining Torchmark, Still served as Associate Vice President of Sonat for ten years where he also managed all corporate governmental affairs activities. Thus, Still has the unique experience of managing the governmental affairs operations for two of the largest publicly held corporations headquartered in Alabama.

The FORC is a nation-wide association of attorneys who specialize in the arena of insurance regulatory law. In order to be considered for membership, an applicant must be a lawyer in good standing, with at least five years of experience in insurance regulatory law, and must spend more than fifty percent of his or her time on insurance regulatory matters. Each member is recommended in writing by three insurance industry executives from unrelated companies who have attested to their skill and competency.

The Birmingham-based law firm of Maynard, Cooper & Gale, P.C., with more than 150 attorneys, offers a full array of legal services to a broad and diverse client base consisting of Fortune 500 companies as well as closely held companies, partnerships, professional associations, charities and individuals. Maynard, Cooper & Gale is Alabama’s only member of Lex Mundi, an international association of more than 140 widely recognized independent law firms, which by membership gives the firm access to high quality local legal expertise throughout the world. The firm is also Alabama’s only member of the Southern Law Network, a regional network of independent law firms. For more information, visit www.maynardcooper.com.

07-14-2006

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