Guy R. Gruppie Elevated To Senior Partner Of Murchison & Cumming, LLP

January 5, 2004

Los Angeles, CA – January 5, 2004 – Guy R. Gruppie has been elevated to Senior Partner at Los Angeles-based Murchison & Cumming, LLP. Mr. Gruppie joined the firm as an associate in 1991. He was made an Associate Partner in 1998 and a Junior Partner in 2000. Mr. Gruppie specializes in the defense of product liability, catastrophic injury and business litigation matters, and has tried numerous cases to verdict.

Mr. Gruppie is a member of the firm's Product Liability Practice Group and has served as Chair of the Firm's Hiring Committee since 1997. He is a member of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel, the Defense Research Institute, the Association of Southern California Defense Counsel and has served as a volunteer mediator for the Los Angeles Superior Court.

Mr. Gruppie earned undergraduate degrees in Journalism and Political Science at the University of Southern California where he was named Journalism Student of the Year. In 1991 he graduated from Loyola Law School where he earned the American Jurisprudence Award in Trial Advocacy. Prior to law school Mr. Gruppie worked as a reporter and editor at the Los Angeles Times.

About Murchison & Cumming, LLP

With a firm history dating to 1930, Murchison & Cumming, LLP is a premier civil litigation firm with five offices in California and Las Vegas, whose attorneys specialize in the defense of domestic and international businesses, insurers and individuals, at trial and on appeal. The Firm’s attorneys also handle employment matters and business transactions. For additional information, please visit our website at www.murchisonlaw.com.