Three from Murchison & Cumming Selected as Top Attorneys by Pasadena Magazine

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LOS ANGELES–Murchison & Cumming, LLP is pleased to announce that attorneys Guy R. Gruppie, Eric P. Weiss and Mhare O. Mouradian have been named San Gabriel Valley “Top Attorneys” in a survey of peers and judges conducted by Pasadena Magazine. Mr. Gruppie has been selected for the fourth consecutive year and Mr. Mouradian for a third year.

Attorneys and judges from the San Gabriel Valley and metropolitan Los Angeles area cast votes for the lawyers who, according to their peers, are well qualified in their practice specialties.

Mr. Gruppie was named to the 2012 list in the category of Personal Injury Defense and Civil Litigation. He is the chair of Murchison’s Emerging Risks & Specialty Tort Litigation and Vertical Transportation practice groups, and is also a senior member of the firm’s Product Liability and General Liability & Casualty practice groups. A longtime resident of the San Gabriel Valley, Mr. Gruppie is active in his community through his service as a member of the Board of Directors of the Arcadia American Little League, a volunteer coach with the league and San Marino-South Pasadena YMCA, and through participation in the City of Arcadia’s annual Law Day. He has also served as a mediator for the Pasadena branch of the Los Angeles Superior Court. Mr. Gruppie is a longtime member of the Pasadena Bar Association.

Mr. Weiss was also selected for the Personal Injury category. The immediate Past-Chair of Murchison’s Toxic Tort & Environmental Law practice group, he focuses his practice in the areas of construction litigation, products liability, trucking, environmental and toxic tort litigation, as well as Nevada state and federal law.

Selected for the Civil Litigation category, Mr. Mouradian focuses his practice on complex civil litigation and business litigation, and he is a senior member of the Vertical Transportation practice group. Mr. Mouradian is an active member of the Pasadena Bar Association and he is a past San Gabriel Valley resident.

The list was published in Pasadena Magazine’s November issue. Attorneys named in this year’s poll were honored at a reception hosted by the magazine and attended by members of the Pasadena-area judiciary.

About Murchison & Cumming, LLP
With a firm history dating to 1930, Murchison & Cumming, LLP is a premier, AV-rated 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. The firm is a member of the USLAW Network. For additional information, please visit our website at www.murchisonlaw.com.

Friedrich Seitz Elected to USLAW Board of Directors

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LOS ANGELES–Murchison & Cumming, LLP is pleased to announce that Friedrich W. Seitz has been elected to the USLAW Network’s Board of Directors for 2012-2013. The announcement was made at the organization’s annual meeting in Washington, D.C. Mr. Seitz has served as a Chair of USLAW’s Product Liability practice group and has been a frequent speaker at the organization’s client conferences.

Mr. Seitz is the Chair of Murchison & Cumming’s Wildland Fire Litigation practice group and Co-Chair of its Product Liability, International Law and Business Litigation practice groups. He has held leadership positions with the Federation of Defense and Corporate Counsel (FDCC) and the International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC), and he is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) holding the rank of “Advocate.”

About Murchison & Cumming, LLP
With a firm history dating to 1930, Murchison & Cumming, LLP is a premier, AV-rated 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. The firm is a member of the USLAW Network. For additional information, please visit our website at www.murchisonlaw.com.

Murchison & Cumming Participates in Loyola Law School Externship Program

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LOS ANGELES—Murchison & Cumming, LLP is pleased to announce that the firm is participating in Loyola Law School’s Semester in Practice Program, and has welcomed its first extern, Ronda Bransteitter, Ph.D., to the Los Angeles office for the fall semester. As an extern, she accompanies Murchison attorneys on various case-related activities, including depositions, court appearances, mediations and trials. Dr. Bransteitter is in her final year at Loyola Law School and was selected for participation in the school’s Advocacy Institute, with an emphasis in Civil Litigation, which included an externship with a local law firm.

This past summer she worked as a judicial clerk for Judge Margaret Bernal of Norwalk Superior Court and she is on the International and Comparative Law Review at Loyola. Dr. Bransteitter holds a Ph.D. in Microbiology from the University of Southern California, where she has been conducting research that includes ways to inhibit HIV-1 replication and other diseases.

“This is a very unique opportunity that we have, as a firm and individually, to give back to the local legal community. We are very pleased to be participating in this program,” said Murchison’s Managing Partner, Jean M. Lawler.

In addition to the firm’s involvement with the Semester in Practice Program, Murchison offers an internship program for German lawyers working through their last few months of practical training required to gain their license to practice law in Germany. The program, founded by then Managing Partner Friedrich Seitz about 20 years ago, was started when Mr. Seitz learned that German legal trainees have the option to take a portion of their practical training in foreign countries. Murchison is one of few Los Angeles law firms offering a program of its scope to German legal trainees, and has also hosted Swiss and French lawyers seeking legal trainee positions in the United States.

About Murchison & Cumming, LLP
With a firm history dating to 1930, Murchison & Cumming, LLP is a premier, AV-rated 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. The firm is a member of the USLAW Network. For additional information, please visit our website at www.murchisonlaw.com.

Murchison & Cumming Attorneys to Speak and Chair at USLAW Conference

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WASHINGTON, D.C.—Dan L. Longo, Steven C. Spronz and Tim M. Agajanian are slated to speak at the Fall 2012 USLAW Network Client Conference in Washington D.C. The three-day conference begins on October 4, 2012.

Serving as the event’s Professional Liability Track Vice Chair, Mr. Longo will discuss “Healthcare Reform after Supreme Court Review/Where Do We Go From Here?” Mr. Spronz, Business and Advisory Services Track Vice Chair, will speak on the topic of “International Licensing, Distribution and Outsourcing.” Mr. Agajanian will present on the “Effective Use of Provisional Remedies in Business Litigation.”

Mr. Longo is Partner-in-Charge of Murchison & Cumming’s Orange County office and serves as a Co-Chair of the Professional Liability and Health Law practice groups. He focuses his practice in the areas of medical malpractice, legal malpractice, insurance agent/broker E&O and directors and officers liability in a variety of litigation matters. Co-Chair of the firm’s Business & Real Estate Transactions practice group, Mr. Spronz focuses on matters involving corporate and real estate transactional and financing matters. Mr. Agajanian is a Co-Chair of the Business Litigation practice group, focusing his practice on matters involving business law and commercial litigation, general liability and casualty litigation, and business transactions.

About the USLAW NETWORK
USLAW NETWORK is a national organization composed of 64 independent, defense-based law firms with over 4,000 attorneys covering the United States and Latin America. Among the firms, there are over 150 offices in 47 US states. An alliance with the Trans-European Law Firm Alliance (TELFA) gives them access to 25 European law firms each representing its own jurisdiction and a similar relationship with ALN Limited enables USLAW to partner with 10 firms in East and Central Africa. To learn more about USLAW, please visit www.uslaw.org.

Heather Mills and Gina Bazaz Attend IADC Trial Academy

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LOS ANGELES – Heather L. Mills and Gina Bazaz are attending the International Association of Defense Counsel’s (IADC) 40th Annual Trial Academy. The trial advocacy training program is being held at Stanford Law School from July 28 to August 3, 2012.

Seasoned trial attorneys, Ms. Mills and Ms. Bazaz are enhancing their skills through hands-on learning with an emphasis on the effective use of technology in trial strategy. The Academy exposes participants to different approaches and ideas in solving common trial problems. The seven-day intensive program blends small group faculty instruction and demonstration with individual participation.

Ms. Mills is a Co-Chair of the Emerging Risks & Specialty Tort Litigation practice group, and a member of the firm’s Product Liability and Professional Liability practice groups. Ms. Bazaz focuses her practice in the areas of complex litigation and high exposure matters, handling product liability, personal injury, premises liability, habitability and construction defect cases in all phases of litigation.

About Murchison & Cumming, LLP
With a firm history dating to 1930, Murchison & Cumming, LLP is a premier, AV-rated 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. The firm is a member of the USLAW Network. For additional information, please visit our website at www.murchisonlaw.com.

Murchison & Cumming Attorneys to Speak at Major Elevator and Escalator Industry Event

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ATLANTIC CITY—Guy R. Gruppie and Mhare O. Mouradian of Murchison & Cumming, LLP will address a plenary session of the annual meeting of the National Association of Elevator Contractors (NAEC) and World Elevator Exposition in Atlantic City, New Jersey on Sept. 12, 2012. The educational program is the major portion of the much-anticipated annual meeting of North American elevator and escalator industry representatives and is designed to assist attendees in charting the best course through the industry’s ever-changing landscape.

Mr. Gruppie is longtime California counsel for a number of elevator and escalator manufacturers and service companies, and for private and public properties that include multiple vertical transportation modes. He is a member of the NAEC and the Elevator Industry Group of Southern California (EIGSC), the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA) and the Defense Research Institute, and former chairperson of the Trial Tactics section of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel. Thomson Reuters has named Mr. Gruppie a Southern California “Super Lawyer” for six consecutive years. A sought-after speaker and author on legal and risk management topics, he additionally serves as an adjunct professor at Southwestern University Law School.

Mr. Mouradian is a member of the EIGSC and has represented elevator and escalator industry clients for many years. He participated in the successful defense of the case Schiavelli v. Peppy, an escalator tort case that received national media attention. Thomson Reuters recently named Mr. Mouradian a “Rising Star” among Southern California lawyers for the third consecutive year.

About the National Association of Elevator Contractors
The National Association of Elevator Contractors is the premier association representing the elevator industry. NAEC is an association of elevator contractors and suppliers serving primarily the interests of independent elevator contractors and independent suppliers of products and services; promoting safe and reliable elevator, escalator and short-range transportation and promoting excellence in the management of member companies. To learn more about NAEC, please visit www.naec.org.

Murchison & Cumming Attorneys Selected as Women Lawyers of Long Beach Officers

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LONG BEACH–The Women Lawyers of Long Beach selected Lisa D. Angelo and Heather L. Mills as Board Members for the professional organization’s 2012 to 2013 term.

Ms. Angelo serves as Vice President of Foundation, overseeing funding for pro bono work, and Ms. Mills is a Membership Co-Chair and Vice President of Programs. The WLLB installed the Murchison & Cumming attorneys as Board Members during a dinner in Long Beach on April 24.

About the Women Lawyers of Long Beach
The WLLB seeks to provide encouragement and camaraderie from other female attorneys, judges and other related professionals to help make their lives richer, broader and ultimately more rewarding and successful. For additional information, please visit http://wllb.org.

Murchison & Cumming Updates Insurance and Business Professionals on 2011 Case Law at Year in Review

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LOS ANGELES–Staff reductions, courtroom closures, reduced availability of court reporters and an increased reliance on settlement courts are the “new normal” for civil courts, retired Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carl J. West told a standing-room only audience on April 24 at Murchison & Cumming, LLP’s annual Year in Review program held at the Walt Disney Concert Hall.

At the 2012 event, Judge West told an audience of business and insurance executives, claims and risk management specialists and members of the bar that the consequences of the civil court budget crisis may be mitigated by taking advantage of technology, approaching litigation management as a collaborative process and through alternative protocols for resolving discovery disputes.

Murchison’s YIR program takes a look back at the significant Supreme Court and Appellate Court decisions during the past year. Before Judge West’s keynote address, several of the firm’s attorneys spoke on last year’s key appellate rulings impacting their specialized areas of practice. Areas addressed included insurance coverage and bad faith, construction defect, employment law, foodborne illnesses and brain injury trauma.

Program Chair Edmund G. Farrell, III, helms the event held each spring and conducts local Year in Review presentations for clients.

About Murchison & Cumming, LLP
With a firm history dating to 1930, Murchison & Cumming, LLP is a premier, AV-rated 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. The firm is a member of the USLAW Network. For additional information, please visit our website at www.murchisonlaw.com.

Murchison & Cumming Adds Two Associates to Its Los Angeles and San Francisco Offices

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LOS ANGELES – Murchison & Cumming, LLP is pleased to announce that Diane P. Cragg and James N. Kahn have joined the San Francisco and Los Angeles offices, respectively. Both attorneys primarily handle matters involving general liability.

Ms. Cragg joins the firm as a Senior Associate. She handles a variety of general liability matters, from premises liability to auto accidents, and employment matters. Ms. Cragg is also experienced in the areas of coverage, commercial litigation and product liability. Her clients have included insurance companies; machinery, equipment and computer component manufacturers; importers and exporters of goods; construction companies; property management companies; and mortgage brokers.

Mr. Kahn joins the firm as an Associate. His experience includes work on matters involving personal injury, premises liability, product liability and business litigation.

About Murchison & Cumming, LLP
With a firm history dating to 1930, Murchison & Cumming, LLP is a premier, AV-rated 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. The firm is a member of the USLAW Network. For additional information, please visit our website at www.murchisonlaw.com.

Jean Dalmore Serves as USLAW Conference Co-Chair

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LOS ANGELES—Jean A. Dalmore is serving as a Co-Chair of the USLAW Network’s Spring 2012 Client Conference. The conference will be held April 12 to 14, 2012 in Dana Point, California, bringing member attorneys and clients together for education and professional networking opportunities.

Ms. Dalmore is the incoming Secretary of the organization’s Construction Law practice group and also serves as Co-Chair of the Spring Conference Construction Law track. She is Co-Chair of Murchison & Cumming’s Construction Law practice group and Vice-Chair of the Defense Research Institute’s Construction Defect Committee.

About Murchison & Cumming, LLP
With a firm history dating to 1930, Murchison & Cumming, LLP is a premier, AV-rated 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. The firm is a member of the USLAW Network. For additional information, please visit our website at www.murchisonlaw.com.