NEWARK, N.J.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--McCarter & English LLP has elected nine new partners in its offices in Newark, Boston, Hartford and Wilmington, effective as of January 1, 2012. The new partners practice in a broad range of areas, including transactional, litigation and regulatory practices.
“We are very pleased to welcome this new group of talented and diverse attorneys to the partnership,” said McCarter & English Chairman, Michael P. Kelly. “This is an extremely gifted group of young attorneys, and I am very happy about the future of this firm. We wish them all continued success in their careers here at McCarter.”
The new partners are listed below:
Richard Hernandez (Newark) – Hernandez is a member of the Business & Financial Services Litigation, Antitrust/Competition and Franchising and Distribution Law practices, where he focuses his practice on commercial litigation, with a particular emphasis on antitrust litigation and counseling. He is experienced in multiple areas of antitrust law, including price-fixing, tying, exclusive dealing, product distribution, franchising, price discrimination, monopolization, competitor collaborations, trade association conduct and the licensing of intellectual property. He also specializes in Hart-Scott-Rodino pre-merger notification and the evaluation of the antitrust aspects of, and seeking clearance for, mergers reviewed by the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. He earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School.
Nicholas M. Insua (Newark) – Insua, an attorney in the Insurance Coverage practice group, focuses his practice on insurance recovery litigation exclusively on behalf of policyholders. He has handled matters for policyholders under general liability policies; first-party property policies involving property damage, business interruption, extra expense, and other time-element coverages; and claims under D&O, E&O and fidelity and crime policies. He is a frequent author and lecturer on insurance topics, and is the co-author of the book, “Business Income Insurance Disputes,” a leading treatise on business income insurance issues. Insua is a former law clerk to Associate Justice Jaynee LaVecchia of the New Jersey Supreme Court, and has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Seton Hall University Law School. He received his J.D., with highest honors, from Rutgers University School of Law – Camden.
Jeffrey S. Muller (Newark) – Muller is an attorney in the Tax & Benefits practice, where he represents clients in connection with various transactional tax and business planning matters involving corporations, S corporations, partnerships and limited liability companies, including taxable and tax-free mergers and acquisitions. Muller also has experience representing clients which sponsor and/or invest in affordable housing projects and investments in urban and low income communities receiving federal tax credits, including "New Markets Tax Credits." Muller received his LL.M. from New York University School of Law and his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law.
Mark E. Nikolsky (Newark) – An attorney in the Intellectual Property/Information Technology practice, Nikolsky focuses on the procurement, licensing, and enforcement of IP rights, including patents, trademarks, copyrights and trade secrets. A substantial portion of his practice is devoted to representing clients before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office to acquire patents covering technologies in the electrical, mechanical, and software arts. With a technical background in Computer Science, Nikolsky earned his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law.
Michael P. Pasquale (Newark) – Pasquale is a member of the firm’s Business and Financial Services Litigation practice group, where he litigates all phases of commercial disputes. His practice includes post-acquisition indemnification claims, director/officer liability claims, lender liability and creditor rights, fraudulent transfers, breach of contract, factoring, eminent domain/redevelopment law and class action consumer fraud. He is the Immediate Past Chair of the New Jersey State Bar Association's Military Law Section, led its Military Legal Assistance Program and has personally provided legal representation to over sixty wounded service members and veterans. Pasquale received his J.D., cum laude, from New York Law School.
Daniel Zazzali (Newark) – Zazzali is a member of the Tax & Benefits team, where he concentrates his practice in the area of local property taxation and has helped prosecute complex property tax appeals in New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts, Connecticut and various other states. He advises clients regarding property tax issues and liabilities, and the pursuit of property tax exemptions. A former New Jersey Tax Court law clerk to the Honorable Vito L. Bianco, Zazzali received his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law.
Jill Ann Mello, Ph.D. (Boston) - Mello is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property/Information Technology practice. Her practice focuses on the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry, including experience in the areas of immunology, cancer therapeutics, biomarkers, RNAi, diagnostics, structural biology, drug discovery and bioinformatics. She has a broad range of experience in U.S. and foreign patent prosecution, strategic portfolio development and management, patentability and freedom-to-operate analysis, opinions, due diligence evaluations, and involvement in opposition proceedings before the European Patent Office. She represents clients including start-ups, academic institutions, small and mid-size biotechnology companies and pharmaceutical corporations. Prior to joining McCarter, Mello earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where her doctoral thesis focused on the therapeutic mechanisms of the anticancer drug cisplatin. She earned her J.D. from Suffolk University Law School.
John H. Taylor III (Wilmington) – A member of the firm’s Corporate, Securities and Financial Institutions practice, Taylor focuses on representation of small and large companies in connection with commercial transactions, including corporate M&A, start-up and funding of small and mid-sized businesses, commercial real estate sales and acquisitions, and general business and transactional matters. After earning his J.D. degree from The Dickinson School of Law, he served a two-year clerkship for the Chief Judge of the U.S. District Court of the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Bryan D. Zerhusen, Ph.D. (Hartford) – Zerhusen is an attorney in the Intellectual Property/Information Technology group. He brings to the partnership a wealth of experience in all aspects of patent preparation, strategic portfolio management, patentability and freedom-to-operate searching and opinions, reexamination proceedings, due diligence investigations, licensing, litigation support, and counseling in the medical biotechnology, agricultural biotechnology, diagnostic, pharmaceutical, and medical science fields. Zerhusen's projects span all areas of molecular biology, biochemistry and biotechnology. He also has scientific experience through a Post-Doctoral Fellowship, which focused on the molecular and physiological origins of cystic fibrosis, and three years as a Research Scientist at a genomics-based pharmaceutical company. He is also an inventor on several patents relating to biological therapeutics. Zerhusen earned his J.D., cum laude, from Quinnipiac University School of Law and his Ph.D. from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.
About McCarter & English, LLP
McCarter & English, LLP, established more than 160 years ago, represents Fortune 500 and middle-market companies in their national, regional and local litigation and on important transactions. Its 400 attorneys are based in offices in Boston, Hartford, New York, Newark, Philadelphia, Stamford, and Wilmington. www.mccarter.com