Category Archives: News

Pittsburgh, Jan. 6, 2011 – The Circuit Court of Logan County, West Virginia, granted Summary Judgment in an FELA case involving allegations from an employee of Norfolk Southern Railway against his employer.

Burns White attorney Dean Falavolito represented Norfolk Southern for the defense.

The plaintiff, a current employee, argued he was being exposed to diesel fumes, welding fumes, ballast dust, and coal dust during his employment.

The defense moved for Summary Judgment, asserting no negligence existed under the FELA, specifically asserting that the Plaintiff had failed to show that Norfolk Southern had failed to provide him with a reasonably safe place to work and that the Plaintiff had failed to show that he suffered from any injury as a result of his employment.

The defense supported its motion by submitting the expert report of a certified industrial hygienist, who after review of the plaintiff’s exact work environment, reported on the specific levels of exposure claimed by the plaintiff, and concluded that the defendant provided the plaintiff with a reasonably safe place to work. The plaintiff offered no expert testimony in support of his claim that the defendant failed to provide him with a reasonably safe place to work, and also failed to offer any additional evidence to support his claim. The plaintiff’s claims regarding alleged exposures to various toxic substances required a level of testimony beyond that of the common lay person. Therefore, there was no genuine issue of material fact as to the defendant’s alleged breach of duty under the FELA.

The defense also highlighted that none of the plaintiff’s expert doctors opined that the plaintiff had any injury causally related to his employment with the defendant. The court agreed that these doctors never stated that the plaintiff’s injury was caused by exposure to toxic substances at work. Additionally, the independent medical evaluation of the plaintiff performed by a medical expert submitted by the defense was not rebutted by the plaintiff. In conclusion, the plaintiff did not show any genuine issue of material fact as to the defendant’s alleged negligence by failing to offer any evidence that he suffered from an injury caused by his employment with the defendant.

Therefore, the court ordered that there were no genuine issues of material fact in this case and the defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment was granted. The plaintiff did not file an appeal.

Pittsburgh, Jan. 3, 2011 – Burns White is pleased to announce the hiring of former Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen S. Stallings as chair of the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defense Practice Group.

With the addition of Mr. Stallings, Burns White lawyers have a combined total of 61 years of prosecutorial experience in three separate U.S. Attorney offices and the Allegheny County District Attorney’s office and have collectively conducted more than 280 jury trials.

Mr. Stallings spent 2008 through 2010 as a sole practitioner, assisting clients in white-collar criminal investigations, defending charged cases through trial and appeal, conducting internal investigations, advising organizations on compliance matters and managing complex civil litigation in federal and state courts.

From 2001 to 2008, Mr. Stallings served as an Assistant United States Attorney for the U.S. Department of Justice, where he prosecuted white collar and public corruption matters through investigation, indictment, trial and appeal in the U.S. Attorney’s Offices for the Western District of Pennsylvania in Pittsburgh and the Southern District of Florida in Miami.

He has been involved in numerous high-profile cases, including work supporting the federal fraud cases against lobbyist Jack Abramoff and partner Adam Kidan, as well as the prosecution of several public corruption cases in Florida and Pennsylvania. Mr. Stallings also successfully prosecuted a $170 million bank fraud scheme – one of the largest to date in the Southern District of Florida. He supervised a multi-year undercover securities fraud investigation, and won multiple verdicts as the lead attorney at dozens of jury trials involving corruption, fraud schemes, undercover alien smuggling operations, armed robberies, narcotics distribution rings, money laundering and other federal crimes.

Prior to his work as an Assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Stallings practiced in Miami as an equity partner with Hunton & Williams (1999-2001) and as an associate with both Holland & Knight (1994-1999) and Shutts & Bowen (1992-1994).

Mr. Stallings has experience managing and conducting all aspects of commercial litigation matters for multi-national corporations and entrepreneurs in federal and state courts. He also has been appointed as a pro bono guardianad litem for abused and neglected children.

Mr. Stallings graduated with honors in 1992 from the University of Florida College of Law, where he was the Law Review executive editor. He earned his bachelor’s degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1989.

Burns White LLC is a full service law firm that provides corporate, litigation and consulting counsel to clients operating across a broad spectrum of industries nationwide. Harnessing the collective skill of nearly 100 attorneys, the law firm operates offices in Cherry Hill, N.J., Cleveland, Harrisburg, Pa., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Princeton, N.J., Wheeling, W.Va, and Wilmington, Del.

Click here to read the story on Stephen in the Jan. 3 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

Pittsburgh, Dec. 17, 2010 – Burns White has been recognized for its holiday philanthropic efforts in an article in the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

A nonprofit company called Chin Up devised a plan to provide backpacks, school supplies and hygiene products to children in struggling communities.

Several Downtown law firms assisted in the effort, combining to provide nearly 150 backpacks to two schools in Braddock.

Click here to learn more about Burns White’s efforts in the community.

Pittsburgh, Dec. 17, 2010 – The best boxing movie of all time? That’s what Sports Illustrated thinks about “The Fighter,” the biopic produced by Burns White clients Keith Dorrington and Leslie Varrelman.

Sports Illustrated tops its story by putting stars Mark Wahlberg and Christian Bale on the Dec. 20 cover in a case of perfect timing for the film, which opened Dec. 17 in wide release nationally and also earned Golden Globe Awards^® nominations for Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Supporting Actor and two for Best Supporting Actress, along with Screen Actors Guild Awards® nominations for Best Supporting Actor, Best Supporting Actress (two nominations) and Best Ensemble Acting.

Dorrington, who also received a “Story By” credit from the Writer’s Guild, first started filming protagonists Micky Ward and Dicky Eklund in 1999 and eventually sold the story to Paramount Pictures. Paramount attached Wahlberg who refused to let the film die for more than a decade, overcoming casting changes (Matt Damon and Brad Pitt were both attached and dropped out) and budgeting problems (Paramount ultimately sold production to Relativity, which cut the budget from $70 million to $22 million). Now, almost 12 years after Dorrington first saw the story that would become “The Fighter,” the movie is being released to substantial Oscar buzz.

Click here to learn more about the film and its long and difficult road to the big screen – and congratulations again to Burns White clients Keith Dorrington and Leslie Varrelman.

Pittsburgh, Dec. 13, 2010 – The transition of Burns White to a new name, logo and website was spotlighted in the December edition of Whirl, a monthly lifestyle magazine covering Pittsburgh in-depth. According to a 2009 media audit of Pittsburgh area magazines, Whirl reaches more than 132,000 readers each month, is available on 300 newsstands and is distributed in nearly 5,000 hotel rooms in the region. It also reaches more readers who earn at least $100,000 than any other publication in the Pittsburgh area.

Click here to read the blurb and view the photo of Michael Burns and David White that appear in the magazine.

Pittsburgh, Nov. 24, 2010 – The Eighth Appellate District Court of Appeals of Ohio in Cuyahoga County in a ruling issued on Nov. 24, 2010, reversed and remanded the case of Rossi vs. Consolidated Rail Corporation, overturning an original ruling handed down in favor of the estate of Robert A. Rossi in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas. The appeal required the appellate court to interpret key provisions of the Ohio Asbestos Statute.

Mr. Rossi worked for Consolidated Rail Corporation and allegedly died as a result of complications stemming from lung cancer. Plaintiff’s counsel cited multiple medical reports to support the contention that this case met the prima facie requirements of the Ohio Asbestos Statute. The Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas initially ruled in favor of Mr. Rossi.

Arguing on appeal for the Consolidated Rail Corporation, Burns White Appellate Group Practice Chair Ira Podheiser and associate Patrick Booth claimed that the plaintiff’s two medical expert reports were insufficient to prove that asbestos was a substantial contributing factor in the development of the lung cancer. The first expert was Mr. Rossi’s treating physician, who testified that Mr. Rossi’s asbestos exposure “may have” caused the lung cancer, but equivocated as to the certainty that the disease was actually caused by exposure to asbestos. The second physician did not meet the statutory definition of a competent medical authority because he evaluated the X-rays posthumously and therefore never had treated Mr. Rossi, nor had a doctor-patient relationship with Mr. Rossi.

The appellate court sided with Consolidated Rail Corporation, agreeing that the physician reports could not prove to a reasonable degree of medical certainty that asbestos exposure substantially contributed to the lung cancer. Therefore, the case must be administratively dismissed. The case was reversed and remanded back to the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas with directions to administratively dismiss the asbestos claim. The court’s opinion indicates that, in future cases, it will require medical experts to opine with a greater degree of certainty that asbestos exposure caused a claimant’s lung cancer.

Learn more about Ira Podheiser here.

Pittsburgh, Nov. 10, 2010 – Burns White attorney Stephie-Anna Ramaley participated in a one-hour live legal roundtable on Pittsburgh Cable News Channel’s (PCNC) NightTalk alongside Babst Calland attorney Heather Heidelbaugh, Shaler Area District Judge Bob Dzvonick and the show’s host, Ellis Cannon. Stephie was the third attorney to participate from Burns White, following Shanicka Kennedy and Fran Wymard, who each appeared on successive occasions in July.

Watch a clip of her appearance here.

Pittsburgh, Nov. 1, 2010 – The recent professional accomplishments of Burns White Members Michael Burns, David Damico, Daniel Donahoe and David White, along with those of associate Lyle Washowich, were highlighted in the “On the Docket” column of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette‘s Business/Law Section on Monday, Nov. 1.

Please click here to read the column.

Pictured L-to-R: Burns White CMO Julie Meyers and Lyle Washowich

Pittsburgh, Oct. 28, 2010 – Burns White’s Lyle Washowich, who specializes in financial services litigation and commercial litigation, has been selected as one of The Legal Intelligencer’s 2010 “Lawyers on the Fast Track.”

He was honored in an editorial supplement published Sept. 28 and recognized at a special dinner on Oct. 28 at the Union League in Philadelphia.

Washowich was one of just 30 attorneys selected from a pool of more than 100 nominated statewide and was one of just four attorneys selected from Pittsburgh.

Each nominee was assessed and ranked by a panel of legal professionals from across the Commonwealth, and these rankings aided The Legal’s editorial team in making final selections.

Click here to watch a video of the awards presentation.

Click here to learn more about Lyle.

Pittsburgh, Oct. 26, 2010 – Burns White recently added four associates to its Pittsburgh location and another to its Cherry Hill, N.J., office.

Joseph C. Romano (Workers’ Compensation Practice Group), Christina E. Horton (Medicare Compliance), Matthew G. Brouse (Transportation) and Rossitza B. Griffin (Transportation) are located in Pittsburgh. Brian D. Pagano (Healthcare and Long-Term Care) will work out of Cherry Hill, N.J. Mr. Romano is a 2009 graduate of the Duquesne University School of Law, while Ms. Horton, Ms. Griffin and Mr. Brouse are 2010 Duquesne Law graduates. Mr. Pagano is a 2007 graduate of Rutgers University School of Law.

To access full biographies of all Burns White attorneys, please click here.

Burns White LLC is a full service law firm that provides corporate, litigation and consulting counsel to clients operating across a broad spectrum of industries nationwide. Harnessing the collective skill of nearly 100 attorneys, the law firm operates offices in Cherry Hill, N.J., Cleveland, Harrisburg, Pa., Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Princeton, N.J., Wheeling, W.Va, and Wilmington, Del.