Roberta Pichini's joining Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter & Tanner listed as one of the Top Lateral Moves of 2004.

February 2005
By Jeff Blumenthal
Of the Legal Staff

At the risk of sounding a bit macabre, those at The Legal Intelligencer responsible for selecting the members of our annual list of top 10 lateral moves would have had a hard time cobbling together a list of distinction if it hadn't been for the folks at Litvin Blumberg Matusow & Young dissolving their firm -- and in the process putting a number of Philadelphia's most respected plaintiff personal injury lawyers on the free agent market.

The list that follows was compiled after The Legal contacted roughly 40 attorneys at a variety of law firms as well as other legal professionals. Those interviewed included law firm managers, partners, headhunters, law firm consultants and several attorneys who themselves had made big moves in previous years. Each person reviewed a list of those who made prominent moves from a legal entity (in-house, government, firm, etc.) to a law firm during the 2004 calendar year.

Only after viewing the names of 45 lawyers -- down from the 60 recorded in 2003 -- who made lateral moves last year were they able to help The Legal whittle down its list to 10 on the basis of the number of times the candidates were viewed in a positive light by disinterested sources. We considered factors such as book of business, professional reputation, leadership in practice field and the impact the move had on both the firm the lawyers left and the firm they joined.

The research for this list is far from scientific. We claim only to present the names that created the most buzz around town. And, while there were 10 top choices, several others received support from their peers and other experts. The top 10 appear alphabetically, not in order of significance. The 10 honorable mentions are listed on page.

ROBERTA PICHINI

While McHugh's broad appeal made him the big fish in the Litvin Blumberg sea, his colleague Roberta Pichini was not far behind. In fact, many of her peers said she is the best pure litigator among the Litvin Blumberg refugees. A former nurse, Pichini has earned a reputation as one of the best plaintiffs lawyers in medical malpractice cases in the city. She also served on the plaintiffs steering committee with Alan Feldman in the Pier 34 collapse case.

Thus, Pichini and associate Jason Daria joining Feldman Shepherd Wohlgelernter & Tanner was considered a major move within the plaintiffs PI bar. Pichini said she was intrigued by the more diverse practice at Feldman Shepherd, particularly by the chance to handle class action work.

"I think she's the best litigator of the three Litvin people," one lawyer said. "One of the finest lawyers in town. A real coup for Feldman Shepherd."

Pichini's move unites her with Carol Nelson Shepherd, thus giving Feldman Shepherd two of the three most renowned female plaintiffs litigators in the city (Nancy Fullam being the third). Both are members of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers.

"I was concerned if she would be able to fit in ego-wise with Carol Nelson Shepherd, but it seems to have worked," one source said. "As long as that works out, it will be a good move, because Bobbie is one of the best trial lawyers I have ever seen."