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Former Pa DAG Morris to lead Saxton & Stump’s new white collar practice

Carson Morris. PHOTO PROVIDED.

Lancaster law firm Saxton & Stump is launching a new white collar defense practice after hiring former Pennsylvania Deputy Attorney General, Carson Morris.

Morris, who previously served under Attorney General Josh Shapiro, joins the new practice alongside Lawrence Stengel, former Chief Judge for the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and Robert Graci, former Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge and former Assistant Executive Deputy Attorney General.

The white collar defense team will represent businesses, municipalities and individuals facing criminal or regulatory investigations, legislative inquiries, whistleblower accusations and more, and will work alongside the firm’s internal investigations and regulatory and government affairs attorneys.

James Saxton, CEO of Saxton & Stump, said that Morris brings a wealth of experience to the team as a prosecutor and defense attorney.

“His exceptional knowledge and talent makes him the perfect fit to lead our white collar practice, which includes two former judges and a team of attorneys with significant courtroom experience as prosecutors, public defenders and litigators,” Saxton said.

Prior to joining the Attorney General’s office in 2017, Morris was a trial and appellate attorney at Philadelphia-based law firms Cedrone and Mancano LLC, and McMonagle, Perri, McHugh & Mischak.

Saxton & Stump recruits 2 attorneys, 2 paralegals for intellectual property team

Law firm Saxton & Stump is doubling its core intellectual property team with two new registered patent attorneys, Andrew L. Oltmans and Meghan A. Van Leeuwen, bringing a combined 40 years of experience to the Lancaster-based firm’s two-year-old intellectual property practice.

From left to right: Andrew L. Oltmans, Meghan A. Van Leeuwen

Paralegals Jean Leisher and Tracy L. Finkenbinder also joined the intellectual property practice after departing their positions at Harrisburg’s McNees Wallace & Nurick, where they served as a legal secretary and legal assistant, respectively.

“With now four registered patent attorneys and two support professionals, Saxton & Stump is well equipped to help businesses across all industries as they seek to turn their ideas into financial assets to strategically position their companies for the future,” said CEO James W. Saxton in a statement released Thursday by the Lancaster-based firm.

From left to right: Jean Leisher Tracy L. Finkenbinder

Oltmans brings more than 20 years of experience in patent strategy, prosecution of patent applications, patent appeals and post-issuance procedures due to his experience at the country’s top federal agency for granting U.S. patents — the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO), where he served as patent examiner and primary examiner.

According to a statement released by Saxton & Stump Thursday, Oltmans is the second shareholder to move to the firm’s intellectual property team after departing McNees Wallace & Nurick; attorney Bruce J. Wolstoncroft joined Saxton & Stump in 2018 after departing McNees to lead the intellectual property practice.

Van Leeuwen will bring her background in the preparation, prosecution and licensing of trademarks and patents, having graduated from Cornell Law School. After graduating cum laude from Cornell Law School, Van Leeuwen joined Ithaca, New York-based firm Brown & Michaels as a patent attorney and worked there for 18 years before joining Saxton & Stump.

With a bachelor of science degree in molecular genetics from University of Rochester, with magna cum laude honors, Van Leeuwen has focused on biotechnology, chemical, electronic and mechanical arts in her practice.

Saxton & Stump has added 15 attorneys and seven professionals in 2020, along with forming five new practice areas, which the firm said is part of an ongoing strategic plan to expand its service offerings to address complex legal issues of the day, according to a Thursday announcement from the firm.

Saxton & Stump recruits 3 local attorneys for new commercial transport practice

From left to right: Kimberly Selemba, Lane Brody, Michael Traxler – PHOTO/PROVIDED

 

Saxton & Stump has launched a Trucking and Commercial Transportation practice based in its Harrisburg office as part of the firm’s strategic growth plan.

This is the fourth practice area established at the firm in 2020, resulting in the recruitment of nine attorneys and six professionals since the beginning of the year to staff the newly-formed practices of Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights, Information Privacy and Cybersecurity, Regulatory and Government Affairs and most recently Trucking and Commercial Transportation.

CEO James W. Saxton said in a statement released this week that the firm plans to add seven to 10 more attorneys this year “who are client-focused, innovative and leaders in their fields.”

The firm said its Trucking and Commercial Transportation team represents motor carriers, insurance carriers, freight forwarders, shippers, railroads and transportation brokers in matters relating to regulatory compliance and labor and employment accident investigations.

Saxton said the new practice responds to a growing need among its client base.

“We are listening to our clients as they reinvent themselves, reevaluate their strategic goals and develop new roadmaps for success,” Saxton said. “One example is the trucking and commercial transportation industry which is essential and the backbone for many other major industries.”

The team is comprised of three attorneys newly recruited to work out of the firm’s Harrisburg office: group shareholder and chair Michael E. Traxler and senior counsels Lane E. Brody and Kimberly A. Selemba.

Traxler, a member of the firm’s Commercial Litigation and Construction Law Groups, has 20 years of experience serving the legal needs of companies in trucking and construction. Brody for 15 years has represented clients in civil litigation matters including general liability and subrogation. Both previously worked at the Harrisburg-based firm Reager and Adler.

Selemba is an attorney for liquor licensing and alcohol law, having represented beverage retailers, distributors, restaurants and entertainment on licensing, permits and compliance as well as enforcement actions and claims resolution. She previously practiced for 15 years as an attorney for McNees Wallace & Nurick in Harrisburg.

Miller chosen to lead Saxton & Stump’s cybersecurity practice

Jeffrey B. Miller. PHOTO/SUBMITTED

A compliance and cybersecurity consultant specialist and attorney has joined Saxton & Stump LLC as a member of its senior counsel and will take charge of its cybersecurity practice.

Jeffrey B. Miller has joined the firm’s Lancaster office after serving clients in his well-established global consulting practice. The practice will now operate through Saxton & Stump’s subsidiary company, Granite Governance, Risk and Compliance Consulting LLC.

Millerwill also lead Saxton & Stump’s newly formed Information Privacy and Cybersecurity practice within the firm’s Corporate Healthcare and Life Sciences Group.

“Jeff is a nationally recognized compliance and regulatory consultant and is also an attorney with significant legal experience in this area,” said James W. Saxton, the law firm’s CEO. “Information privacy and cybersecurity continues to be a critical issue across all industries. Jeff will be an important asset to our client’s businesses.”

Miller has been serving clients for nearly 25 years in transactional, commercial, regulatory and compliance matters. He also provides consulting services involving corruption, fraud and abuse and information privacy and security.

In his legal practice, Miller represents and advises organizations across healthcare and the life sciences industries on information privacy and security matters, corporate ethics and compliance. He is also a member of the firm’s Mergers and Acquisitions group.

“For small- to mid-sized business, one data breach could create substantial liability, and significant damage to their reputations,” Miller said. “My passion is working with clients to evaluate their compliance and data security programs to help protect them from risk or guide them in their recovery from a breach.”

Prior to joining Saxton & Stump, Miller held professional and executive-level positions at healthcare and life sciences companies, including Mercy Health System of Southeastern Pennsylvania, DermOne LLC and Synthes Inc., an international medical device company that was acquired by Johnson & Johnson in 2012 and later joined with DePuy to form The DePuy Synthes Companies.

The Manheim Township-based law firm has made several strategic moves this year, including adding three attorneys and forming a new practice area in bankruptcy and creditors rights. In 2019, Saxton & Stump added 15 attorneys in addition to 15 business professionals and six major practice areas. The firm also grew its geographic footprint, including expanding its Lancaster office by about 30% and tripling the Harrisburg office size.

Law firm opens marketing agency in Lancaster County

Business marketing and communication strategy. (Photo: Getty Images)

A new marketing agency linked to a Lancaster County law firm officially launched this week.

Granite Creative Group, based in Manheim Township, provides digital and traditional marketing services to clients and small- to medium-sized businesses throughout the country.

Its services include marketing strategy, website design, campaign strategy and execution, graphic design, social media, content marketing and video/animation production.

As an offshoot of the full-service law firm Saxton & Stump based in Manheim Township, Granite Creative has assembled a team with backgrounds in both the creative and strategic aspects of the marketing. Several team members have been working together for nearly three years as part of Saxton & Stump’s business and marketing consultants.

“We are pleased to be able to offer marketing services to our current law firm clients and expand those services to businesses nationwide,” said Jenna Wagner, executive director of Granite Creative Group. “The team develops creative strategies to enhance clients’ market visibility and give them a competitive edge to help them reach their business goals.”

 

A Conversation With: Erik Hume

(Photo: Submitted) –

Q: What legislative and professional development initiatives will you be directing during your term as vice chair of the real property division for the PBA real property, probate and trust law section?

A: The real property division is part of a larger section of the PBA. That group is composed of lawyers who practice primarily in real estate law. I’m vice chair of the real property division, and that’s part of a larger leadership team for the section. I work with the section leadership on initiatives that come out through the year, but my focus is going to be more on the real estate side. This includes everything from monitoring and reviewing legislation that would affect real estate law, as well as educational and professional development opportunities for our members.

Q: With Saxton and Stump, you often lead complex real estate development projects. What are the keys to balancing all the pieces and making these projects successful?

A: A great team that puts forth a collaborative effort is needed for any complex transaction. When you get into something that’s difficult and complex, no one person can do everything. Throughout my career, I’ve been blessed with great colleagues. One of the things at Saxton and Stump is everyone brings a client-focused, can-do attitude; everyone rows in the same direction and we work hard to get deals over the finish line.

Q: Most of the areas in which you practice are closely tied together, but how did you get into corporate health care and life sciences and hospitality as well?

A: Saxton and Stump is a full-service law firm and one of the nice things about having a real estate law practice is pretty much every business, in one way or another, has a real estate need. Even in our digital economy, somebody, somewhere has to address real estate as part of their business. As we’ve expanded over the years, we’ve gone into practice areas that complement each other. As a result, in many of our corporate health care and life sciences transactions there could be a real estate component, where they need somebody to look at zoning or the transfer of a property, and the same goes for hospitality. Based on my experience practicing real estate law, I’m able to work with my colleagues in those areas, and at the same time learn what some of the issues and concerns are that regularly come up in those transactions.

Q: What’s your favorite kind of convenience-store fireworks?

A: Sparklers. Some of my happiest memories, be it from my childhood or with my children growing up, is twirling around with a sparkler on a warm summer night.

About Erik Hume

Erik Hume, 44, was recently elected vice chair of the real property division of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s real property, probate and trust law section, where he will serve for the next year. He is a shareholder and chair of the real estate group at Saxton and Stump, and has more than 20 years of experience in law.

Hume earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Lehigh University and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. 

He lives in Hampden Township with his wife, Karen, and their children, 13-year-old Alex and 12-year-old Katie.