December 6, 2004, Washington, D.C. – LAWFUEL – First for law news – Leading international law firm Reed Smith LLP announces that Matthew J. Schlesinger has joined the firm as a partner in its Insurance Coverage Practice Group, effective immediately. Mr. Schlesinger will work from the firm’s Washington, D.C., office.
“We are delighted to welcome Matt to Reed Smith,” said Judith L. Harris, the firm’s Market Managing Partner in Washington, D.C. “His depth and breadth of experience in representing policyholders in insurance coverage disputes is a valuable addition to our operations and a tremendous resource for our clients.”
A 1989 graduate of Northwestern University School of Law, Mr. Schlesinger was previously a partner at McKenna Long & Aldridge in the nation’s capital, where he represented policyholders nationwide in insurance disputes with carriers and counseled clients on insurance-related matters. Representative matters in which he has been involved include those related to directors’ and officers’, errors and omissions, and environmental and asbestos liability, first-party property damage and business interruption, financial institution bonds, products liability, intellectual property and professional disability.
“Matt also has extensive mediation experience in the resolution of insurance coverage disputes,” said Douglas E. Cameron, head of Reed Smith’s Insurance Coverage Practice Group. “Combined with his many successes as lead counsel in complex multi-party, multi-claim commercial litigation matters, he will make immediate and significant contributions to our policyholder insurance coverage practice.”
Mr. Schlesinger’s recent accomplishments include obtaining summary judgment and an award of attorney’s fees in a highly contested directors’ and officers’ liability matter; successfully resolving a first party property claim involving computer hacking; and securing desired settlements with multiple insurers in a high-profile environmental case involving hundreds of locations.
“I look forward to the opportunity to continue to grow my practice representing policyholders within the Reed Smith Insurance Coverage Practice Group’s dynamic, supportive environment,” said Mr. Schlesinger. “Everything is in place here to provide an exceptional range of services to my existing and future clients.”
In addition to co-chairing an annual Mealey’s Advanced Insurance Coverage Conference, Mr. Schlesinger is a frequent author and lecturer on insurance coverage issues. He also serves as Co-chair of the Programming Subcommittee of the Insurance Coverage Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association.
