Washington, D.C. – June 21, 2004 – LAWFUEL – Pepper Hamilton LLP announced that George A. Lehner, an experienced trial lawyer and mediator, has rejoined the firm as a partner in the Washington office. Mr. Lehner served as Deputy Assistant Legal Adviser for International Claims and Investment Disputes at the U.S. Department of State from July 2002 through last week. He earned the State Department’s Superior Honor Award for his work on the oral proceedings at the International Court of Justice in the Oil Platforms Case.
Mr. Lehner is rejoining Pepper’s Health Effects Litigation Practice Group. He practices primarily in the area of civil litigation and arbitration, concentrating in product liability, business tort, trade secret and employment litigation. He has had substantial first-chair responsibility for a variety of complex civil and mass tort litigation matters.
Mr. Lehner originally joined Pepper in 1989, and was a partner with the firm for 13 years. At the time of his departure, he was a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and the partner in charge of its Washington office.
“I began my legal career with the State Department, and when the opportunity came up to return to government service, I was excited to do so,” said Mr. Lehner. “Pepper, however, is my professional home, and I look forward to rejoining my long-time colleagues and working with those who have joined the firm recently.”
“George’s selection by the State Department two years ago was a great reflection on him and his legal and administrative abilities,” said David A. Wormser, Mr. Lehner’s successor as partner in charge of Pepper’s Washington office. “He is an excellent lawyer and a terrific person. We’re delighted to have him back at the firm.”
In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Lehner has served as outside general counsel to the International Women’s Media Foundation (a nonprofit organization designed to promote freedom of the press around the world), the Washington Press Club Foundation and the Women’s Foreign Policy Group Foundation. He currently serves on the board of directors of The Fund for Peace. He also has been an adjunct professor of law at Georgetown and George Washington Universities.
Mr. Lehner is a graduate of Wesleyan University (B.A. 1971) and the University of Michigan (J.D. 1976 and M.U.P. 1977).
Pepper’s Health Effects Litigation Practice Group includes 40 lawyers who provide prophylactic counseling to, and defend litigation for, clients in the health effects area. They handle claims of adverse health effects from ingestion or exposure to pharmaceuticals, medical devices, radiation, chemicals and environmental substances; claims relating to pharmaceutical clinical trials; and claims of alleged personal injury from commercial and consumer products. Pepper has been active in the defense of this kind of litigation since the 1960s.
Pepper’s Washington office has represented clients’ interests in the nation’s capital for 35 years. In addition to commercial and health effects litigation, lawyers concentrate on securities enforcement, securities and shareholder litigation, intellectual property transactions and IP litigation, labor and employment law, corporate and securities transactions (including IPOs), venture capital and SBIC, real estate finance and regulation (including housing and community development), health care, government contracts, international trade, antitrust and trade regulation, energy, transportation and environmental law. Lawyers in the office also are experienced in assisting businesses in the life sciences and technology sectors.
Pepper Hamilton LLP (www.pepperlaw.com) is a multi-practice law firm with 400 lawyers in five states and the District of Columbia. The firm provides corporate, litigation and regulatory legal services to leading businesses, governmental entities, nonprofit organizations and individuals throughout the nation and the world. The firm was founded in 1890.
