Washington, DC – 16 February 2005 – LAWFUEL – The Law News Network – Deborah Greenspan and Fredric (Rick) Brooks joined Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group on January 3, 2005. Ms. Greenspan, Partner, and Mr. Brooks, Counsel, previously practiced at The Feinberg Group, LLP, in Washington, DC and New York City, respectively. Both attorneys will focus their legal practice on products liability, mediation, mass torts, and complex dispute resolution, among other areas.
At The Feinberg Group, LLP, Ms. Greenspan concentrated her practice on negotiation, alternative dispute resolution, claims evaluation and dispute analysis, class action law and procedure, and settlement distribution design and implementation. She has participated in the successful resolution of a wide range of matters related to insurance coverage, business and commercial disputes, and products liability, including her roles as Deputy Special Master and supervising attorney for the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund of 2001 and Special Settlement Counsel to Dow Corning Corporation. Ms. Greenspan joins the Washington, DC office of Dickstein Shapiro.
Mr. Brooks joins Dickstein Shapiro’s New York office. At The Feinberg Group, LLP, his practice involved various aspects of alternative dispute resolution, including settlement design and implementation, claims and dispute analysis, and settlements of class actions and mass tort matters. He also served as a Deputy to Special Master Ken Feinberg, working on the administration of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund, among other major projects.
“We have worked with Deborah and Rick for a number of years and have been very impressed by their skillful resolution of complicated matters,” said Mike Nannes, Dickstein Shapiro’s Managing Partner. “They bring a wealth of experience, strong backgrounds, and excellent legal abilities that complement the services we provide through our Complex Dispute Resolution Practice.”
While a Partner with The Feinberg Group LLC, Ms. Greenspan represented numerous clients in mass tort matters and developed creative ways to resolve mass tort and other complex liability problems. She was responsible for, among other things, designing the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund’s regulations, policies, and procedures for managing and supervising the entire program. She has served as special settlement counsel for several corporations and as a special master for the federal court with jurisdiction over the “Agent Orange” product liability litigation. Prior to joining The Feinberg Group, LLP, Ms. Greenspan was Counsel with Kaye, Scholer, Fierman, Hays & Handler. She also served as a law clerk to the Honorable Horace W. Gilmore, U.S. District Judge, and the Honorable Edward Allen Tamm, U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. Ms. Greenspan earned her B.S., Phi Beta Kappa and with highest distinction, from The University of Michigan, and her J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, from The University of Michigan Law School, where she served as senior editor for the Michigan Law Review.
“Dickstein Shapiro is a terrific law firm with a collegial environment. I am very excited to join the partnership,” said Ms. Greenspan. “The firm’s outstanding work on matters related to insurance coverage, products liability, and complex disputes is very impressive, and I am enthusiastic about joining the complex dispute resolution team.”
Prior to working with The Feinberg Group LLP, Mr. Brooks worked at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP where he litigated general commercial matters, products liability cases, insurance coverage actions, and securities and banking matters. He received his B.A., cum laude, from Yale University. Mr. Brooks earned his J.D. from Columbia Law School where he was a member of the Columbia Journal of Law and Social Problems and a Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar for three years.
Dickstein Shapiro’s Complex Dispute Resolution (CDR) Practice consists of approximately 30 attorneys who focus on managing complex liability problems, particularly in times of crisis, for major corporate and governmental clients. The underlying disputes have varied widely – from mass torts to environmental hazards, antitrust to employment discrimination class actions, oil overcharge disputes to complex insurance coverage matters, telecommunications controversies to litigation among states. They share in common having been resolved favorably as a result of resolution strategies designed and implemented by members of the CDR Practice.
Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP
Dickstein Shapiro Morin & Oshinsky LLP, founded in 1953, is a multiservice law firm with more than 325 attorneys in Washington, DC and New York City. The firm prides itself on learning and understanding client objectives and partnering with clients to generate genuine business value. Clients include more than 100 of the Fortune 500 companies, start-up ventures and entrepreneurs, multinational corporations and leading financial institutions, charitable organizations, and government officials in high-profile investigations. The firm’s five core practice groups – Corporate & Finance, Energy, Intellectual Property, Legislative & Regulatory Affairs, and Litigation & Dispute Resolution – involve the firm in virtually every major form of counseling, litigation, and advocacy. For additional information, please visit www.DicksteinShapiro.com.
