READING, PA, May 7, 2013 – Stevens & Lee Shareholders G. Thompson Bell, III, Co-Chair of the Litigation Department, and E. Thomas Henefer presented at the Delaware Valley Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel’s (DELVACCA) 5th Annual In-House Counsel Conference on April 23, 2013, in Philadelphia, PA.
In the presentation “Bad Settlements: Mistakes, Miscues and Other Tragedies in the Land of Settlement and Mediation,” Messrs. Bell and Henefer presented data supporting the claim that “bad” settlement decisions were made all too frequently. Before a large audience of in-house counsel, Messrs. Bell and Henefer discussed errors commonly made during settlement negotiations, presented an analysis of the root causes of poor settlement decisions and outlined techniques for improving settlement decision-making. Also joining in the presentation was Jed S. Freeman, Associate General Counsel at Carpenter Technology Corporation.
Mr. Bell concentrates his practice on complex commercial, trade secret, employment and gaming litigation and has more than 30 years of experience in these and closely related fields.
He has extensive experience in the Pennsylvania Supreme, Commonwealth and Superior courts. In the Supreme Court, he successfully defeated the first court challenge to the issuance of a slot machine license after the passing of The Pennsylvania Race Horse Development and Gaming Act. He also was lead counsel before the Supreme Court representing one of the largest banks in the country in litigation to stop a takeover of its Board of Directors.
Prior to joining Stevens & Lee, he was a supervising attorney for the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission’s Harrisburg region.
For over 20 years, Mr. Henefer has represented clients in a wide array of commercial and complex litigation matters. He has particular experience in both ERISA and health care matters, including civil litigation, class actions and governmental investigations.
He has routinely represented clients confronting commercial litigation disputes in areas as diverse as merger and acquisition transactions, termination of service provider relationships and disputes over derivative agreements between financial institutions. His ERISA litigation practice has included complex class action litigation, disputes over the management of investment portfolios for employee benefit plans, Department of Labor investigations and more routine denial-of-benefit disputes. Mr. Henefer has also represented hospitals, long term care and skilled nursing providers and managed care organizations in complex civil and criminal fraud and abuse matters.
Mr. Henefer has extensive experience arguing cases before state and federal appellate courts, having argued many times before the Third Circuit in particular, including having handled one of the Third Circuit’s leading ERISA preemption cases.
