Education

Widener University School of Law, J.D., cum laude (1992)

College of William and Mary, B.B.A. (1989)

Admissions

Pennsylvania

United States Court of Appeals, Third Circuit

Boards/Memberships

Chair of the Board of Directors,  Chester-Upland Youth Soccer/Soccer For Success

Chair of the Board of Directors,  Art-Reach

Member,  Phi Kappa Phi

President,  College of William and Mary Alumni Association, Philadelphia Chapter

Member,  2011 MS Leadership Class, National Multiple Sclerosis Society

Member,  Philadelphia's 101 Top Connectors, Leadership Philadelphia

Executive Council,  Haverford School Alumni

• Author, "Effective Trial Presentation"
• Author, "Application of Spoliation Doctrine in Manufacturing Defect Cases"
• Author, "Pennsylvania Premises Liability Update"
• Author, "A Summary of Pennsylvania Law"
• Author, "Pennsylvania Insurance Coverage"

Representative Matters:

Business Disputes

• Obtained an injunction barring the deceptive advertising practices and tortious interference of a business competitor on behalf of a national financial institution. Following discovery, Mr. Phelan secured a permanent injunction and a seven figure settlement;
• Obtained a mandatory injunction on behalf of a nationally-known academic institution for the payment of monies and the provision of source materials for its library against its content aggregator/provider. The injunction, obtained on the eve of the bankruptcy of the content distributor allowed the academic institution to recover over ninety-three percent of actual damages as well as the source materials in question;
• Successfully defended and settled claims against a technology company in the provision and exercise of stock options;
• Successfully settled claims of defamation, tortious interference with business relations, commercial disparagement, and civil conspiracy between business competitor following a five day trial in federal court;
• Successfully secured the dismissal of strict liability claims for defective design, defective manufacture and failure to warn asserted against a product manufacturer during the pleading phase of civil litigation;
• Successful prosecution and trial of a civil action alleging trademark infringement, theft of trade secrets, and violations of restrictive covenants between business competitors;
• Successfully settled claims days before trial in a securities lending dispute between two broker-dealers in which client recovered $23 million and other payments representing ninety-eight percent of actual damages;
• Successfully defended the director of compliance of a regional broker-dealer in a failure to supervise investigation brought by the United States Securities and Exchange Commission;
• Represented a national manufacturer in an investigation of sales practices brought by a State Commission of Investigation. Ultimately, the investigation was discontinued without prosecution;
• Represented a nationally known broker-dealer in a series of lawsuits against multiple counter party broker-dealers following the largest collapse of a SIPC- insured institution; and
• Successfully represented a regional day-care provider in various disputes with municipal and state regulators.

Insurance Coverage Disputes

• Successfully intervened, briefed, and argued insurance coverage issues on behalf of the committee of unsecured creditors for a medical facility resulting in summary judgment and a determination of coverage in excess of $4 million;
• Secured insurance coverage under D&O and E&O policies for a property developer and property management firm for claims associated with the development of a condominium project;
• Secured insurance coverage for a national manufacturing firm for certain asbestos claims filed throughout the United States;
• Secured insurance coverage for a property developer for damages associated with water infiltration in a real estate rehabilitation project; and
• Represented regional health care network in dispute with its reciprocal risk retention group over the withdrawal of the health care network from the RRG. The matter was successfully resolved on the eve of trial.

Employment Disputes

• Successfully barred the dissemination and use of confidential and proprietary information through a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction;
• Successfully defeated a request for preliminary injunction seeking relief for alleged violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and the Rehabilitation Act;
• Negotiated a severance agreement on behalf of an executive of a national computer consulting firm;
• Successfully asserted a constitutional challenge to a criminal indictment alleging violations of Pennsylvania's Wage Payment and Collection Law resulting in dismissal of all charges; and
• Negotiated employment agreements for multiple managing directors, directors and other officers in the securities and other industries.

Real Estate Disputes

• Obtained a defense verdict before a private arbitration panel in a construction dispute on behalf of a regional contractor;
• Following a day-long hearing, defeated a request for preliminary injunction where tenant was seeking to enforce certain exclusive rights contained in a lease agreement;
• Secured a nonsuit following five days of trial where a real estate firm was seeking a finders fee in connection with the development and construction of a $17 million regional distribution center;
• Successfully recovered from a tenant twenty years of unpaid OPEX charges on behalf of landlord;
• Secured a favorable fair market valuation of commercial rent in a baseball-style arbitration against a nationally known retailer on behalf of landlord;
• Secured summary judgment on behalf of landlord in a dispute over the exercise of certain options to extend a ground lease;
• Represents a national REIT in all aspects of disputes with tenants;
• Represents a national anchor tenant in all aspects of disputes with its landlords;
• Secured the adjustment and recalculation of OPEX under a commercial lease following a five (5) day trial in the Midwest; and
• Successfully defended landlord in claims of improper calculation of operating expense in a AAA Arbitration Proceeding conducted in the Midwest.