New York (Park Avenue)

In February 2020, Satterlee Stephens LLP merged with Duane Morris LLP. The combination resulted in a substantial expansion in New York City, with additional depth in key practice areas and industry sectors, coupled with a broader geographic reach and enhanced range of services available to clients.

Satterlee Stephens, with its 125-year track record of working on some of the market’s most notable deals and important cases, complements the service offerings of Duane Morris’ New York (Broadway) location, which celebrated its 25th anniversary in NYC in 2019.

With the merger, the enhanced presence in New York City offers sophisticated local, national and international practices in such key areas as corporate; trial; finance; intellectual property; real estate; bankruptcy; venture capital and emerging companies; employment, labor, immigration and benefits; insurance; private client services; media and communications; and tax, among others. 

The combined firm, which operates as Duane Morris LLP, will continue to serve clients from Duane Morris’ existing location on Broadway, as well as Satterlee’s location on Park Avenue, and all the Duane Morris offices in the United States, London and Asia. 

Range of Services

Corporate, Securities, Mergers and Acquisitions

Members of the Corporate Practice Group advise clients in connection with mergers and acquisitions, public and private offerings of equity and debt securities, corporate finance, corporate compliance, corporate governance and taxation. The attorneys have experience in negotiated acquisitions and divestitures, and defense against takeover attempts. Duane Morris lawyers regularly represent international clients in both domestic and cross-border transactions. The firm has experience with venture capital and private equity transactions, and works with many clients in developing and implementing creative strategies to accomplish their corporate finance and acquisition objectives.

Duane Morris also represents clients in a wide range of securities matters, including public offerings of debt or equity securities, as well as private offerings ranging from start-up financings and bridge offerings prior to initial public offerings to major placements of private limited partnerships or limited liability companies. The firm’s attorneys represent clients in a myriad of securities offerings and regularly advise public companies on compliance with ongoing reporting obligations and other securities laws, including Sarbanes-Oxley Act compliance.

Complex Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution

Lawyers in Duane Morris’ Trial Practice Group represent clients in all types of complex commercial litigation, from inception through trial and appeal. Duane Morris litigators are experienced in an array of areas, including securities, antitrust, intellectual property, environmental and real estate disputes. Members of the Trial Practice Group work closely with the firm’s corporate and bankruptcy lawyers and often represent financial institutions. The firm’s attorneys have represented numerous international and national manufacturers in all forms of products liability and toxic tort litigation, including defense of product class actions, serving as national coordinating counsel, lead counsel, regional counsel or local counsel. Duane Morris also represents both individuals and corporations facing federal and state allegations of criminal conduct, including fraud, environmental crimes, securities violations, RICO violations, trade espionage and a variety of business-related offenses. In addition to representing clients in U.S. forums and before international tribunals, the firm also provides counsel on settling disputes without conventional litigation by using alternative dispute resolution and advises on methods to anticipate and avoid litigation.

Financial Markets

Duane Morris attorneys represent securities, futures and derivatives firms, capital markets, institutional lenders, commercial lenders, clearing firms and individual professionals in these industries including broker-dealers, futures commission merchants, investment advisers, portfolio managers, commodity pool operators and advisors, and floor traders. Duane Morris provides start-up services, assisting clients in registration and formation. The firm also counsels clients regarding regulatory compliance and enforcement, managed investment programs and products offerings, criminal investigations and related arbitration and litigation, and strategic business planning. Duane Morris attorneys focus on problem prevention, including comprehensive reviews of clients’ existing policies and procedures, and regulatory-style examinations to detect inappropriate practices and help clients prepare for compliance audits.

Intellectual Property and IP Litigation

Duane Morris’ intellectual property (IP) lawyers recognize the importance of clients’ intellectual capital to the success of their businesses and understand how to uphold IP rights to increase opportunities for clients to enhance market share. Members of the firm’s IP practice have played pivotal roles in the development of IP law and their ranks include highly trained patent attorneys with backgrounds in biosciences, materials, chemicals, polymers, electronics and telecommunications. Their experience includes trademarks and copyrights, patents, licensing agreements and brand protection, domestic and international.

Duane Morris lawyers have substantial experience across the U.S. in all areas of IP litigation, including jury trial experience on behalf of IP owners and accused infringers in patent, trademark, trade dress, copyright and trade secret cases. The firm’s IP attorneys have also represented clients in mediation, arbitration, inter partes proceedings before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, and before appellate courts concerning IP matters.

Real Estate

Duane Morris’ real estate attorneys represent a broad range of high-profile institutional and individual clients in all aspects of real estate transactions and related matters. The Real Estate Practice Group handles real estate acquisitions and dispositions, financings, workouts and restructurings, development and leasing, land use and zoning issues.

Business Reorganization and Financial Restructuring

Lawyers in the Business Reorganization and Financial Restructuring Practice Group work in tandem with each client, whether lender or other creditor, debtor, trustee or creditors’ committee, to determine the best strategy for deriving maximum value from a troubled entity while simultaneously seeking to meet each client’s goals. Clients draw on the firm’s extensive reorganization experience as one of the most active bankruptcy practices in the United States with a national team of dozens of Duane Morris bankruptcy lawyers in numerous jurisdictions.

Insurance and Reinsurance Law

Industry publications have recognized Duane Morris as having one of the top Insurance practices in the United States. Attorneys in the Insurance and Reinsurance Group have been engaged in representations of insurance industry interests for many years, having served as counsel to numerous property/casualty insurance companies, life insurance companies, reinsurance companies, HMOs and PPOs, rating bureaus, captive insurers offshore, and alternative market entities and guaranty associations. The firm has also represented underwriters of public offerings of insurance securities.

Duane Morris’ background in the industry contributes to the firm’s ability to address client concerns effectively. Duane Morris attorneys have an in-depth understanding of actuarial, underwriting and policy coverage matters affecting the business and legal issues of insurance industry clients. The firm has handled matters affecting financial examinations, market conduct examinations and other regulatory issues as well as general corporate matters.

International

Duane Morris’ International Practice Group integrates the services of attorneys from various disciplines who practice around the world, creating a global infrastructure of not only international experience, but also enhanced sensitivity to cultural differences. In the area of international trade regulation, the firm provides advice regarding domestic and international regulatory and commercial aspects of trade in goods and services, including product labeling and other domestic and foreign regulations that affect imports and exports. The firm’s lawyers regularly counsel companies with international operations in a wide variety of cross-border transactional matters and represent clients from all over the world with business and investment interests around the globe.

Employment Law and Management Labor Relations

Duane Morris’ lawyers represent employers of all sizes in a broad spectrum of labor and employment matters, including equal employment opportunity compliance and litigation, statutory compliance and litigation defense and employment termination. The firm’s attorneys provide a full range of labor relations services, representing clients in union-organizing campaigns, proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board, negotiations of labor contracts and disputes over labor contract provisions. The group assists employers in protecting their proprietary information and in enforcing noncompetition and nonsolicitation agreements. Duane Morris lawyers emphasize policies to prevent employment problems through problem prevention programs and services, including seminars and workshops, customized training programs and employment practice audits.

Immigration

Duane Morris immigration attorneys serve as global immigration counsel to diverse organizations, ranging from multinational and Fortune 500 publicly traded corporations and medium-sized privately held companies to startup ventures and individuals in a wide spectrum of industries. The attorneys have a comprehensive knowledge of the legal, political and business context in which immigration concerns arise. The immigration attorneys not only have a thorough understanding of immigration law, but also understand the bureaucratic intricacies that frequently arise when dealing with decision makers at the Departments of Homeland Security, State, Commerce and Labor.

Private Client Services

Duane Morris’ Private Client Services Practice Group represents a broad range of closely held business owners and other high net worth individuals with respect to their personal and professional planning. The firm provides estates, trusts, asset planning and related litigation services to individuals, business owners, charitable organizations and fiduciaries. The Private Client Services attorneys have significant experience in the settlement of decedents’ estates, fiduciary income tax matters, administration of trusts and counseling on family matters. Throughout each relationship with clients, Duane Morris attorneys work to minimize tax exposure and implement creative strategies to preserve capital and transfer resources within the client’s family and to next generations. The firm also provides all aspects of fiduciary litigation services related to probate, trust and guardianship administration.

White-Collar Criminal Litigation

Duane Morris attorneys counsel both individuals and corporations facing federal and state allegations of criminal conduct. The firm's lawyers advise clients accused of Medicare/Medicaid fraud and abuse, environmental crimes, securities violations, criminal tax fraud, fraud in government procurement, RICO violations, trade espionage and a variety of business-related offenses. Duane Morris attorneys also have extensive experience leading internal investigations.

Tax

Members of the Duane Morris Tax Practice Group are an integral part of the firm’s transactional practice. Tax attorneys work closely with the firm’s corporate and finance lawyers to structure and effectuate complex transactions from a tax perspective. Duane Morris represent business enterprises operating as corporations, partnerships or limited liability companies, advising both foreign-owned and U.S.-based multinationals on international and domestic acquisitions and reorganizations, as well as providing federal, state and local tax counsel.

For More Information

For more information, please contact James J. Regan, Michael D. Grohman or any of the lawyers referenced in the Attorney Listing.