PHILADELPHIA, January 17, 2025—Duane Morris LLP is pleased to announce that it has promoted to the firm partnership nine associates and special counsel in seven of the firm’s offices.
These newly named partners are:
Corporate Practice Group: Elizabeth G. Hodgson, Philadelphia
Employment, Labor, Benefits and Immigration Practice Group: Gregory Tsonis, Chicago; M. Alejandra Vargas, New York
Real Estate Practice Group: Robert E. Montejo II, Washington, D.C.
Trial Practice Group: Allison M. Bortner, Baltimore; Christopher A. Brown, Fort Worth; Leah Mintz, Philadelphia; Jessica Priselac, Pittsburgh; Bradley A. Wasser, Philadelphia
“Our newly elevated partner class is a testament to the overall success of our law firm, reflecting our growth momentum, our deep bench of talented attorneys and the career development opportunities that being a member of Duane Morris provides,” said Duane Morris Chairman and CEO Matthew A. Taylor. “This group has already contributed meaningfully to our firm and we are delighted to provide them with opportunities to add to Duane Morris in new and ongoing ways. We all look forward to seeing this talented group of new partners flourish on our platform.”
Allison M. Bortner represents clients in complex commercial disputes in federal and state courts across the country. She regularly represents creditors, CMBS servicers and other CMBS industry participants defending against lender liability claims and counsels clients in other loan enforcement activities and in pursuing commercial loan workouts. In addition to her experience in the commercial real estate industry, Bortner represents clients in a wide variety of other industries in complex commercial litigation matters including breach of contract, fraud, noncompete, trade secret, claims for injunctive relief and other business-related torts.
Bortner is a graduate of Emory University School of Law (J.D., with high honors, 2014), where she was executive notes and comments editor of the Emory Law Journal and elected to the Order of the Coif. She is also a graduate of Denison University (B.A., cum laude, 2011).
Christopher A. Brown practices in the area of commercial litigation with a focus on construction law. He represents businesses, individuals and governmental entities in a wide range of commercial litigation, construction, real estate and real property matters. Brown has practiced in a wide range of construction areas, including complex delay, impact, defective design, defective construction and differing site conditions claims, on behalf of subcontractors, general contractors and owners. He also has experience with drafting and negotiating construction and design contracts.
Brown is a 2014 graduate of Texas A&M University School of Law (J.D., 2014), where he was notes and comments editor for the Journal of Real Property Law and an inductee to the Order of the Barristers. He is also a graduate of the University of North Texas (B.A., summa cum laude, 2011).
Elizabeth G. Hodgson is the vice chair of Duane Morris’ Emerging Companies and Venture Capital Group and represents companies and their founders and investors in every stage of a company’s life cycle from formation to exit. She works closely with clients to help them start, grow, invest in, purchase and sell businesses and advises on day-to-day matters to help align their business objectives with their legal needs. Hodgson’s experience includes choice of entity, corporate governance, corporate finance, private equity and venture capital transactions, securities offerings, commercial contract preparation and review, intellectual property protection, licensing and commercialization mergers and acquisitions restrictions on foreign investment and acquisition of U.S. companies and the review process conducted by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and day-to-day general corporate matters. She has vast experience working with companies and closely held businesses in the life sciences, biotechnology, technology, healthcare, software and information technology sectors and is particularly passionate about working with female founders, investors, executives and entrepreneurs.
Hodgson is a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law (J.D., 2016), where she was a member of the Woolsack Society and was editor-in-chief of the Penn State Law Review. She is also a graduate of the Pennsylvania State University (B.A., 2011).
Leah Mintz is an appellate lawyer and counselor with significant experience representing clients during strategic motion practice and throughout the post-trial and appellate process in federal and state courts throughout the United States. She has briefed or argued appeals before the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third and Sixth Circuits, all three Pennsylvania appellate courts and the New Jersey appellate courts. Mintz also routinely litigates both original jurisdiction and appellate jurisdiction matters in the Commonwealth Court, including in challenges to decisions of various administrative agencies. Many of the issues on which she has worked involve complex constitutional issues, difficult questions of statutory interpretation or bet-the-company litigation. Mintz also regularly works with trial counsel during trials to develop and preserve legal issues for future appellate review. In addition to her appellate practice, Mintz has represented clients in federal court in connection with fraud, breach of contract, tortious interference and civil RICO claims, as well as other complex litigation. She also has particular experience advising clients on sensitive matters involving the attorney-client privilege, legal ethics and the rules of professional conduct.
Mintz is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School (J.D., cum laude, 2015), where she was contributing editor of the Michigan Law Review, and the University of Pennsylvania (B.A., magna cum laude, 2011).
Robert E. Montejo II practices in the area of real estate law, representing clients in real estate transactions and development for data centers, renewable energy, office, industrial, retail, hotel and multifamily properties located throughout the United States. His broad transactional practice includes counseling clients with respect to acquisitions and dispositions, development, financings, workouts, leasing and joint ventures. Montejo also represents borrowers, lenders and servicers in a variety of financing transactions, including acquisition and construction financing, mezzanine financing, credit line financing, loan workouts and loan restructurings. His clients include data center developers, energy companies, private equity firms, REITs, pension funds, hotel operators, insurance companies, asset managers, special servicers and banks. Montejo has also represented investors on bids for loan portfolios from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation through its structured transactions program.
Montejo is a graduate of the Georgetown University Law Center (J.D., 2013), where he was editor of the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy, and the University of North Carolina (B.A., with high honors, 2010).
Jessica Priselac litigates complex disputes in state and federal courts as well as arbitral forums. She has tried numerous commercial disputes to verdict and has extensive experience defending clients in a variety of class, collective and consolidated actions. As part of her trial practice, Priselac regularly advises a wide range of clients on all aspects of discovery strategy. She is co-chair of the firm’s Discovery Strategy and Data Analytics Working Group and has led large-scale discovery projects in the United States, the European Union and East Asia. Priselac regularly litigates complex data and technology issues in state and federal courts, including those related to the cross-border transfer of data and related privacy and blocking statutes.
Priselac is a graduate of Emory University School of Law (J.D., 2008), where she was notes and comments editor of the Emory International Law Review. She is also a graduate of Johns Hopkins University, School of Advanced International Studies (M.A., 2005) and Dickinson College (B.A., magna cum laude, 1999), where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
Gregory Tsonis is an integral member of the Workplace Class Action Group at Duane Morris. With a practice that encompasses defending companies in a wide spectrum of employment law cases, he handles everything from complex, high-stakes class actions asserting wage-and-hour and discrimination claims to intense individual plaintiff cases and government agency investigations. Tsonis’ clients span a variety of sectors, including retailers, healthcare providers, insurance agencies, logistics companies, staffing agencies, senior living facilities, product manufacturers and tech companies. While he has defended several high-profile cases for Fortune 500 companies, Tsonis also prides himself on his strategic defense of small to medium-sized businesses throughout the Midwest. He has experience in all phases of litigation, including federal trial court experience. Tsonis regularly appears in state and federal court, arbitration proceedings and in front of government agencies. His knowledge extends to a broad spectrum of federal and state statutes, including the Fair Labor Standards Act, state wage-and-hour laws, the Civil Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Biometric Information Privacy Act and state consumer protection laws, among others.
Tsonis is a graduate of the University of Chicago Law School (J.D., with honors, 2015), where he was comment editor for The University of Chicago Legal Forum, and the University of Chicago (B.A., 2005).
M. Alejandra Vargas concentrates her practice in the area of immigration law, representing companies across a wide range of industries, including finance, fintech, consumer goods, technology, and artificial intelligence. She advises businesses on both temporary and permanent visa sponsorship processes, helping clients establish, review, and customize their immigration policies to meet business needs and ensure compliance.
Vargas also assists individuals and families with nonimmigrant and immigrant visa matters, as well as naturalization. She helps skilled professionals, artists, entrepreneurs, and business owners secure temporary and permanent visa sponsorship, obtain lawful permanent residence, and navigate the U.S. naturalization process for themselves and their families.
As a volunteer attorney in Duane Morris’ Pro Bono Program, Vargas contributes her expertise to those in need. She is the co-chair of the firm’s Associates Committee and an active member of the Hispanic/Latino Employee Resource Group and the Marketing Committee of the New York office.
Vargas earned her LL.M. from Brooklyn Law School in 2015, her J.D. from Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in 2011, and her LL.M. (2009) and Maîtrise (2008) from Panthéon-Assas University Paris II. She is fluent in both French and Spanish.
Bradley A. Wasser practices in the area of litigation with a focus on private antitrust and business counseling and government advocacy. He has experience with providing a wide range of legal, regulatory and business advice for national associations of healthcare providers, individual healthcare providers and pharmacies, beer wholesalers, retailers and high technology firms. Wasser is a member of Duane Morris’ Pharmacy Litigation Group. He represents healthcare providers, including pharmacies, in disputes with insurance companies and pharmacy benefit managers ranging from audits to network participation rights, to termination of providers from insurance and pharmacy benefit manager networks. His pharmacy experience includes representing multiple retail, mail and specialty pharmacies in negotiating agreements with pharmacy benefit managers for dramatically improved reimbursement rates for branded and generic drugs, resulting in millions of dollars in additional reimbursement. Wasser has also assisted numerous pharmacies in obtaining network status after being denied and successfully represented pharmacies in overturning decisions by pharmacy benefit managers to terminate them from their networks. He has also represented numerous pharmacies in connection with responding to audits and has successfully challenged audit results. In addition, Wasser has defended numerous pharmacies in connection with investigations by state boards of pharmacy, state attorney general offices, United States Attorney's Offices and multiple other state and federal government agencies. Wasser also frequently consults with state and federal legislators in the drafting and proposing of legislation to reign in abuses by pharmacy benefit managers and improve protections afforded to pharmacies.
Wasser is a graduate of the University of Baltimore School of Law (J.D., cum laude, 2010) and a graduate of the University of Delaware (B.A., 2003).
About Duane Morris
Duane Morris LLP provides innovative solutions to today’s multifaceted legal and business challenges through the collegial and collaborative culture of its more than 900 attorneys in offices across the United States and internationally. The firm represents a broad array of clients, spanning all major practices and industries. Duane Morris has been recognized by BTI Consulting as both a client service leader and a highly recommended law firm.
