Wolff & Samson is pleased to announce the opening of our Philadelphia Office at:
TWO PENN CENTER, SUITE 1310, 1500 JOHN F. KENNEDY BOULEVARD, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, 19102, effective Monday, January 3, 2005. The main phone is
(215)567-2878 and the main fax is
(215)567-2872 .
MICHAEL A. JANKOWSKI, formerly General Counsel of Old Republic Surety Company HAS BECOME A MEMBER OF THE FIRM AND WILL JOIN OUR FIDELITY & SURETY DEPARTMENT IN THE FIRM’S PHILADELPHIA OFFICE.
ROBERT T. CARLTON, JR. formerly a Member of Ellsworth, Carlton, Mixell & Waldman, P.C., HAS BECOME OF COUNSEL TO THE FIRM AND WILL JOIN OUR FIDELITY & SURETY DEPARTMENT IN THE FIRM’S PHILADELPHIA OFFICE.
Most recently,
Mike Jankowski was Senior Vice President-Claims/General Counsel with Old Republic Surety Company in Brookfield, Wisconsin. Before that, he was President of Horizon Business Resources, Inc. and Vice President-Claims Manager for Amwest Surety Insurance Company in Calabasas, California.
Mike began his legal career in Philadelphia as a Law Clerk to the Honorable Maurice W. Sporkin of the Court of Common Pleas. He moved on to private practice and spent several years handling various types of litigation, including serving as lead trial counsel in more than thirty trials.
In 1984 he joined the Chief Counsel’s office of the Department of General Services for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (DGS). Soon thereafter he became Chief of Litigation for the DGS. The DGS is responsible for all major construction in Pennsylvania, except for roadways. In this role he served as lead trial counsel in a number of complex construction cases. Thereafter, Mike worked for the Philadelphia Housing Authority and again was involved in construction litigation and other construction related issues.
Mike’s first job with a surety was as Regional Surety Counsel for the Fireman’s Fund Insurance Company in Philadelphia. In this role he served as counsel to the Philadelphia and Atlanta District Surety claims offices. He is currently Chair-Elect of the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association. Mike is also a frequent speaker and contributor at regional and national surety and fidelity claims conferences. He is a former Chair of the Surety Claims Advisory Committee of the Surety Association of America and is a member of the Surety Claims Institute and the National Bond Claims Association.
Mike is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania. He received his law degree from the Pettit College of Law at Ohio Northern University in Ada, Ohio. He received his undergraduate degree in 1977 from LaSalle University in Philadelphia, having graduated with cum laude honors.
For more than 25 years,
Bob Carlton has focused his practice in Pennsylvania on commercial litigation, with a special emphasis on construction contract and surety bond litigation and arbitration. Bob is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New York and has served on the American Arbitration Association’s panel of arbitrators for construction disputes.
Bob is an active member of the Fidelity and Surety Law Committee of the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section, the ABA Forum on the Construction Industry, the Surety Claims Institute and the National Bond Claims Association. In addition to the American Bar Association, Bob is a member of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations. Bob has lectured on construction and surety law topics for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the National Business Institute.
Bob is a 1976 graduate of the Villanova University School of Law, where he was a member of the Law Review and recipient of the 1976 Law Alumni Award. He received his undergraduate degree in history from the College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Massachusetts in 1971. Bob has practiced in Philadelphia throughout his career, having started his legal career with Venzie Phillips & Warshawer, followed by a stint at the Mesirov Gelman firm. Most recently, Bob has been a partner in Ellsworth, Carlton, Mixell & Waldman in Philadelphia and Wyomissing, Pennsylvania.
Some of Bob’s more noteworthy published cases are
Ragan v. Tri-County Excavating, 62 F.3d 501 (3d Cir. 1995); Grimme Combustion, Inc. v. Mergentime Corp., 406 Pa.Super. 620, 595 A.2d 77 (1991); and Turner Construction Company v. Seaboard Surety Company, 85 A.D.2d 325, 447 N.Y.S.2d 930 (1st Dep’t. 1982).
In addition to Mike Jankowski and Bob Carlton, other members of Wolff & Samson PC’s surety, fidelity and construction litigation group who are admitted to practice in Pennsylvania are partner Scott Baron, senior attorney Howard Uniman and associate Tom Trautner. In addition, other members of the firm’s commercial litigation group with experience in surety, fidelity and construction litigation are admitted in Pennsylvania, including Andrew Samson, Robert Tchack, David Sprong and Shari Weiner. In light of the opening of our Philadelphia office, other members of the firm’s surety, fidelity and construction litigation group are also planning to seek admission to the Pennsylvania Bar.
We are excited about both our new Philadelphia office and the addition of Mike and Bob to our surety, fidelity and construction litigation team. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact
Michael Jankowski at (215)567-2875 or via email at mjankowski@wolffsamson.com or Robert Carlton at (215)567-2877 or via email at rcarlton@wolffsamson.com.
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