Riker Danzig Elects Two New Partners and Five New Counsel

Morristown, NJ (March 7, 2017) - Morristown-based law firm Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP is pleased to announce that it has elected two new partners and appointed five new counsel, effective January 1, 2017.

Riker Danzig’s newly-elected partners are:

Diana Katz Gerstel practices in Riker Danzig's Products Liability Group, focusing primarily on pharmaceutical and medical device litigation. She has defended pharmaceutical and medical device manufacturers in state and federal actions and is centrally involved in the ongoing pelvic mesh litigation. Gerstel received her J.D. from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2007, where she was the Articles Editor for the Cardozo Arts & Entertainment Law Journal. She earned a B.A. from Smith College in French literature in 1994 and an M.F.A. from Columbia University in writing in 1999. Prior to joining Riker Danzig, Gerstel served as Law Clerk to The Honorable Robert J. Brennan, J.S.C., Superior Court of New Jersey, Morris County.

Michael (Mick) J. Rossignol practices in the Firm’s Insurance and Reinsurance Group. Rossignol has provided coverage advice on and litigated a wide range of insurance issues including environmental claims, bad faith claims, and personal injury and property damage claims of various types. His work also includes a significant amount of defense work in the areas of construction defect, toxic tort, products liability, and premises liability. Rossignol received his J.D. degree from Washington & Lee University School of Law in 1988. He graduated from the University of Maine in 1985, receiving a B.A. in Political Science.

Elected to Counsel are:

Maura C. Smith returned to the Firm in 2016 as Counsel in the Firm’s Insurance and Reinsurance Group, with particular experience in insurance coverage and reinsurance litigation and arbitration matters. Smith earned her undergraduate degree, cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania in 2003, and her J.D., magna cum laude and Order of the Coif, in 2006 from the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She practiced with Riker Danzig from 2011 to 2014 before serving as in-house claims coverage counsel for Mitsui Sumitomo Marine Management until 2016. Smith was formerly associated with Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP from 2007 to 2011.

Joshua M. Greenfield practices in Riker Danzig's Real Estate Group. Greenfield has experience in complex commercial real estate matters, including acquisition and sale, leasing, land use, financing and drafting construction contracts. While pursuing his J.D., Greenfield was Managing Editor of the Minnesota Journal of Law, Science and Technology, and also served as a research assistant to Associate Dean Joan Howland. He received his J.D. degree from the University of Minnesota Law School in 2007 and his undergraduate degree from Rutgers in 2004.

Allen J. Scazafabo, Jr. practices in the Firm’s Family Law Group. Scazafabo is Board Certified by the Supreme Court of New Jersey as a Matrimonial Law Attorney, and has thirteen years of family law and litigation experience, including complex civil matters requiring multiple experts and examination of expert witnesses. He has handled numerous complex matters involving disputes over the distribution and valuation of assets and custody disputes. Scazafabo has been included on the Super Lawyers “Rising Star” list published by Thomson Reuters every year since 2009 and has been named to the National Trial Lawyers’ Top 100 Trial Lawyers. He received his J.D. degree from the Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law. Scazafabo has been appointed to the Essex County Family Part Non-Dissolution Planning Committee by the Essex County Family Part Presiding Judge.

Margriet Schaberg practices in the firm's Insurance and Litigation Groups, where she represents insurers in both state and federal courts in New Jersey and New York, focusing primarily on insurance coverage litigation involving complex allocation, bad faith, extra-contractual, unfair trade practices, additional insured, reformation, and personal and advertising injury coverage issues. She is a former Judicial Intern for the Hon. Peter E. Doyne, Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division. While pursuing her law degree at Fordham University School of Law, Schaberg was Notes and Articles Editor of the Fordham Environmental Law Review. She received her B.A. from Cornell University in 2002, with Distinction in All Subjects. Thomson Reuters has included Schaberg on the Super Lawyers "Rising Star" list for Insurance Coverage for 2013 - 2016.

Tara Schellhorn practices in Riker Danzig's Bankruptcy and Reorganization Group. Her practice focuses on all areas of bankruptcy and restructuring including the representation of financial institutions, secured creditors, unsecured creditors and debtors. Schellhorn serves as co-chair of the New Jersey Network of the International Women’s Insolvency & Restructuring Confederation (IWIRC), a Director-at-Large for the IWIRC International Board and Membership Relations Director of the Young and New Members Committee of the American Bankruptcy Institute (ABI). Schellhorn earned her law degree, magna cum laude, from Widener University School of Law in 2007. She received her undergraduate degree, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, from Gettysburg College in 2004. Schellhorn has been included on the Super Lawyers “Rising Star” list for Bankruptcy Law since 2011 by Thomson Reuters.

* See attached photos.

For over 130 years, Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP has focused on providing high-quality legal services to the business community. Headquartered in Morristown, New Jersey, the Firm has additional offices in Trenton and New York. Riker Danzig has earned a national reputation for expertise in trial and appellate litigation, insurance, commercial law and bankruptcy and, in addition, has highly-respected practices in products liability, environmental law, employment law, family practice, tax and trusts and estates, corporate law and mergers & acquisitions, governmental affairs, public utilities, real estate and intellectual property.

March 7, 2017

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Riker Danzig Scherer Hyland & Perretti LLP

Headquarters Plaza

One Speedwell Avenue

Morristown, NJ 07962

Contact: Richelle Delavan

T: 973-451-8566

F: 973-538-1984

rdelavan@riker.com

www.riker.com