Thomas A. Brophy Steps Down After 13 Years at the Helm; G. Mark Thompson is Firm's New President & CEO

Thomas A. Brophy, President and Chief Executive Officer, member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the Executive Committee at Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, stepped down from those roles on January 1, 2018 and Executive Committee member G. Mark Thompson became the firm's new President and Chief Executive Officer, the law firm announced today.

Mr. Brophy, who will remain at the firm as President Emeritus through 2019, has led Marshall Dennehey since 2005, successfully advancing the firm through the financial crisis of 2008 and adding four offices and more than 150 attorneys during his tenure.

Incoming President & CEO G. Mark Thompson joined Marshall Dennehey as a lateral shareholder in 2001 to lead the firm's Orlando, Florida office. He eventually was appointed head of the state's casualty practice group and then regional managing attorney of the firm's four Florida offices.

A native of the state, it was in Florida Mr. Thompson built a reputation as a "go to" attorney advising Fortune 500 clients in high profile, high exposure, often crisis situations. With nearly 30 years experience in the legal profession, he has defended matters garnering international media attention, that are the subject of books, a documentary film and in one instance a Congressional hearing in Washington DC.

Mr. Thompson has served on the firm's board of directors since 2008 and was appointed to the firm's Executive Committee in 2014. The following year, he relocated to the Philadelphia headquarters to oversee the firm's 19 regional offices. Mr. Thompson is a graduate of the University of Florida and the Cumberland School of Law of Samford University.

"It has been the privilege and honor of my life to build my career at this law firm and lead the tremendous group of people who work here," said Mr. Brophy. "I am incredibly thankful to have played a roll in shaping the firm and positioning it toward the future, and as we transition to Marshall Dennehey's next generation of leadership, I know that I am leaving the firm in very capable hands. Having worked alongside Mark on both the Board of Directors and Executive Committee, I have relied on his insight and strategic thinking as we navigated an evolving insurance industry and defense litigation environment. His legal abilities, business acumen and executive leadership experience make him supremely qualified for this job."

"I am heartened by the confidence of those who consider me in some measure capable of meeting the very high standards Tom set in this role," said Mr. Thompson. "It seems extraordinary that a person who joined Marshall Dennehey knowing one person and working out of an office a thousand miles from headquarters could ever be given such an opportunity but our firm is full of people who started modestly, worked hard, let others help them and have gone on to hold positions of leadership and responsibility. It's who we are and that culture is one of the reasons I know we'll continue to be successful in the future. Another is the exceptional management team I am blessed to serve alongside."

With the changing of the guard come further transitions. Christopher E. Dougherty, Chairman of the Board of Directors and Director of the Professional Liability Department, will become Chairman of the Executive Committee, the firm's three-person governing board that is part of the firm's nine-member Board of Directors. Howard Dwoskin, Director of the firm's Casualty Department, will replace Mr. Brophy on the Executive Committee. Lastly, Eric Fitzgerald, Assistant Director of the Professional Liability Department, will replace Mr. Brophy on the firm's Board of Directors.

"Chris and I are excited to welcome Howard Dwoskin on to the Executive Committee," Thompson said. "His institutional knowledge and industry insight, along with the continuing advice and technical savvy of Liz Brown, our COO, are the perfect compliments to a Board that now includes as bright and progressive a thinker as Eric Fitzgerald. These folks combined with the more than fifty shareholders who serve in middle management and all our administrative directors guarantee Marshall Dennehey remains innovative and proficient in meeting the needs of our clients and more than one thousand employees."

An earlier example of the opportunity Mr. Thompson received, Mr. Brophy joined the firm as a paralegal in 1979 and attended Temple Law School at night, earning his law degree in 1982. Over the years, he developed into a skilled litigator and trial attorney, defending hundreds of matters on behalf of corporations, individuals and insurance companies. Under the tutelage of name partners Robert Coleman, Robert Goggin and Jack Warner, he was groomed for leadership and became a member of the Executive Committee in 1998 before becoming President & CEO in 2005.

He leaves a legacy of leadership and philanthropy. Among his numerous professional affiliations, he is the current president of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation and the Lawyers' Club of Philadelphia. He is actively involved with the Defense Research Institute and the Pennsylvania Defense Institute and he served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Insurance Society of Philadelphia for six years.

About Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin

Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, founded in 1962 and headquartered in Philadelphia, PA, is a leading civil defense litigation law firm that represents and advises insurers, self-insured businesses and professionals in a wide range of professional liability, casualty, health care, employment and workers' compensation matters. With more than 500 attorneys in 20 offices throughout PA, NJ, DE, OH, NY & FL, Marshall Dennehey is uniquely positioned to assist clients in both avoiding litigation, as well as providing them with a vigorous defense in the event of claims and suits made against them. For more information, please visit www.marshalldennehey.com.