Best's Insurance Professional Resources
Client-Recommended Attorneys, Adjusters and Experts
Best's Insurance Professional Resources
Client-Recommended Attorneys, Adjusters and Experts


Marshall Dennehey, P.C.

Best's Recommended Insurance Attorneys - General Defense

201 East Kennedy Boulevard, Suite 1100, Tampa, Florida 33602

Established: 2000

Practice Areas

  • Accountants' Professional Liability
  • Affordable Care Act
  • Amusements, Sports and Recreation Liability
  • Appellate Advocacy and Post-Trial Practice
  • Architectural, Engineering and Construction Defect Litigation
  • Asbestos and Mass Tort Litigation
  • Automobile Liability
  • Aviation and Complex Litigation
  • Behavioral Health Risk and Liability
  • Birth and Catastrophic Injury Litigation
  • Class Action Litigation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Construction Injury Litigation
  • Consumer Financial Services Litigation & Compliance
  • COVID-19/Coronavirus
  • Disciplinary Board Representation
  • Electronic Medical Record and Audit Trail Litigation
  • Emergency Medical Services
  • Employment Law
  • Environmental & Toxic Tort Litigation
  • Fraud/Special Investigation
  • General Liability
  • Health Care Liability
  • Hospitality and Liquor Liability
  • Insurance Agents & Brokers Liability
  • Insurance Services - Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation
  • Intellectual Property, Technology and Media Litigation
  • Lawyers' Professional Liability
  • Long-Term Care Liability
  • Maritime Litigation
  • Medicare Set-Aside
  • Miscellaneous Professional Liability
  • New York Construction and Labor Law
  • Non-Profit D&O
  • Personal Injury Protection (PIP) Litigation
  • Premises and Retail Liability
  • Privacy and Data Security
  • Product Liability
  • Property Litigation
  • Public Entity and Civil Rights Litigation
  • Real Estate Errors & Omission Liability
  • Rideshare Liability
  • School Leaders' Liability
  • Securities and Investments Professional Liability
  • Social Services & Human Services Liability
  • Telehealth and Telemedicine
  • Trucking and Transportation Liability
  • White Collar Crime
  • Workers' Compensation

Video Profile

About Us

Unparalleled Growth

Marshall Dennehey, P.C., was founded in 1962. We are very gratified that our growth, much of which has been client-driven, enables us to make available to our clients more than 500 lawyers working out of 20 offices throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, Florida and New York.

Exclusively Defense

We are exclusively a defense litigation firm with our professional practices encompassing a broad spectrum of litigation matters.

Complex Litigation Experience

Members of our firm have considerable experience handling high-profile and complex litigation, including class actions and mass tort matters.

Regional Presence

The regional presence of our firm affords many advantages to our clients. One client detailed some of these advantages in the publication Of Counsel, where he expressed appreciation of our firm's strategic locations in areas where his company has stores. He praised our ability to handle a wide variety of claims, ranging from fall downs and car damage claims to complex product liability matters. In addition to the six states in which we maintain our offices, we handle many litigation matters in West Virginia, Maryland and Kentucky.

Regional Office Statistics

Nearly 60 percent of our attorneys work in our 19 satellite offices. This statistic underscores the importance of our regional offices to our clients, as well as to our firm. Clients report to us that they are comfortable entering into region-wide arrangements for our representation knowing that we are well staffed in these offices. All of our offices are linked via an Intranet and a firm-wide file management system and library. The attorneys at these locations are native to the area, have a good rapport with and knowledge of local judges and opposing attorneys, and are familiar with the population of potential jurors.

Attorneys Selected by Clients

With more than 500 attorneys on staff, clients have a great deal of legal talent from which to choose. As one of the firm's clients said in Of Counsel, "Their attitude is tremendous. If I say I want a particular attorney on a matter, I have that attorney. If I say I want a conference with the attorney, a conference is arranged."

Minority Hiring

In surveys conducted by The National Law Journal and The Legal Intelligencer, our firm was identified, both on a national and a regional level, as one of the leading large law firms in the categories of minority hiring and advancement. We are especially proud of our minority shareholders and their vitally important roles in the management of our firm.

Peer Ratings

The experience of our firm and our attorneys has been recognized by our peers. At the present time, we have a significantly large number of peer-review rated attorneys as recognized by Martindale-Hubbell, a LexisNexis company. The lawyers of our firm are also recognized in Best's Recommended Insurance Attorneys, as published by AM Best Company. We also have in our ranks lawyers who have been elected as Fellows of the American College of Trial Lawyers and Fellows of the American Academy of Appellate Lawyers. In addition, many of our lawyers appear in the Super Lawyers publications in the states of Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware, Ohio, New York and Florida. As well, a number of our lawyers have also been listed in Best Lawyers in America.

Regional & National Coordinating Counsel

We are privileged to serve as Regional Coordinating Counsel and National Coordinating Counsel for a number of major corporations.

Internal Auditing

In 1985, the firm started an internal auditing program that draws upon the expertise of former claims managers and senior attorneys. This program received national attention in an article about innovative law firm management practices appearing in The National Law Journal.

Successful Business Model

In an article appearing in The Legal Intelligencer dealing with the challenges and opportunities for insurance defense firms, it was stated that our firm has clearly dominated the Philadelphia marketplace. In support of that statement, it was noted that the firm has grown dramatically in the past decade and has maintained a healthy shareholder-associate ratio. It was further discussed that major insurance carriers are attracted to our firm through its extensive use of technology as well as the numerous offices we have established throughout the Mid-Atlantic region and Florida. A noted legal consultant with Altman Weil, recommended in this article that some other defense litigation law firms "need to adopt the Marshall Dennehey model" in response to the changing needs and expectations of the insurance industry.

Central Diary System

All of the litigation files entrusted to us are on an electronic diary system that is designed to ensure that action has been taken by the handling attorney on all of his or her files within the past 90 days. Our monthly monitoring of this program discloses a 97-percent compliance rate, and any need for updated attorney reporting or action is immediately addressed. We have further refined this system o provide alerts to our attorneys when a certain percentage of the agreed-to litigation budget has been reached, affording the client and the handling attorney the opportunity to consider the options open to them at that juncture.

Legal Research Supervision

We have a very focused and cost-efficient approach to legal research. Our Manager of Legal Research and Legal Information Services is a practicing attorney well-versed in law firm technology and efficient research techniques.

Measured Performance

It is significant to note that our firm's Case Disposition Program enables us to develop statistics reflecting levels of performance in such areas as case cycle times, indemnity payments made, litigation expenses and case outcomes, which can be broken down by law type and jurisdiction.

Breaking Legal Developments

Since 1992, we have provided our clients with our firm's comprehensive newsletter, Defense Digest. During that time, we have never missed a deadline, ensuring that our clients can consistently rely upon us for advice about legal developments, as well as giving them the benefit of our analysis and practical recommendations. We also advise our clients of breaking legal developments through our quarterly electronic newsletter Law Alerts, and provide our workers' compensation clients with a monthly update, What's Hot in Workers' Comp.

ADR Commitment

We are strongly committed to alternative dispute resolution vehicles. We are an original signatory to the Law Firm Policy Statement of the Center for Public Resources, Inc.'s Initiatives on Alternatives to Litigation.

Published Works

The expertise and professional commitment of our attorneys is evidenced by the fact that they have had hundreds of articles published in such publications as For The Defense, Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel Quarterly, Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, The Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, Journal of Healthcare Risk Management, The PLUS Journal, Pennsylvania CPA Journal, The Florida Bar News, New Jersey Law Journal, Hospital & Healthcare News, Daily Business Review, Financial Advisor Magazine, Litigation Management, New Jersey Defense, National Law Journal, New York Law Journal, Ohio Lawyer, Orlando Medical News, The Florida Defender, Risk & Insurance and Risk Management. To see more of our published articles, visit our Publications page.

Alternative Fee Arrangements

Significantly, the several large annual contract fee and global contract fee arrangements into which we have entered with some of our larger clients have been renewed on an annual basis, clearly evidencing that these arrangements are beneficial to our clients and sufficiently profitable for our firm. Other forms of alternative pricing are also available.

Additional Locations

  • New Haven, Connecticut
  • Granite Square, Suite 303
  • 700 State Street
  • New Haven, Connecticut 06511
    • Telephone: 203-714-4560
  • Wilmington, Delaware
  • Nemours Building
  • 1007 North Orange Street, Suite 600
  • P.O. Box 8888 (19801)
  • Wilmington, Delaware 19801
    • Telephone: 302-552-4300
    • Fax: 302-552-4340
  • Fort Lauderdale, Florida
  • 2400 East Commercial Boulevard, Suite 1100
  • Fort Lauderdale, Florida 33308
    • Telephone: 954-847-4920
    • Fax: 954-627-6640
  • Jacksonville, Florida
  • 200 West Forsyth Street, Suite 1400
  • Jacksonville, Florida 32202
    • Telephone: 904-358-4200
    • Fax: 904-355-0019
  • Orlando, Florida
  • Landmark Center One
  • 315 East Robinson Street, Suite 550
  • Orlando, Florida 32801-1948
    • Telephone: 407-420-4380
    • Fax: 407-839-3008
  • Mount Laurel, New Jersey
  • 15000 Midlantic Drive, Suite 200
  • P.O. Box 5429 (08054)
  • Mount Laurel, New Jersey 08054
    • Telephone: 856-414-6000
    • Fax: 856-414-6077
  • Roseland, New Jersey
  • 425 Eagle Rock Avenue, Suite 302
  • Roseland, New Jersey 07068
    • Telephone: 973-618-4100
    • Fax: 973-618-0685
  • Melville, New York
  • 175 Pinelawn Road, Suite 250
  • Melville, New York 11747
    • Telephone: 631-232-6130
    • Fax: 631-232-6184
  • New York, New York
  • Wall Street Plaza
  • 88 Pine Street, 21st Floor
  • New York, New York 10005-1801
    • Telephone: 212-376-6400
    • Fax: 212-376-6490
  • Westchester, New York
  • 287 Bowman Avenue, Suite 404
  • Purchase, New York 10577
    • Telephone: 914-977-7300
    • Fax: 914-977-7301
  • Cincinnati, Ohio
  • 312 Elm Street, Suite 1850
  • Cincinnati, Ohio 45202
    • Telephone: 513-372-6800
    • Fax: 513-372-6801
  • Cleveland, Ohio
  • 127 Public Square, Suite 3510
  • Cleveland, Ohio 44114-1291
    • Telephone: 216-912-3800
    • Fax: 216-344-9006
  • Erie, Pennsylvania
  • 717 State Street, Suite 701
  • Erie, Pennsylvania 16501
    • Telephone: 814-480-7800
    • Fax: 814-455-3603
  • Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
  • 100 Corporate Center Drive, Suite 201
  • Camp Hill, Pennsylvania 17011
    • Telephone: 717-651-3500
    • Fax: 717-651-9630
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
  • The Union Trust Building
  • 501 Grant Street, Suite 700
  • Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania 15219
    • Telephone: 412-803-1140
    • Fax: 412-803-1188
  • Scranton, Pennsylvania
  • 50 Glenmaura National Boulevard
  • Moosic, Pennsylvania 18507
    • Telephone: 570-496-4600
    • Fax: 570-496-0567

Personnel Information

Managing Attorney


Michael G. Archibald

Shareholder

Tampa, FL

Practice Areas
  • General Liability
  • Miscellaneous Professional Liability
  • Product Liability
  • Automobile Liability
  • Trucking and Transportation Liability
  • Hospitality and Liquor Liability
  • Premises and Retail Liability
  • Construction Injury Litigation
Admitted
  • Florida, 1999
  • U.S. District Court, Middle, Northern and Southern Districts of Florida, 2003
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2004
Additional Biographical Details:

Classes/Seminars Taught: "Using Crime Grids in Negligent Security Claims," Marshall Dennehey Florida Claims Symposium - "The Best Defense is a Good Offense," Orlando, FL, September 17, 2014

Memberships:
  • National and Hillsborough County Bar Associations
  • The Florida Bar
Publications:
  • Author: "Negligent Security Claims In Florida: the 'Victim-Targeted' Defense," Defense Digest, Vol. 23, No. 1, March 2017
  • "Florida's Proposals for Settlement in Dangerous Instrumentality Cases," Defense Digest, Vol. 16, No. 2, June 2010
Education:
  • Florida A&M University, B.S./B.C.J. (magna cum laude, Dean's List), 1995
  • University of Florida College of Law, J.D., 1998
Military:
U.S. Marine Corps, 1987-1991

Born: 1967

Special Counsel


Joseph A. Hess

Tampa, FL

Practice Areas
  • Insurance Services - Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation
  • Maritime Litigation
  • Construction Injury Litigation
  • General Liability
Admitted
  • New York, 1994
  • Florida, 2022
Memberships:
  • New York State Bar Association
  • ACA International - The Association of Credit and Collection Professionals
  • American Association of Law Librarians
  • American Bankruptcy Institute
  • NARCA - The National Creditors Bar Association
Publications:
  • Author: "Prosecuting Preference Actions Post-BAPCPA: Another View Toward a Reliable Statistical Model," ABI Journal, Dec./Jan. 2006
Education:
  • State University of New York College at Oneonta, B.S. (magna cum laude), 1987
  • Touro College Jacob D. Fuchsberg Law Center, J.D. (cum laude), 1993
  • The Catholic University of America, M.S.L.S. (summa cum laude), 2000

Resident Shareholders


Michael J. Bradford

Co-Chair, Maritime Litigation Practice Group

Tampa, FL

Practice Areas
  • Maritime Litigation
  • Property Litigation
  • Insurance Services - Coverage and Bad Faith Litigation
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Architectural, Engineering and Construction Defect Litigation
  • General Liability
  • Miscellaneous Professional Liability
  • Non-Profit D&O
  • Lawyers' Professional Liability
Admitted
  • Florida, 1999
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida
  • U.S. Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit, 2001
  • U.S. District Court, Northern and Southern Districts of Florida, 2006
Additional Biographical Details:

AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell®; Named to Florida Trend's Up & Coming Legal Elite; Florida Trend's Florida Legal Elite - Civil Trial, 2019, 2022; Florida Super Lawyers: 2016-2022; Rising Star, 2009; The Best Lawyers in America©, Admiralty and Maritime Law; Commercial Litigation; Personal Injury Litigation - Defendants, 2022-2023; Classes/Seminars Taught: "Community Associations - Exposures Close to Home," Marshall Dennehey Client Presentation, September 2020; "Best Practices For Testifying Experts In Litigation," American Board of Vocational Experts (ABVE) Annual Conference, August 2020; "Crew | Longshore Harbors Workers' Compensation Act | State Worker's Comp Liabilities," Tampa Bay Mariner's Club 2019 Annual Maritime Industry Marine Insurance Seminar, Tampa Bay, FL, May 22, 2019; "Property Insurance Law Update," Ft. Lauderdale 10th Annual CE Seminar, Coral Springs, FL, March 2, 2018

Memberships:
  • American (Litigation and Tort Trial & Insurance Practice Sections) and Hillsborough County Bar Associations
  • The Florida Bar (Admiralty Law Committee, 2021)
  • Claims & Litigation Management Alliance (Vice President, Western Florida Chapter)
  • The Propeller Club - Port of Tampa
  • Tampa Bay Inn of Court
  • Tampa Bay Mariners Club
  • Defense Research Institute
  • Florida Defense Lawyers Association
  • Southeastern Admiralty Law Institute
  • The Maritime Law Association of the United States
Publications:
  • Author: "Property Insurance Law Update," Ft. Lauderdale 10th Annual CE Seminar, Coral Springs, FL, March 2, 2018
Certifications:
  • Board Certified Specialist, Civil Trial, The Florida Bar
Education:
  • University of South Florida, B.A. (cum laude), 1995
  • Vanderbilt University Law School, J.D., 1999

Alicia M. Caridi

Co-Chair, Amusements, Sports and Recreation Practice Group

Tampa, FL

Practice Areas
  • Amusements, Sports and Recreation Liability
  • Product Liability
  • Automobile Liability
  • Property Litigation
  • General Liability
  • Hospitality and Liquor Liability
Admitted
  • Florida, 1999
  • New Jersey, 2001
  • Pennsylvania
Additional Biographical Details:

Volunteer Instructor, Florida State University, College of Law Undergraduate Program; Guest Lecturer, University of Delaware, College of Business; Classes/Seminars Taught: "Surveillance in the Amusement Industry," RSA 2021 Sk8 Expo, Clearwater, FL, August 24, 2021; Presented seminars on ADA Accessibility, Social Media Discovery and Managing a Crisis in Social Media, Roller Skating Legal Updates State By State, Amusement Legal Updates State by State to Organizations such as WWA, IAAPA, PDI, RSA and Other Legal and Amusement Entities

Memberships:
  • Pike County and Lackawanna Bar Associations
  • American Society for Testing and Materials (Voting Member ASTM F24)
  • International Amusement & Leisure Defense Association
  • Outdoor Amusement Business Association
Publications:
  • Regular Contributor: Case Law Alerts, 2014-2021
  • Author: "Clean Air Act; Mobile Emissions," Florida Senate Interim Report
Reported Cases:
Andrews v. Stefano, 71 Pa.D.&C. 4th (2005)
Education:
  • Shippensburg University, B.A. (summa cum laude), 1994
  • Florida State College of Law, M.A. (with distinction), 1999
  • Florida State University College of Law, J.D., 1999
Clerkship:
Judicial Law Clerk, President Judge Harold Thomson, Pike County, Pennsylvania
Honors:
Moot Court Team, Intercollegiate Chair

Lindsay G. McCormick

Tampa, FL

Practice Areas
  • Architectural, Engineering and Construction Defect Litigation
  • Real Estate Errors & Omission Liability
Admitted
  • Florida, 2010
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, 2011
Additional Biographical Details:

The Best Lawyers in America©, Litigation - Construction, 2023; Florida Super Lawyers Rising Star, 2014-2020

Publications:
  • Contributor: Case Law Alerts, 2018
  • Author: "Construction Defect Claims and the Role of the Insurer in Early Proceedings," Insurance Journal - Focus on Florida, November 21, 2016
  • "Chapter 558 Notice and the Duty to Defend," Defense Digest, Vol. 21, No. 3, September 2015
  • "Use of Case Management Orders in Construction Litigation," Lawyer Magazine, Publication of the Hillsborough County Bar Association, February 2015
Education:
  • Florida Gulf Coast University, B.A. (magna cum laude), 2007
  • Florida State University College of Law, J.D. (cum laude), 2010

Janice L. Merrill

Tampa, FL

Practice Areas
  • Long-Term Care Liability
  • Health Care Liability
  • Electronic Medical Record and Audit Trail Litigation
  • Employment Law
  • General Liability
  • Miscellaneous Professional Liability
  • Automobile Liability
  • Commercial Litigation
  • Lawyers' Professional Liability
Admitted
  • Florida, 1997
  • U.S. District Court, Middle District of Florida, 1998
  • U.S. District Court, Southern District of Florida
Additional Biographical Details:

The Best Lawyers in America©, Litigation - Health Care (2023); Classes/Seminars Taught: "The Pitfalls of Pressure Injury Litigation," Nursing Client Presentation, February 21, 2023; "Adversity in the World of Adverse Incident Reporting: A Panel Discussion on Reporting Requirements and Addressing Related Discovery," Florida Society for Healthcare Risk Management & Patient Safety Annual Meeting & Education Conference, Orlando, FL, August 13, 2021; "Risky Business: Transitions of Care and Avoidable Hospital Admissions and Readmissions," Florida Society for Healthcare Risk Management & Patient Safety webinar, November 19, 2019; "Case Law Update," Florida Society for Healthcare Risk Management & Patient Safety 2019 Conference, Orlando, FL, August 16, 2019; "Looking Under the Hood: Is It Time for an Admission and Arbitration Agreement Tune-Up?," Florida Assisted Living Association Annual Conference, Orlando, FL, August 7, 2019; "Strategies for Optimizing Risk Management & Patient Safety in Long-Term Care," Florida Society for Healthcare Risk Management and Patient Safety, Orlando, FL, March 8, 2019; "Risky Business: Transitions of Care and Avoidable Hospital Readmissions," Florida Society for Healthcare Risk Management & Patient Safety 2018 Conference, Tampa, Florida, August 16, 2018; "EDs, EMRs & E-Discovery, Oh My! Addressing Related Concerns While Maintaining Optimal Provider Communication," Best Care Practices in the Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Continuum, Lake Buena Vista, FL, October 13, 2017; "EDs & EMRs & E-Discovery, Oh My! How to Stay on the 'Yellow Brick Road' When the Threat of Litigation Arises," FALA 2017 Annual Conference & Tradeshow, Orlando, FL, August 15, 2017; "The Defense Bar Strikes Back: EMRs & eDiscovery Risk Management," Florida Society for Healthcare Risk Management and Patient Safety Annual Meeting & Education Conference, Lake Buena Vista, FL, August 10, 2017; "EMR & eDiscovery: Managing It, Tools to Generate It, and the Most Effective Ways to Fight It," American Conference Institute's 6th Annual Forum on Long-Term Care Litigation & Risk Management Strategies, Miami, FL, January 22, 2016; "You Must Remember This: Memory Care Units and Acuity Creep," DRI Nursing Home/ALF Litigation Seminar, Las Vegas, NV, September 11, 2015; "Lessons Learned: How to Prevent and Minimize Liability in Long Term Care Cases," Clear Choice Health Care Annual Meeting of Directors of Nursing, June 2015; "Outsmarting Smart Technology: Legal Ramifications in the Assisted Living Setting," Florida Assisted Living Association (FALA) Annual Conference and Tradeshow, August 11, 2014; "Documentation in the Age of Corporate Negligence," Lifespace Communities Administrator and Director of Nursing Conference, Celebration, FL, May 2, 2013

Memberships:
  • Orange County Bar Association
  • Florida Society for Healthcare Risk Management and Patient Safety
  • Central Florida Medical Malpractice Claims Counsel
Publications:
  • Author: "Senate Bill 72 May Be Effective 'Vaccine' Against COVID-19-Related Claims," Orlando Medical News, April 7, 2021
  • "Protecting Your Facility From Responsibility for Unavoidable Pressure Ulcers," South Florida Hospital News and Healthcare Report, August 2012
  • "Board of Contributors: Florida Supreme Court Invalidates Arbitration Provisions in Nursing Home Admission Agreements," Daily Business Review, December 23, 2011
  • Regular Contributor, Case Law Alerts, 2010-Present
Reported Cases:
Vucinich v. Ross, 893 So. 2d 690 (Fla. 5th DCA 2005); Certified Marine Expeditions v. Freeport Shipbuilding, 914 So. 2d 983 (Fla. 1st DCA 2005); Butterworth v. Assi, 824 So. 2d 224 (Fla. 1st DCA 2002); Spindler v. Staton, 827 So. 2d 998 (Fla. 2d DCA 2002); Lynx Transp. v. Atkinson, 720 So. 2d 600 (Fla. 5th DCA 1998)
Education:
  • University of Southern California, B.A., 1981
  • Loyola Law School, J.D., 1984
Law Review:
International & Comparative Law Journal, 1982-1984
Language:
  • Spanish

Born: 1959

Resident Associates


  • Sean P. Greenwalt
  • Jennifer L. Hutchins
  • David E. Kaye
  • Valerie M. Lamb
  • Kimberly J. Lopater
  • Laura Pinkerton
  • Amara Benitez Rodriguez
  • Mourama S. Saint-Fleur

(See profile under Philadelphia, PA for additional information)

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