Firm News

On Tuesday, June 6, 2017, Capehart Scatchard, and shareholders Charlie Rizzi and Vince Cieslik were proud to support the YMCA of Burlington and Camden Counties’ H. Douglas Lewis 44^th Annual Golf Classic at Little Mill Country Club in Marlton, NJ as a Dinner Sponsor.  Charles A. Rizzi, Jr., Esq., a shareholder in the firm’s Business & Tax and Real Estate & Land Use Groups serves on the Executive Committee of the Board and Betsy G. Ramos, Esq., a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and Co-Chair of the Litigation Group, serves on the YMCA’s Board of Directors.

Special thanks to Tom Swider and Tom Swider Jr. of Credit Lenders for agreeing to play in this event!

Capehart Scatchard Shareholders Sanu Dev, Esq. and Cameron R. Morgan, Esq. recently spoke at the 45th Annual Special Education Law Conference held at Lehigh University’s Mountaintop Campus.

Ms. Dev was a co-presenter at a seminar titled, “Mental Health, Including Therapeutic Placements: Balancing the Law and Family Support.”  Mr. Morgan was the presenter at a seminar titled, “Special Education Law 101: The Do’s and Don’ts of Special Education Litigation,” together with moderator Michael Kaelber, Esq., Director of Legal and Labor Relations for the New Jersey School Boards Association and parents-side Pennsylvania attorney Hollie B. Johns, Esq.

Ms. Dev concentrates her practice on school law and labor and employment law.  She is experienced in representing, advising, and defending boards of education and charter schools in all areas of school law including: labor and employment, special education, Section 504, student discipline and civil rights.  She leads Capehart Scatchard’s School Law Blog, which focuses on cases, court decisions, and current developments affecting education law in the state of New Jersey.  Ms. Dev, a Hamilton resident, received her law degree from Rutgers Law School at Camden and her B.A. degree in Economics and International Relations, with honors, from Boston University.

A resident of Haddon Heights, Mr. Morgan focuses his practice in the areas of school law, special education, and labor and employment.  Over the years, he has represented dozens of New Jersey school districts in all aspects of their legal needs, handling a variety of matters ranging from teacher tenure/seniority cases, workplace harassment /discrimination claims, reductions-in-force, budget disputes, student discipline, student residency/homelessness matters.  In the realm of labor relations, he negotiates on behalf of boards of education with teachers’ and administrators’ unions, and has handled labor cases such as unfair labor practice charges, scope of negotiations issues, and the recent successful defense in the Appellate Division of the primary case regarding the negotiability of employee contributions to health insurance premiums.  He continues to be extremely active in the area of special education, handling the defense of numerous due process cases and Section 504 matters involving students with a diverse array of special needs.  More importantly, he continues to be a resource for local school districts in counseling and guiding them as to how such litigation can be avoided.

Capehart Scatchard Shareholder, Yasmeen S. Khaleel, Esq., spoke on May 1, 2017 at a seminar sponsored by the Food Bank of South Jersey.  Her presentation was entitled, “The Need for Estate Planning at Any Age: How to Protect Your Assets.”

During her presentation, Ms. Khaleel, addressed the salient estate planning issues; necessary documentation; common mistakes and ways to facilitate a smooth transition of control or wealth upon disability or death.

Ms. Khaleel is the co-chair of the firm’s Wills, Trusts and Estates Department, as well as the Business and Tax Department. Khaleel focuses her practice on representing individuals, business owners, medical, dental and other professionals in estate planning, estate and trust administration, business succession planning and transactional and tax planning.  Ms. Khaleel is the Past president of the Estate and Financial Planning Council of Southern New Jersey, is on the board of directors for the Animal Welfare Association, is a committee member of the Samaritan Hospice and Health Care Planned Giving Committee and is the President of the Board of Directors for Asian Indian Professionals, Inc.

Capehart Scatchard Shareholder, Thomas D. Begley III, spoke in Boston, MA on April 29, 2017 at the 2017 National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys (NAELA) Annual Conference.

Mr. Begley’s presentation was entitled, “Keeping Your Plan Out Of Court: What Drafting Attorneys Can Learn From Litigation.”  The conference was attended by hundreds of attorneys from all over the country including many of the top such attorneys who are dedicated to improving the quality of legal services provided to seniors and people with special needs.

Mr. Begley is Co-Chair of the Wills, Trusts and Estates Group at Capehart Scatchard.  He is routinely recognized as one of the top lawyers in New Jersey by a variety of publications including Super Lawyers, SJ Magazine and South Jersey Magazine.  He is a Certified Elder Law Attorney as recognized by the National Elder Law Foundation.

Capehart Scatchard is pleased to announce that Vania Fider, Esq. recently joined the Firm’s Family Law Department in its Mt. Laurel office.

Ms. Fider, a Mount Laurel resident, focuses her practice in all aspects of family law, including divorce, post judgment motions, custody and visitation, child support, alimony and simple adoption matters.

Ms. Fider received her law degree from Thomas M. Cooley Law School and her B.S. degree in Biology from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga.  She is a member of the National Filipino American Lawyers Association, Asian Pacific American Lawyers Association of New Jersey and the Filipino American Association of Central New Jersey.  Ms. Fider is admitted to practice law in New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and Florida.

Capehart Scatchard is pleased to announce that Vincent T. Cieslik, Esq. has been named Chair of the 1^st Inaugural March of Dimes 5K Run for Babies which will take place on Sunday, April 30, 2017 at 10:00 a.m. on the campus of Rowan University in Glassboro, New Jersey.  Mr. Cieslik has taken on the role to raise awareness and important funding to help babies born prematurely or with birth defects.

“Premature birth is the leading cause of newborn death in this country. As a community, that is simply unacceptable and it needs to change, and change needs to start now with our actions and our efforts,” said Cieslik.  This is a great chance to get out and run, to support a great cause like the March of Dimes, and to help give our babies a fighting chance!  The March of Dimes funds cutting edge technology at Intra-disciplinary research centers, including one located at the University of Pennsylvania.

Runners can register to run online at http://runforbabies.marchofdimes.org.  Online registration closes on April 26, 2017 but runners can register the day of the event.  Registration opens at 9 a.m. in the Football Stadium Parking Lot, Lot C at the corner of Carpenter and Bowe Boulevards.

Mr. Cieslik, a Gloucester Township New Jersey resident, handles high risk litigation for insured and self-insured companies, and represents individuals and companies in sophisticated real estate and banking matters.

Capehart Scatchard Shareholder, Stephen T. Fannon, Esq., recently spoke in Trenton, New Jersey at a meeting of the New Jersey Association of School Personnel Administrators.

Mr. Fannon presented various workers’ compensation case scenarios to the audience to generate a discussion on the issues contained in the scenarios. Additionally, he gave an update on recent New Jersey workers’ compensation case law and offered suggestions on how to prevent workers’ compensation fraud.

Mr. Fannon, a Marlton resident and Executive Committee Member for the firm, has been with the firm for 37 years and concentrates his practice in the representation of employers, self-insured companies, third-party administrators, and insurance carriers in workers’ compensation defense.

Capehart Scatchard Shareholder, John H. Geaney, Esq., was recently named a Non-Profit Organization Co-Trustee of the Year by the Non-Profit Development Center of Southern New Jersey (NPDC-SNJ) for his volunteer work with Moorestown Ecumenical Neighborhood Development, Inc. (MEND).  The mission of MEND is to provide safe and affordable housing to senior citizens, disabled persons and families with low and moderate incomes.

Mr. Geaney received the award on March 1, 2017 at Adelphia Restaurant in Deptford, N.J., during a ceremony in which NPDC-SNJ honored local nonprofit organization agencies and leaders for excellence in service to nonprofits in South Jersey.

A seasoned workers’ compensation practitioner for over 30 years, Mr. Geaney, a Moorestown resident, is the author of Geaney’s New Jersey Workers’ Compensation Manual and A Guide to Employment Issues Under the ADA & FMLA distributed by the New Jersey Institute for Continuing Legal Education.  Mr. Geaney concentrates his practice in the representation of employers in workers’ compensation defense matters, the Americans with Disabilities Act, and the Family and Medical Leave Act.

Capehart Scatchard is pleased to announce that Laura M. Danks was recognized as an excellent attorney and voted in as a shareholder of the 141 year old law firm.

Ms. Danks, a Medford resident, focuses her practice in general litigation throughout the state and federal courts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania with a concentration in insurance defense matters. Ms. Danks received her law degree, cum laude, from Marquette University and her B.S. degree in Journalism from the University of Kansas.