Bryan Curry is a partner in Maron Marvel’s Chicago office. His practice focuses on the defense of individual clients and both large and small businesses in complex matters, including commercial disputes, employment litigation, catastrophic personal injury, and wrongful death claims. He has successfully represented clients on appeal in Illinois state courts and before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. Bryan has litigated insurance coverage and intellectual property disputes at both the trial and appellate levels.
With more than 25 years of litigation experience, Bryan practices in multiple federal jurisdictions and in state courts throughout Illinois and Wisconsin.
Janna Nuzum is an accomplished trial attorney with extensive national experience defending complex civil litigation. She has tried cases and argued motions in courtrooms across the country, including New York, Florida, California, Connecticut, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Missouri, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, and West Virginia. Janna brings strategic insight and seasoned advocacy to every stage of litigation, from initial case assessment through trial and appeal.
With a practice deeply rooted in high-stakes, technical, and expert-driven matters, Janna has taken and defended hundreds of depositions—most as first chair—spanning plaintiffs, fact witnesses, medical and scientific experts, military experts, economists, and corporate representatives. She is adept at developing and preparing expert witnesses and corporate clients for deposition and trial, ensuring that testimony aligns with case themes and withstands rigorous scrutiny.
Janna also has significant experience identifying, interviewing, and preparing scientific and corporate witnesses not only for litigation but also for regulatory hearings and U.S. congressional hearings, demonstrating her ability to communicate complex subject matter in both legal and policy environments.
Clients value her ability to lead teams, coordinate defense strategy across jurisdictions, and manage all phases of multifaceted litigation with precision and foresight. Her motions practice and oral argument experience at both the trial and appellate levels further enhance her ability to position cases for successful outcomes.
John Lienert is a Partner in Maron Marvel’s Pittsburgh office. He concentrates his practice in toxic tort defense, with a particular emphasis on asbestos personal injury litigation, and he also handles general liability defense matters throughout Pennsylvania and West Virginia. John represents a diverse range of clients including manufacturers, suppliers, contractors, and premises owners in complex multi-party litigation, and he has served as co-national coordinating counsel for a large industrial equipment manufacturer.
Throughout his distinguished legal career, John has developed a reputation for his strategic insight, thorough case preparation, and effective courtroom advocacy. He has argued cases before the trial courts, appellate courts and federal courts in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. His experience includes serving as both first and second chair in numerous jury trials, achieving successful verdicts for his clients.
John has been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyers Rising Star twice. He is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association and the West Virginia Bar Association. He authored the article “PRINCIPLES FOR SUCCESS: ADVICE FOR YOUNG LAWYERS,” which was featured in the July/August 2012 edition of The Pennsylvania Lawyer magazine.
John received his law degree from Ohio Northern University – Claude W. Pettit College of Law. During law school, he served as Associate Editor for the Law Review and as a judicial extern to the Honorable Walter H. Rice in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Ohio. John graduated summa cum laude from Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Philosophy.
Outside of practicing law, John enjoys running, cooking, and spending time with his wife and two daughters.
Lee Kellner has more than 30 years of experience in handling automotive product liability, industrial and consumer product liability, automotive warranty litigation, and toxic tort litigation. He handles catastrophic injury claims involving various allegations of defect, for foreign and domestic product manufacturers and suppliers. He has successfully defended his clients in jury trials through verdict and appeal, in high value cases involving allegations of automotive defects, forklift defects, elevator defects, and assertions of disease stemming from asbestos exposure. In addition, he manages asbestos litigation regionally for automotive and equipment manufacturers.
In addition to his litigation work, Lee is a respected leader in the legal community. He is a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates (ABOTA), where he has served on the Executive Board of the Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter. Lee is also involved in the American Bar Association’s Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS) and currently serves as Revenue Officer. His previous leadership roles within TIPS include Member of Council, Chair of the Product Liability Committee, and Chair of the Toxic Tort and Environmental Law Committee. He is an active member of the Planning Committee for the annual Emerging Issues in Motor Vehicle Litigation Conference. Lee is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York.
Lee serves as a Judge Pro Tempore in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.
Christine Boyd has over 40 years’ experience defending complex negligence, toxic tort and product liability lawsuits. She has a national reputation, and has tried jury trials in state and federal courts in PA and NY for auto manufacturers, elevator companies, hand tool and equipment manufacturers and others. She serves as National Coordinating Counsel for a major telecommunications company, managing thousands of cases across the country.
Christine is very involved on a national level with the American Board of Trial Advocates, having served as Eastern PA Chapter president, national treasurer (2020-2021) and is currently on the national board and is an elected Trustee to the ABOTA Foundation. In addition to her outstanding professional reputation, she is also well known for her commitment to teaching civics to school age children through ABOTA and the Rendell Center, mentoring young women lawyers, and speaking on substantive and ethics issues around the US and abroad.
Jerry Cedrone is an automotive product liability trial lawyer with more than 35 years of experience. He is known for his focus, consistency, and unwavering loyalty to his family, clients, partners, and community. A Philadelphia native, Jerry has spent his entire career at the Lavin firm, working just two miles from where he grew up in South Philadelphia,
As a first-year lawyer, Jerry developed extensive experience handling the pleadings, discovery, expert, and trial preparation stages in complex product liability cases. He tried his first non-jury case in his third year, and by his fifth year, he tried his first jury trial. He tried both cases to Defense verdicts as General Motors’ lead counsel. Jerry coupled this litigation experience with extensive technical training. During his first and second years as an associate, he was “loaned” to the General Motors Engineering Technical Center, where he worked closely with other lawyers and engineers to understand motor vehicle design, testing, and manufacturing.
As lead counsel, Jerry leads a highly respected automotive product liability trial team with a formidable courtroom presence. Clients turn to his team of trial lawyers when they are serious about going to trial or appeal. As counsel for nearly every automotive company around the globe, their focus has been on high-stakes, catastrophic injury and death cases and appeals in very challenging jurisdictions. The allegations in these cases have included crashworthiness, rollovers, stability, handling, structural integrity, glazing, seats, seatbelts, airbags, artificial intelligence, and fuel system integrity.
Jerry has served his clients as National Managing Counsel, National Trial Counsel, and Specialty Products Counsel. Jerry was Co-National Counsel for one of the world’s largest automotive companies, overseeing automotive asbestos cases for over 12 years across 36 states. he also served as National Counsel for a diesel locomotive manufacturer, where he supervised over 12,000 defect cases until the U.S. Supreme Court preempted them. His expertise also extends to agricultural equipment, consumer goods, cranes, commuter trains, excavators, forklifts, industrial equipment, lawn care equipment, mine transporters, medical devices, paper mills, pharmaceuticals, power tools, recreational products, residential glass, skid steer loaders, and toxic torts.
As a passionate advocate for diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, Jerry has dedicated significant time to supporting the next generation of legal talent. For over 25 years, he has guided Philadelphia high school, university, and law school students toward becoming successful professionals. Jerry is married to Patricia, a French teacher, and they have two sons, both accomplished lawyers.
Jerry has frequently published and presented on several legal and ethical issues. He has worked with the ABOTA, American Bar Association, American Conference Institute, Defense Research Institute, Product Liability Advisory Council, and the Temple Inn of Court. He is a frequent contributor to various publications. His presentations and papers include trial and appellate advocacy, product liability law, automotive engineering, emerging automotive and autonomous technologies, toxic tort, discovery, ethics, diversity, and inclusion.
Howard (Howie) Donahue has extensive experience handling complex civil lawsuits on behalf of automobile manufacturers (product liability and breach of warranty claims for Japanese, Korean and German manufacturers), consumer finance companies, a large international insurance company from inception through trial (as co-trial counsel) and appeal phases. His experience also includes reviewing, revising and negotiating vendor agreements, warranties, outsource service contracts, indemnification and confidentiality agreements, commercial lease agreements and other agreements on behalf of an international consumer product sales and logistics company and a regional food broker and advise companies on legal issues and strategies.
Howie performs legal review of marketing, advertising, blog posts and other customer facing materials as well as analyzing customer special design requests for compliance with industrial standards and regulations for an international Japanese forklift manufacturer and distributor. He also represents a small local used car dealership in litigation and consumer disputes. Howie has experience in commercial litigation, including business divorces and reviews customer contacts with commercial entities and formulate responsive strategies including interfacing with customers. Howie advises clients on business and litigation strategies (local, regional and national scales).
Edward (Ted) Finch is a litigation attorney with a focus in the areas of toxic and mass torts, and product liability litigation. He represents clients on local, regional and national levels in matters involving automotive products, telecommunication and industrial equipment as well as employer liability and premises liability claims.
Ted has served as national coordinating and trial counsel for a major telecommunication company managing the defense of its mass tort cases throughout the United States in state and federal courts. His responsibilities extend to all phases of case development including substantial document and discovery-related issues, preparation and defending corporate and company witnesses, corporate history and legacy entity investigation, motion practice and representation at trial.
As national discovery coordinator for the engine division of a major North American truck manufacturer, he is responsible for the investigation and coordination of discovery, and the preparation and defense of corporate witnesses.
He has also developed and coordinated experts for clients in the areas of industrial hygiene, epidemiology and risk assessment.
Leona has over 30 years of experience defending Fortune 500 companies in the area of industrial and consumer product liability. She has defended several automobile manufacturers in complex product liability matters involving general crashworthiness as well as technical systems, including seat sensors, seat strength, occupant classification systems, child restraint systems, airbags, fuel systems, vehicle stability (rollover), and structure. Leona also defends automotive financial services matters involving consumer fraud and unfair business practices.
Leona serves as national discovery counsel for a motor vehicle manufacturer in cases pending in state and federal courts in Alabama, California, Indiana, Kansas, Maryland, Nebraska, Tennessee, Texas and Pennsylvania. In that role, she coordinates the identification and production of appropriate technical materials for the manufacturer and its suppliers and develops cohesive responses to discovery and deposition notices. She works with local counsel to provide defense support in technical aspects of litigation, including settlement and trial strategy and actively participates, including taking the lead on resolving discovery disputes, with local plaintiffs’ attorneys. Leona also prepares designated corporate engineers on highly technical materials, in Asia, including corporate design choices, Failure Modes & Effects Analysis, internal design standards, manufacturing processes and manufacturer and supplier testing. Leona also defends these witnesses at depositions.
Jo Peifer is trial and appellate counsel for major automotive, commercial, industrial, construction and consumer product companies, in product liability, toxic tort and commercial cases.
Jo’s trial practice includes the defense of products liability, toxic tort, catastrophic personal injury, and warranty actions. She has defended major corporations in every stage of a civil case from pleadings and motions, through fact and expert discovery to trial, mediation and appeals. She has extensive experience with complex discovery and appellate matters. For automobile manufacturers, she has defended the design of fuel systems, roofs, seats, glazing, primary and supplemental restraint systems, and the handling and stability of automobiles. She manages a regional warranty docket for a major automobile manufacturer. Jo has defended catastrophic automotive cases to verdict, including a case where the jury returned a defense verdict on a product liability wrongful death claim involving a post-collision fire. She has defended a pharmaceutical company subject to multiple lawsuits alleging defective medical devices, and an automobile manufacturer in a high-profile class action, in which plaintiffs alleged the product violated federal regulations.
Michael Wozny has more than 17 years of experience handling automotive crashworthiness, industrial and consumer product liability, and automotive warranty litigation through verdict and appeal. He handles catastrophic injury claims involving post-collision fuel-fed fires, rollovers, frontal, rear and side collisions; and airbag, restraint, glazing, vehicle structure, and seat design defect allegations. He has also defended various design and manufacturing defect allegations pertaining to a wide range of consumer products.
He also co-manages regional warranty litigation on behalf of a foreign automotive manufacturer and has experience handling employment disputes, subrogation, and personal injury matters on behalf of our automotive and supplier client base.
Michele Freeman is a dynamic and seasoned legal professional with deep experience in Industrial and Consumer Product Liability, Toxic Torts, Mass Torts, and Business Litigation. She has a well-established record of successfully defending corporations and limited liability companies against an array of complex legal challenges, including commercial disputes, product liability, premises liability, personal injury claims, insurance indemnification issues, and asbestos-related litigation. Her ability to manage high-stakes cases across both state and federal jurisdictions has earned her the trust of numerous clients navigating multifaceted legal environments.
Throughout her career, Michele has represented both corporate and private defendants in negligence claims and contract disputes, applying a pragmatic and strategic approach to every stage of litigation. In addition to her litigation practice, she offers comprehensive legal representation in commercial real estate transactions, addressing lease agreements and sales contracts with precision. Her practice also includes managing breach of contract cases, construction-related disputes, and conflicts involving easements and property use restrictions.
Michele’s transactional expertise is complemented by her proficiency in drafting settlement agreements, releases, and commercial contracts related to real estate and business acquisitions. She frequently collaborates with in-house counsel and provides leadership to junior associates and paralegals, ensuring coordinated and efficient case management. Her courtroom presence is equally notable; she regularly argues motions before administrative panels as well as state and federal courts.
Among her many accomplishments, Michele served as second chair in a civil trial, where she was responsible for voir dire preparation, jury selection, drafting of pre-trial motions, oral argument, and cross-examination. She has defended corporate clients in both state and federal arbitration proceedings and has been a steadfast advocate throughout all phases of litigation, including pleadings, discovery, dispositive motions, mediations, and trial. Michele has authored numerous case evaluations and legal opinions, providing detailed analysis on liability exposure, potential damages, and settlement strategies.
Her advocacy has led to favorable outcomes in more than 250 dispositive motions and successful resolutions in over 50 mediations and settlement conferences. She is known for conducting in-depth client interviews and implementing quality control measures in complex litigation cases.