Duane Morris partner David J. Wolfsohn has become a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, one of the premier legal associations in North America.
The induction ceremony at which Wolfsohn became a Fellow took place recently before an audience of approximately 800 persons during the recent 2016 Annual Meeting of the College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Founded in 1950, the College is composed of trial attorneys from the United States and Canada. Fellowship in the College is extended by invitation only and only after careful investigation, to those experienced trial lawyers of diverse backgrounds, who have mastered the art of advocacy and whose professional careers have been marked by the highest standards of ethical conduct, professionalism, civility and collegiality. Lawyers must have a minimum of 15 years trial experience before they can be considered for Fellowship.
Membership in the College cannot exceed one percent of the total lawyer population of any state or province. There are currently approximately 5800 members in the United States and Canada, including active Fellows, Emeritus Fellows, Judicial Fellows (those who ascended to the bench after their induction) and Honorary Fellows. The College maintains and seeks to improve the standards of trial practice, professionalism, ethics, and the administration of justice through education and public statements on important legal issues relating to its mission.
The College strongly supports the independence of the judiciary, trial by jury, respect for the rule of law, access to justice, and fair and just representation of all parties to legal proceedings.
The College is thus able to speak with a balanced voice on important issues affecting the legal profession and the administration of justice.
Wolfsohn, an intellectual property litigator, has represented both defendants and plaintiffs in patent, copyright, licensing, trademark, unfair competition/Lanham Act and trade secret cases in jury trials, bench trials and arbitrations. In 2015 he obtained a defense verdict for the H.J. Heinz Company in a jury trial over the idea for the company’s Dip and Squeeze ketchup packaging and won the largest indirect-profits copyright award ever ($30.4 million) in The Graham Company v. USI MidAtlantic.
Wolfsohn earned his J.D. in 1988 from the University of Chicago Law School, cum laude, and was elected to the Order of the Coif. A musician, he received a doctorate in classical piano from the Manhattan School of Music and earned his B.A. in 1974 from Beloit College. Wolfsohn is co-chair of the ABA’s Intellectual Property Litigation Committee, and he has served as the co-chair of the ABA’s Trial Evidence Committee. He is also the treasurer of the Federal Bar Association’s Eastern District of Pennsylvania Chapter and was the Philadelphia Chapter Chair of The Copyright Society of the U.S.A. from 2007 to 2009.
