Dickson, Joseph W.

Stephen Raynes has been recognized by his peers as a "Super Lawyer," an honor he has received every year since Philadelphia Magazine commenced publishing the survey of lawyers and judges in 2004.  Since 2006, he has repeatedly been selected as one of the top 100 "Super Lawyers," not only in Philadelphia but throughout Pennsylvania.  Every year since 2008, he has been selected by his peers for inclusion in Best Lawyers in America.

Mr. Raynes joined the Firm in 1995. Graduating magna cum laude from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Raynes attended law school at the University of Michigan and then clerked for former Chief Judge John T. Fullam of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. After his federal clerkship, Mr. Raynes worked as a corporate and litigation lawyer at the Wall Street law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson. He then joined the mergers and acquisitions department of Credit Suisse First Boston. Work as a corporate attorney and then as a Wall Street investment banker honed his gift for detailed critical analysis but did not provide the emotional satisfaction he wanted—a satisfaction that he would find in advocating on behalf of profoundly injured victims and their families.

In 2005, Mr. Raynes spearheaded the firm’s day-to-day prosecution of claims on behalf of the seatholders of the New York Stock Exchange which challenged the terms of a multi-billion dollar deal that had been struck by the Exchange’s Board of Directors and its investment advisor.  Mr. Raynes served as co-counsel and one of the lead trial lawyers during the discovery of the case and at the preliminary injunction trial. After successfully defeating the New York Stock Exchange’s Motions to Dismiss and uncovering a wealth of information through months of intensely fought discovery, the case proceeded to a preliminary injunction trial, which culminated in a settlement.  The New York Stock Exchange agreed to changes in the deal’s terms, so as to provide greater transparency and oversight, and to increase the value to the members by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Mr. Raynes’ first major project at the Firm was running the day-to-day litigation of a massive international pharmaceutical case, in which the Firm represented the families of almost every Spanish hemophiliac who had contracted HIV from tainted pharmaceutical blood products. Frequently traveling to Madrid, Spain, Mr. Raynes drew upon his prodigious skills to analyze complex medical and scientific issues in the course of this representation, and he worked with Miami co-counsel in developing and implementing the case’s legal strategy. Mr. Raynes worked closely with Spanish legal experts; he undertook the coordination of 1,354 clients’ individual experiences for the presentation of their claims. The Firm achieved a substantial and confidential settlement with a major international pharmaceutical manufacturer on behalf of these Spanish families.

Since joining the firm, Mr. Raynes has also represented those seriously injured or killed in Pennsylvania, as well as in the United Kingdom, the Cayman Islands, and Spain. He served on the Raynes McCarty team representing the family of the late Olympic wrestler David Schultz, who was shot and killed by John du Pont. Mr. Raynes also represented the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts in the civil rights case brought against that judicial entity by former State Justice Rolf Larsen; the case was dismissed by the United States District Court, and that dismissal was affirmed by the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

In 2000, Mr. Raynes secured a verdict in excess of a million dollars on behalf of the family of a woman who had not been diagnosed as HIV positive in a timely fashion. This verdict—for failing to diagnose HIV—is believed to be the only successful one of its kind in the medical malpractice arena. Mr. Raynes has earned the highest rating for legal ability and ethics through Martindale-Hubbell. He has achieved scores of settlements in excess of $1 million for his clients.

A member of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, Mr. Raynes served on its Board of Directors from 1999-2002. Mr. Raynes belongs to the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, and the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.