Thompson, Tara E.

Mr. Koch is a partner in the Litigation Department and Chair of the Appellate Practice Group.  His practice consists of appellate practice and general defense litigation in state and federal courts in the areas of products liability, professional liability, class actions, insurance coverage, and insurance bad faith.  In these areas, Mr. Koch represents manufacturers, insurance companies, healthcare professionals, and insurance professionals throughout the litigation process, with a particular emphasis on the increasingly unique and specialized discipline of post-trial and appellate practice. 

Mr. Koch has authored numerous articles in state and national legal journals on issues such as indemnity contracts, expert testimony motion practice, and trial evidence, and is a regular contributor to various publications generated by the firm.  He is frequently called upon to author amicus curiae briefs in the appellate courts on issues of far-ranging significance to the defense community.  Mr. Koch is also a frequent lecturer on appellate practice, legal writing, and legal ethics.  

Mr. Koch received his B.A., cum laude, from Villanova University in 1992 and his J.D., with honors, in 1995 from the Florida State University College of Law.  He is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, and is admitted to appear before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey.  Mr. Koch is a member of the American Bar Association, the Defense Research Institute, the Pennsylvania Defense Institute, the Philadelphia Bar Association and the Lawyer's Club of Philadelphia.  In 2007, Mr. Koch was named in a survey of his peers as a Pennsylvania "Rising Star" attorney by Law & Politics magazine.