Villanova, Richard J.

Mr. Lawrence is a shareholder and head of the firm's Pennsylvania Office. He represents third-party payers including major health insurers and HMOs, employers and health and pharmacy benefits plans and recovers on their behalf from providers who overcharge for prescription drugs, medical devices or services. In addition, he represents institutions and individuals in a range of securities, corporate governance and antitrust litigation.

In September 2006, Mr. Lawrence was selected by American Lawyer Media, The Pennsylvania Lawyer, and The Legal Intelligencer as one of forty-five Lawyers on the Fast Track.

His recent successes include representing approximately 50 insurers which opted out of a class action, filed an independent action, and negotiated a substantially richer settlement of claims against a brand manufacturer that delayed generic competition for its product.

Mr. Lawrence joined the firm in 2005 after more than seven years directing plaintiff's recovery work and commercial litigation efforts at Aetna, Inc., one of the nation's leading providers of health, pharmacy, and other benefits.

At Aetna, Mr. Lawrence supervised recovery of tens of millions of dollars for the company and self-funded customers in various actions relating to prescription drugs, medical devices and medical provider fraud. He shifted Aetna's recovery efforts from more traditional and passive methods to an aggressive contingent fee based program of both class based and private actions. His efforts in developing and advancing this niche litigation at Aetna caused U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds to recognize Mr. Lawrence as "a highly sophisticated representative" of the insurance industry. In re Cardizem CD Antitrust Litigation, 218 F.R.D. 508, 525, 535 (E.D. Mich. 2003).

In addition to his recovery work at Aetna, Mr. Lawrence managed many substantial litigation matters including the successful defense and trial of a commercial dispute with a customer seeking more than $1.2 billion in damages; defense of a series of 17 related employment termination based cases in a variety of state and federal courts featuring unfair trade practices claims under California law; recovery of $5.4 million from a bankrupt medical provider in a shifted risk arrangement; dismissal of an $18.7 million co-ordination of benefits dispute; successful resolution of an $8.9 million software licensing dispute; defense and recovery of legal fees from a medical provider suing for dismissal from Aetna's network; and defense of numerous cases relating to self-funded plan audits. Mr. Lawrence led Aetna's efforts to enforce non-compete, non-solicitation and other restrictive covenants.

Mr. Lawrence has directed the favorable defense of numerous class action cases, including cases involving whether ERISA imposes a duty on a health plan to disclose physician compensation arrangements, failure to pass along provider discounts, failure to provide infertility benefits, and failure to cover prescription drugs. Additionally, Mr. Lawrence managed responses to several major governmental inquiries including by the Federal Trade Commission, the Office of the Inspector General, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the NYS Attorney General. Mr. Lawrence has participated in the trial of over forty cases.

Mr. Lawrence is active with the Pennsylvania Bar Association where he serves on the Judicial Campaign Advertising Board, which monitors and reviews complaints to promote accurate, fair and dignified judicial campaign advertising among candidates seeking election to the Commonwealth's appellate courts, and on the Judicial Administration Committee which reviews and makes recommendations regarding the operation and procedures of the state and federal court systems. He was one of ten attorneys appointed by the president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association to develop Judicial Campaign Advertising Guidelines. Mr. Lawrence also served as Vice-Chairman of the Business Torts Committee of the American Bar Association.

He is an appointed Member of the Pennsylvania Securities Commission's Attorney Advisory Committee.

A Radnor, Pennsylvania resident, Mr. Lawrence has a history of political and community involvement. He serves as Commissioner of the Board of Elections of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee Southeast Caucus, as well as serving in a variety of local and county party posts. Over the years, he has chaired, managed and worked in many federal, state and local campaigns.

Mr. Lawrence serves as a Director of the James A. Finnegan Fellowship Foundation, which provides scholarships, stipends and internships to Pennsylvania students who express an interest in state government. In addition, he serves as an Alumni Interviewer for Georgetown University.

Mr. Lawrence was recognized as a "Pennsylvania Super Lawyer" during both 2005 and 2006 in a survey of Pennsylvania's lawyers and judges conducted and published by Philadelphia and Law & Politics magazines.

Mr. Lawrence was given an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating a lawyer can obtain, indicating a very high to preeminent legal ability and exceptional ethical standards as established by confidential opinions from members of the Bar.

Mr. Lawrence is a graduate of Georgetown University (B.S.B.A. 1990) and the Villanova University School of Law (J.D. 1993). He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New York; and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.Mr. Lawrence is a shareholder and head of the firm's Pennsylvania Office. He represents third-party payers including major health insurers and HMOs, employers and health and pharmacy benefits plans and recovers on their behalf from providers who overcharge for prescription drugs, medical devices or services. In addition, he represents institutions and individuals in a range of securities, corporate governance and antitrust litigation.

In September 2006, Mr. Lawrence was selected by American Lawyer Media, The Pennsylvania Lawyer, and The Legal Intelligencer as one of forty-five Lawyers on the Fast Track.

His recent successes include representing approximately 50 insurers which opted out of a class action, filed an independent action, and negotiated a substantially richer settlement of claims against a brand manufacturer that delayed generic competition for its product.

Mr. Lawrence joined the firm in 2005 after more than seven years directing plaintiff's recovery work and commercial litigation efforts at Aetna, Inc., one of the nation's leading providers of health, pharmacy, and other benefits.

At Aetna, Mr. Lawrence supervised recovery of tens of millions of dollars for the company and self-funded customers in various actions relating to prescription drugs, medical devices and medical provider fraud. He shifted Aetna's recovery efforts from more traditional and passive methods to an aggressive contingent fee based program of both class based and private actions. His efforts in developing and advancing this niche litigation at Aetna caused U.S. District Judge Nancy Edmunds to recognize Mr. Lawrence as "a highly sophisticated representative" of the insurance industry. In re Cardizem CD Antitrust Litigation, 218 F.R.D. 508, 525, 535 (E.D. Mich. 2003).

In addition to his recovery work at Aetna, Mr. Lawrence managed many substantial litigation matters including the successful defense and trial of a commercial dispute with a customer seeking more than $1.2 billion in damages; defense of a series of 17 related employment termination based cases in a variety of state and federal courts featuring unfair trade practices claims under California law; recovery of $5.4 million from a bankrupt medical provider in a shifted risk arrangement; dismissal of an $18.7 million co-ordination of benefits dispute; successful resolution of an $8.9 million software licensing dispute; defense and recovery of legal fees from a medical provider suing for dismissal from Aetna's network; and defense of numerous cases relating to self-funded plan audits. Mr. Lawrence led Aetna's efforts to enforce non-compete, non-solicitation and other restrictive covenants.

Mr. Lawrence has directed the favorable defense of numerous class action cases, including cases involving whether ERISA imposes a duty on a health plan to disclose physician compensation arrangements, failure to pass along provider discounts, failure to provide infertility benefits, and failure to cover prescription drugs. Additionally, Mr. Lawrence managed responses to several major governmental inquiries including by the Federal Trade Commission, the Office of the Inspector General, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the NYS Attorney General. Mr. Lawrence has participated in the trial of over forty cases.

Mr. Lawrence is active with the Pennsylvania Bar Association where he serves on the Judicial Campaign Advertising Board, which monitors and reviews complaints to promote accurate, fair and dignified judicial campaign advertising among candidates seeking election to the Commonwealth's appellate courts, and on the Judicial Administration Committee which reviews and makes recommendations regarding the operation and procedures of the state and federal court systems. He was one of ten attorneys appointed by the president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association to develop Judicial Campaign Advertising Guidelines. Mr. Lawrence also served as Vice-Chairman of the Business Torts Committee of the American Bar Association.

He is an appointed Member of the Pennsylvania Securities Commission's Attorney Advisory Committee.

A Radnor, Pennsylvania resident, Mr. Lawrence has a history of political and community involvement. He serves as Commissioner of the Board of Elections of Delaware County, Pennsylvania. He is the Vice-Chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic State Committee Southeast Caucus, as well as serving in a variety of local and county party posts. Over the years, he has chaired, managed and worked in many federal, state and local campaigns.

Mr. Lawrence serves as a Director of the James A. Finnegan Fellowship Foundation, which provides scholarships, stipends and internships to Pennsylvania students who express an interest in state government. In addition, he serves as an Alumni Interviewer for Georgetown University.

Mr. Lawrence was recognized as a "Pennsylvania Super Lawyer" during both 2005 and 2006 in a survey of Pennsylvania's lawyers and judges conducted and published by Philadelphia and Law & Politics magazines.

Mr. Lawrence was given an AV rating by Martindale-Hubbell, the highest rating a lawyer can obtain, indicating a very high to preeminent legal ability and exceptional ethical standards as established by confidential opinions from members of the Bar.

Mr. Lawrence is a graduate of Georgetown University (B.S.B.A. 1990) and the Villanova University School of Law (J.D. 1993). He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New York; and in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit and the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.