Attorney

PHILIP R. BERWISH

* ******** **** ~ Princeton, New Jersey 08540

T: 609-***-**** E: *******@*****.***

ADMITTED: New York - Pennsylvania – Massachusetts

PROFILE: Experienced attorney with a varied and interdisciplinary background. Civil litigator, transactional attorney, media, marketing and business development consultant. Experience with business, start-ups, corporate matters, not-for-profits, real estate and, complex commercial, personal injury, products liability, medical malpractice / pharmaceutical litigation. Also experienced in entertainment law, intellectual property, franchise counseling and litigation. Speak Spanish having lived in Spain and in Puerto Rico.

EMPLOYMENT:

Berwish Law. NY, PA, MA. 9/2009 to present.

General practice with an emphasis in commercial civil litigation, corporate counseling, real estate, transactions, intellectual property, entertainment and torts. Counsel start ups with business development, marketing, media consulting, negotiating and drafting financial, confidentiality, marketing plans and agreements, in addition to providing legal services. Serve as Of Counsel to law firms and businesses, assisting with litigation, business development, intellectual property, corporate and client counseling.

(Formerly) Of Counsel: Law Office of Sybil Shainwald, P.C. New York, NY. Litigate medical malpractice, pharmaceutical products liability and other women’s health issues, including assisting with MDL. Plan and implement office technologies and procedures. Supervise transition to new case management system.

EVP, General Counsel – CHAMCO AUTO (China America Cooperative Automotive, Inc.) Parsippany, NJ. 5/2007 to 9/2007

As first General Counsel, managed corporate governance, compliance, SEC and state filings, risk management, coordinated outside counsel in USA, Canada and Mexico, negotiated and drafted agreements including confidentiality, non-disclosure, joint venture, manufacturing and distribution agreements, managed intellectual property, counseled sales force, reviewed sales materials and website, and assisted with first outside audit.

Law Office of Philip R. Berwish - Boston, MA (and all jurisdictions to which admitted). 11/1981 to 5/2007.

Corporate Counsel / Real Estate / Intellectual Property: Corporate counsel to start-up medical technology company, s t a r t i n g with formation, acquisition of venture capital, licensing, advertising and day-to-day operation. Part-time general counsel to another medical services company. Supervised outside litigation counsel and handled corporate matters. Negotiated intellectual property rights & usage agreements for advertising agencies, design agencies, photographers and authors. Negotiated reacquisition of publication rights for author. Negotiated film option agreements. Prepared production and ancillary product agreements. Counseled various start-up and marketing endeavors, with marketing agreements, confidentiality agreements, non-competition, non-circumvention, joint venture and strategic alliance agreements. Assisted launch and marketing of website with Bill Rasmussen, founder of ESPN. Consulted on the business structure and drafted agreements for Dave Perewitz, “Master Builder” DVD series. Negotiated residential and business real estate leaseholds, sales, zoning and acquisitions. Represented small real estate developers with construction, permits, zoning, condominium documents, leases, acquisitions, closings, sales and related matters. Counseled with regard to rooming house conversion, rehabilitation, zoning and licensure. Assisted with rehabilitation of property used as homeless shelter, that included specialized non-profit financing, acquisition, zoning, construction and quieting concerns of local neighborhood association. Attended closings and reviewed titles prior to closing.

Medical: Medical malpractice cases include, but are not limited to, a wrongful death action for the prescription of contraindicated drugs, failure to diagnose, surgical malpractice where the surgeon nicked the pericardium during a second procedure to remove a twelve inch retractor left behind during patients’ first procedure, psychiatric malpractice and malpractice in connection with a hair transplant. Reviewed and assisted in formulating clinical trial agreements. Negotiated employment contracts for clinical trial facilities. R e v i e w e d, negotiated and drafted purchase and sale documents for clinical trial facilities. Also represented physical therapy facilities. Litigation: Litigated case of first impression in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, seeking injunctive relief and litigating claims of unfair competition to prevent duplication and sale of unlicensed copies of client's films, most admittedly in the public domain, where client owned all theatrical rights and original negatives with a clear chain of title thereto. Successfully litigated franchise territorial dispute against franchisor in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts. Territorial dispute generated separate related state court actions against encroachment and against the franchisee owners advertising cooperative. Also, litigated wrongful termination of franchise, wrongful termination of employment, applicability of UFOC, defending against temporary restraining order sought by employer-franchisor. Appellate: Successfully prosecuted appeal extinguishing debt paid by co-maker of note, upholding UCC provisions.

Successfully prosecuted an appeal preserving common law and regional trademark rights for Visa trade name.

Researched, wrote and successfully argued First Circuit Court of Appeals Brief against U.S. Government appeal of District Court dismissal of criminal tax evasion charges, prior to trial, unprecedented on speedy trial grounds. Litigated in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Massachusetts where the dismissal was first obtained.

Right-of-Way Agent: Researched titles and easements, prepared certificates of title, obtained survey access, worked with survey crews, negotiated easements, dealt with municipalities and governmental agencies to facilitate pipeline construction in NJ. Consultant: Conducted manufacturing client’s first IP audit for PA law firm in connection with intellectual property (trademark infringement, patent infringement & trade secret) litigation. Assisted non-profit organizations with planning and implementing revenue programs. Assisted media and production ventures with business development, marketing, media consulting, negotiating and drafting contracts, financial, confidentiality, marketing plans and agreements. Founding Co-Publisher: M: The Magazine for Montessori Families. 2005 to 2007. Led pitch meeting that launched the magazine, managed the venture and supervised all contracts relating to the creation, staff, development, production, publishing, internet, intellectual property, content, advertising, marketing, and related activities. The magazine was green-lighted late August of 2005, and the Premier Issue released in mid-January, 2006.

PROFESSIONAL - COMMUNITY ASSOCIATIONS

Producer and Co-Host. “Money & Things That Matter”. 2002. A weekly drive time radio show. WWDB 860 AM (Money Talk Radio). Philadelphia, PA President, Board of Directors. 1996 to 2000. The Photo Review, a small but nationally renowned critical journal of photography publishing quarterly since 1976. Philadelphia, PA. Adjunct Faculty. Community Agency Management Program [CAMP]. Lesley College, School of Management. 1993 to1995, 1998. Program instructor for law-related segments, including Law & Ethics For Non-Profit Corporations. Cambridge, MA.

President, Casa Nueva Vida, Inc., 1991 to1994. A non-profit corporation and homeless shelter. Jamaica Plain, MA.

EDUCATION:

New England School of Law. Boston, MA. Juris Doctor Temple University. Philadelphia, PA. B.S Communications BAR ADMISSIONS:

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts

U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Massachusetts New York State Court of Appeals

U.S. District Court for the For the Eastern District of New York U.S. Tax Court

U.S. Supreme Court

U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District of Massachusetts U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit (pro hac vice) U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

U.S. District Court for the Central District of California (pro hac vice)

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