PHILIP  R.  BERWISH

42 Rockhill Avenue ~ Hamilton, New Jersey  08619-2826

Telephone:  (609) 838 1118    E-mail:  Berwish@gmail.com

 

              ADMITTED:                New York - Pennsylvania - Massachusetts

 

PROFILE:              A general practice - civil litigator - transactional attorney, media, marketing and business development consultant with varied and interdisciplinary experience in business, corporate matters, real estate transactions and, complex commercial and personal injury litigation including, but not limited to litigation involving real estate, entertainment law, intellectual property, franchise, medical malpractice, personal injury and products liability. Speak Spanish having lived in Spain and in Puerto Rico.

 

EMPLOYMENT:

 

EVP, GENERAL COUNSEL – CHAMCO AUTO (China America Cooperative Automotive, Inc.)

Parsippany, New Jersey ~ May 2007 – September 2007

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

 

LAW OFFICE OF PHILIP R. BERWISH  - - Boston, Massachusetts

(and all jurisdictions to which admitted) - November 81 – May 2007

General practice with an emphasis in commercial civil litigation, corporate counseling, real estate, transactions and intellectual property. Other areas of practice include entertainment and torts. Most recently working with start ups; assisting with business development, marketing, media consulting, negotiating and drafting financial, confidentiality, marketing plans and agreements, in addition to providing legal services.

 

              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.  

 

              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. Sought injunction against opening of encroaching franchise. Also, litigated wrongful termination of franchise, wrongful termination of employment, applicability of UFOC, defending against temporary restraining order sought by employer-franchisor.             

 

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.

              Appellate:  Successfully prosecuted appeal extinguishing debt paid by co-maker of note, upholding UCC provisions. Also, 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. 

 

Consultant: Consultant to PA law firm in connection with intellectual property (trademark infringement, patent infringement & trade secret) litigation. Conducted manufacturing client’s first IP audit.

             

              Corporate Counsel / Real Estate / Intellectual Property:  Acted as corporate counsel to start-up medical technology company, Assisted company in its formation, acquisition of venture capital, licensing, advertising and day to day operation. Formerly, part time general counsel to another medical services company, supervising outside litigation counsel and handling 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. Litigated related disputes. Prepared production and ancillary product agreements.

 

Assisted 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, member of the motorcycle hall of fame, and his “Master Builder” DVD series.

 

Past President of two very different non-profit corporations. Experienced in non-profit corporate development, governance and management, including oversight of budget, staff and administration. Taught Law & Ethics For Non-Profit Corporations.

 

Negotiated residential and business real estate leaseholds, sales, zoning and acquisitions. Assisted small real estate developers with construction, permits, zoning, condominium documents, leases, acquisitions, closings, sales and related matters. Assisted with rooming house conversion, rehabilitation, zoning and licensure. Assisted with rehabilitation of a large Victorian property for use as homeless shelter, including specialized non-profit financing, acquisition, zoning, construction and quieting concerns of local neighborhood association. Attended closings and reviewed titles prior to closing. Assisted in the purchase and sale of medical clinical trial facilities. Litigated real estate disputes.  In addition, as a Right-of-Way agent in connection with a proposed pipeline project in New Jersey, 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 plan.

 

              Consultant: Consultant to PA law firm in connection with intellectual property (trademark infringement, patent infringement & trade secret) litigation. Conducted manufacturing client’s first IP audit.

 

              Consultant to various start up entities, projects and new technology companies, including a company which assists non-profit organizations to plan and implement revenue programs. Consultant to medical product and other product development companies. Consultant to various media and production ventures. As consultant, assisted with business development, marketing, media consulting, negotiating and drafting contracts, financial, confidentiality, marketing plans and agreements.

 

PUBLISHER:  Founding co-Publisher of M: The Magazine for Montessori Families. Lead the pitch meeting which launched the venture and, with others, managed the venture, supervising all contracts relating to the creation, staffing, development, production, publishing, internet, intellectual property, content, advertising, marketing and related activities of the magazine. The magazine was green-lighted late August of 2005, and the Premier Issue released in mid-January, 2006.

             

PROFESSIONAL  -  COMMUNITY  ASSOCIATIONS:

 

              2002              -              Producer & Co-Host of weekly drive time radio show: “Money & Things That Matter” on WWDB 860 AM (Money Talk Radio) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

             

              1995 - 2000   -   The Photo Review    -    Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

President (12/96 - 6/00) of the Board of Directors of The Photo Review, a small but nationally renowned critical journal of photography publishing quarterly since 1976.

 

 

 

 

 

              1993 - 1995 and, 1998  -  School of Management - Lesley College - Cambridge, Massachusetts

Adjunct Faculty - Community Agency Management Program [CAMP] Acted as consultant to head of the School of Management in the formulation of the CAMP curriculum. Program instructor for law related segments, including Law & Ethics For Non-Profit Corporations.

 

              1991 - 1994              -   Casa Nueva Vida, Inc.   -   Jamaica Plain, Massachusetts

President of Casa Nueva Vida, Inc., a non-profit corporation, and the only homeless shelter specifically for Hispanic women and children in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

 

EDUCATION:

 

              Harvard Medical School  -  Boston, Massachusetts  -  Non-Matriculated Student - Spring, 1982

AUDITED, Contemporary Issues in Legal Medicine  - taught by, Dr. William J. Curran, Frances Glesner Lee Professor of Legal Medicine

 

              NEW ENGLAND SCHOOL OF LAW  -  Boston, Massachusetts  -  Juris Doctor - 1978

              Federal Disaster Legal Assistance Project - Participant

              Massachusetts P I R G - Assistant media liaison for the Bottle Bill

 

              TEMPLE UNIVERSITY  -  Philadelphia, Pennsylvania  -  B.S. Communications - 1973

             News Staff WRTI - FM   -   Honors independent study in photography

 

BAR ADMISSIONS:

 

Supreme Court of Pennsylvania                                          -              October 1978

U.S. District Court for the

Eastern District of Pennsylvania                                          -              October 1978

Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts              -              June 1979

U.S. District Court for the

Eastern District of Massachusetts                            -              July 1979

New York State Court of Appeals                            -              September 1979

U.S. District Court for the

For the Eastern District of New York                            -              October 1981

U.S. Tax Court                                                                      -              August 1981

U.S. Supreme Court                                                        -              May 1982

U.S. Court of Appeals for the

First Circuit                                                                      -              September 1984

U.S. District Court for the

Southern District of New York                                          -              May 1985

U.S. District Court for the

Northern District of New York                                          -              August 1985

U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the

Eastern District of Massachusetts                            -              March 1996

 

 

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