Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires & Newby LLP

Professional Experience:

Mr. Fires' litigation practice focuses entirely on defending workers' compensation matters on behalf of insurance carriers, self-insured entities and third-party administrators. His practice also includes pre-litigation counseling with an emphasis on cost-effective exposure reduction strategies, and coordination of corporate workers' compensation policies for clients with exposure nationally. Mr. Fires has been selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America since 2007. In 2009, Mr. Fires was recognized by the publisher of the Pennsylvania edition of Super Lawyers magazine as being among the top 5 percent of practitioners in his practice specialty within the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Some of his significant achievements include:

• Coordinating and defending workers' compensation litigation for Fortune 500 clients and small to medium size businesses on a multi-state basis;
  
• Devising and implementing return-to-work programs for large employers to substantially reduce their workers' compensation exposure;
  
• Developing programs to end exposure in catastrophic injury cases, with and without litigation, for workers' compensation carriers;
  Litigating successfully all aspects of workers compensation claims from the Judge level through the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania;
  
• Organizing case management systems to streamline communications between workers' compensation clients and their counsel;
  
• Executing electronic technology for, among other things, instantaneous filings, faster judge assignments and shorter litigation times;
  
• Managing professional overhead to maintain competitive and creative fee structures while adhering to client billing and payment guidelines.
  
• Membership by nomination and invitation to the Council on Litigation Management, an alliance of law firms, insurance companies, general counsel and risk managers from some of the largest businesses in the United States. The Council is dedicated to promoting ethical billing practices while maintaining the highest standards of competence and integrity in the pursuit of client defense.
  
• Membership in the International Association of Defense Counsel, whose invitation-only, peer-reviewed attorneys have, since 1920, been the premier liaison organization for defense and corporate counsel and the leading training group for trial academies and continuing legal education focusing on the defense community.

Mr. Fires has given multiple presentations and frequent lectures on workers' compensation claims prevention, investigation and defense and on exposure reduction, litigation avoidance and mediation alternatives to, among others, Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Judges, attendees at accredited continuing legal education seminars presented by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and the Lorman Institute and numerous claims associations and business trade groups.

Mr. Fires has also created in-house, direct education programs for claims professionals and managers for many national carriers, self insured entities and third-party administrators with claims in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Education:

George Washington University Law School, J.D., 1985.

University of Miami, B.A. cum laude with departmental honors in Economics and English, 1982.

Professional Memberships and Activities:

Admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Member of the American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Workers' Compensation Claims Associations, the Defense Research Institute, the Pennsylvania Self Insurers Association and the National Council of Self Insurers.

Recent News:

2009-11-02 :: Attorneys Prevail in Workers' Compensation Petition

2009-08-06 :: Six Firm Attorneys Named as 'Best Lawyers in America'

2009-06-19 :: Nursing Home and Long Term Care Liability Practice Group Formed

2009-05-27 :: Nine Attorneys Named Pennsylvania 'Super Lawyers'

2009-01-30 :: Three Weber Gallagher Attorneys Honored as 'Best Lawyers in America'

2007-09-24 :: Three Weber Gallagher Attorneys Honored as 'Best Lawyers in America'

2006-11-21 :: Three Weber Gallagher Attorneys Honored as 'Best Lawyers'

Speaking Engagements and Presentations:

2009-01-09 :: Weber Gallagher Attorneys Conduct Seminar on "The New Sixth Edition of the AMA Guidelines"

2008-07-08 :: David J. Rosenberg and Paul M. Fires Give A Keynote Address at the Annual IADC Meeting

2008-07-01 :: Paul Fires Speaks at the International Association of Defense Counsel's Annual Meeting

2008-03-02 :: Paul M. Fires Speaks at the Council on Litigation Management's Annual Conference

2007-04-11 :: Weber Gallagher Attorneys Lead Workers Compensation Seminar

2006-10-23 :: Paul M. Fires Appears on TV's 'Law Journal'