Harter Secrest & Emery LLP, a full-service business law firm with offices throughout New York, is pleased to announce that five of the firm’s partners have been recognized in the 2017 Legal Elite list by Buffalo Business First and the Buffalo Law Journal. The honor annually recognizes and highlights the top legal professionals practicing in Western New York.
Harter Secrest & Emery partners Michael J. Berchou, Thomas J. Hurley, Rowland Richards, Patrick M. Tomovic, and Robert C. Weissflach were all selected for inclusion on the 2017 Legal Elite list. Attorneys are selected based on a nominations from their peers in Western New York’s legal community.
Berchou is a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property practice group, and has been involved in a number of high profile, complex intellectual property litigation matters, serving as lead counsel in multiple patent, trade secret, trademark and copyright cases in district courts across the country. As both a registered patent attorney and electrical engineer, he brings extensive technical understanding to his practice, which includes representing both plaintiffs and defendants in such areas as medical devices, computer storage and network connectivity, live streaming, vibration sensors/accelerometers, ballistic fabrics, and artificial turf. Berchou is recognized in Chambers USA: America’s Leading Lawyers for Business, and is AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
A member of Harter Secrest & Emery’s Employee Benefits and Executive Compensation practice group, Hurley advises clients with respect to a broad range of employee benefits matters, including plan administration, benefit aspects of corporate transactions, and benefits litigation, as well as the design, implementation and administration of welfare benefit plans, including flexible benefit plans, self-insured health plans, and health savings accounts. He was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2018, and has also been selected for inclusion in the 2017 Upstate New York Super Lawyers® list. Hurley is AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
Richards is a member of Harter Secrest & Emery’s Intellectual Property practice group. His areas of practice include patent, trademark and copyright counseling, domestic and foreign trademark and patent prosecution, licensing and technology transfers, oppositions and cancellations, reissues and reexaminations, infringement opinions, enforcement and litigation. Richards was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2018, and has also been selected for inclusion in the 2017 Upstate New York Super Lawyers® list.
Tomovic, a member of the Insurance Coverage practice group, has served as lead counsel in numerous complex litigation matters, representing a wide network of primary and excess insurers in coverage disputes. He has worked with clients on a number of high-exposure matters involving director and officer liability, securities, professional errors and omissions, toxic torts, construction defects, technology-liability insurance issues, wrap-up liability insurance programs, owners and contractors insurance matters, media and entertainment, and specialty underwriting products. In addition, Tomovic advises clients within the insurance industry on regulatory matters, the negotiation of coverage placement, and dispute resolution. He has argued appeals at the state and federal level in courts across the country, and has lectured to national and international audiences on topics of insurance law and coverage litigation. Tomovic was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2018, and has also been selected for inclusion in the 2017 Upstate New York Super Lawyers® list.
A member of Harter Secrest & Emery’s Labor and Employment practice group, Weissflach has extensive experience in federal and state court litigation, as well as administrative proceedings, involving labor and employment matters on behalf of public and private employers. He also provides day-to-day advice to employers concerning their employment policies, procedures, and practices. Earlier this year, Weissflach was named as the Buffalo “Lawyer of the Year” by Best Lawyers® in the area of Labor Law- Management. He was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America© 2018 and is AV Preeminent® Peer Review Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.