In the past two months that White & Williams’ Daniel Ferhat has been leading the Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel his focus has been coordinating with the courts and members of the plaintiffs bar in an effort to keep the city’s mounting backlog of civil lawsuits moving, despite the fact that the COVID-19 pandemic has halted civil jury trials, likely until January 2021.

“We practice in an adversarial system, but during this time, which is obviously unprecedented, there are issues of common interest,” Ferhat said. “The plaintiffs bar and the defense bar have been, and continue to, work together to help the court deal with these issues … and I’m confident we can achieve that goal, so everyone gets their day in court.”