New Leadership at Norris McLaughlin, P.A.
John N. Vanarthos, a Member of the law firm Norris McLaughlin, P.A., has been elected Chairman of the firm, following four years on the firm’s Management Committee. He succeeds Matthew R. Sorrentino, who recently left the firm to serve as Chief Legal Officer of Lehigh Valley Health Network, one of the firm’s largest and oldest clients. In addition, David Blatteis and Graham Simmons have joined Dolores Laputka as Co-Chairs of the Business Law Group; David Roberts has been selected as Chair of the Litigation Practice Group. Robert Gabrielski has stepped down as Chair of the Business Law Group after ten years, and Robert Mahoney has stepped down as Co-Chair of the Litigation Practice Group after twelve years.
“I am honored that my colleagues have elected me to be Chair of the firm. It is my goal to preserve the special culture we created at Norris McLaughlin over the last 65 years, while continuing to implement our strategic and growth plans for the future,” said Vanarthos.
Vanarthos joined the firm in 1988 as a young Associate, earning Membership in 1996. He has served many roles within the firm, including as Chair of the firm’s Business Law Practice Group for 10 years, and currently as a leader of the firm’s Recruitment Committee. Vanarthos has devoted his practice to helping companies, both large and small, with their business legal needs. As a business lawyer, he regularly represents and counsels the firm's corporate clients in a wide range of commercial transactions, including mergers, acquisitions, corporate partnerships, and other strategic alliances. He has substantial industry-specific experience including pharmaceutical, medical device manufacturing, chemical, information technology, and health care, among others. He also advises high-tech companies in the areas of technology licensing, information management, and product development. Over the years, Vanarthos has represented individual entrepreneurs and startup companies. He has strategically guided them from idea conception to exit strategy, solving their legal problems along the way. He is a frequent speaker and author on a wide range of business law topics that are relevant to the firm’s clients. Vanarthos serves as counsel for the United States operations of several foreign-based corporations, where he is responsible for all legal issues in the U.S., including general business advice, contract and tax matters, litigation management, and employee relations. Vanarthos earned his J.D. from Rutgers School of Law - Newark in 1987 and his B.A. from Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, in 1979.
Blatteis is a member of the firm’s Management Committee. He is a business lawyer concentrating his practice in the areas of pharmaceutical, pharma services, medical device, and healthcare. Blatteis understands the unique business and complex legal concerns of pharmaceutical companies and service providers in the pharmaceutical industry, as a result of his 18 years of experience serving as a trusted advisor to public and private companies in this space. He is also on the Advisory Board of Hip Innovation Technology, LLC, and is the New Jersey Chapter President of Pharmaceutical Consulting Consortium International, Inc.
Simmons, a Member of the firm, is a business and real estate lawyer. Simmons has served both public and private sector clients on all types of M&A transactions, commercial and syndicated credit facilities, economic development projects, real estate transactions, leases, and land use and zoning matters. Simmons has represented clients across a diverse spectrum of industries and is deeply experienced in the banking and financial services, health care, real estate development, economic development, and automobile dealership industries.
Roberts, a Member of the firm, devotes his practice to handling complex commercial litigation matters, such as fraud, fraudulent transfers, trade secret, restrictive covenant litigation, employment litigation, environmental matters, and insurance coverage litigation. His practice has a particular emphasis on partnership and shareholder disputes, including oppression and dissenter’s rights cases. In 2007, Dave launched the Shareholder Dispute NJ blog, which addresses minority shareholder disputes in New Jersey. In addition, he writes and lectures extensively on this topic.