S. Manoj Jegasothy

Manoj Jegasothy is the Co-Managing Partner of the firm’s Pittsburgh office and Co-Managing Partner of the firm’s Harrisburg office, East Coast Chair of the firm’s Commercial Litigation Practice Group, a member of several other litigation related sections, and a member of the firm’s Executive Committee.

Manoj's diverse practice includes experience in the areas of Commercial Business and Corporate Litigation, Class Action and Civil Litigation, Health Care Law and Litigation, Construction Litigation, Intellectual Property and Trade Secret Litigation, Employment Litigation, Creditors' Rights, Toxic Torts and Insurance Coverage Disputes.

Manoj has litigated commercial and civil cases in every level of federal and state court in Pennsylvania, as well as several other states.  In the recent past, he has been first chair trial counsel in the Western District of PA and served as lead counsel in several significant litigations in PA state court as well as other states including MDLs in Louisiana (Chinese Drywall litigation) and New York (Interchange Fee litigation). His cases have involved breach of contract claims, creditors' rights for large corporations, construction disputes, misappropriation of trade secrets, antitrust issues, declaratory judgments, defamation, tortious interference, breach of non-compete agreements, tenure issues, and insurance disputes, as well as a myriad of product liability and personal injury issues including medical device and pharmaceutical product matters. He is experienced at the trial and arbitration level, including AAA arbitration and other forums for alternative dispute resolution. He handles lawsuits from case inception to verdict, and has enjoyed a high rate of dismissals and/or successful verdicts for all the cases on which he has been primary counsel. He also has significant experience with health care legal issues involving health systems, health insurers, long-term care facilities, medical device companies, pharmaceutical companies and institutions of higher learning.  His experience has allowed him to counsel several for profit and non-profit corporations on a daily basis regarding general legal matters such as policy making, risk-management and lawsuit prevention.

Manoj has been privileged to represent a wide variety of clients on a national and regional level as reflected by his 2014 selection by Diversity and the Bar as one of 15 attorneys in country to its annual Rainmaker’s List.

Manoj has also been very active in the local community, most significantly with his 2009-2013 Mayoral appointment to the three-member City of Pittsburgh Zoning Board of Adjustment. Manoj is also a current member of the Greater Pittsburgh YMCA Board of Directors, as well as a past member of the Board of Directors of the Pittsburgh Opera, the Steering Committee for the August Wilson Center for African American Culture, and The Frick Museum Capital Campaign Committee.

Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court

*Not admitted to practice in Ohio or West Virginia.

 Representative Experience

• Lead counsel for a national multi-billion dollar company in seven putative class actions pending in MDL in Louisiana arising out of claims related to alleged defective Chinese Drywall.
• Lead counsel for a national retailer in dispute with web host provider arising out of multi-day system outage and resultant inoperability of retail website.
• Lead counsel for a national multi-billion dollar company in putative class action litigation in the Middle District of Florida claiming that non-Chinese drywall caused damage in plaintiff’s home — transfer to MDL was denied and client was dismissed from case.
• Lead counsel for large company involved in non-payment and counterclaim construction defect case involving townhome development dispute.
• Pennsylvania counsel representing the region’s largest health care insurer in protracted putative class action and health care antitrust litigation.
• Lead counsel on trial team for national multi-billion dollar company in protracted breach of contract litigation resulting in final award from AAA arbitration awarding all sums demanded as well as costs and fees incurred.
• Lead counsel on a trial team for a multistate petroleum and fuel rewards company against a Texas corporation for injunctive relief, defamation, tortious interference and other damages arising out of the shutdown of a fuel rewards program and other acts and omissions — suit resulted in settlement including fees and published retraction.
• Lead counsel for multiple medical device product liability cases involving myriad of surgical and medical procedure instruments.
  Pennsylvania counsel for multiple pharmaceutical product liability cases housed in various MDL forums.
• Lead counsel for a national health care system in a corporate malfeasance investigation involving a top executive.
• Lead counsel for defendant in jury trial involving complex professional liability action — case resulted in jury verdict in favor of defendant and affirmation by PA Superior Court.
• Lead counsel on a trial team which obtained summary judgment in favor of the plaintiff, a national corporation, in the state of New York in a breach of contract matter, with costs and attorneys' fees paid to the firm's client.
• Lead counsel defending state investigation into engineering practices of a national corporation wherein the state elected to refrain from filing any formal charges.
• Served as part of a trial team, which received a post-trial ruling that a patent-in-suit is unenforceable as a result of inequitable conduct committed on the USPTO.
• Lead counsel for a national health care system in an aviation matter with an administrative agency investigation that resulted in no charges being filed.
• Lead counsel obtaining a favorable settlement on behalf of a national company arising out of a construction defect claim in Florida.
• Obtained favorable settlement on behalf of an institution of higher learning involving a disputed endowment.
• Successful defense of a wrongful death lawsuit involving a world-renowned country music singer.
• Member of trial team responsible for successful negotiation of an insurance coverage dispute arising out of welding rod exposure lawsuits on behalf of an international steel company.
• Ongoing representation as lead counsel for one of the region's largest and most high-profile companies in several commercial disputes and lawsuits.
• Ongoing representation as lead counsel for hospitals and physicians in a variety of litigation, risk-management matters and internal disputes, including representation of the largest health care system in the region.
• Ongoing representation as part of a trial team representing a national long-term care corporation.
• Ongoing representation of a world-class resort and spa, relative to commercial disputes and day-to-day counseling.
• Outright dismissals and/or judgments in favor of a variety of defendants in commercial, general negligence and product liability lawsuits prior to the time of trial.
   

Education

J.D., University of Pittsburgh School of Law, 1997

B.A., English, University of Pennsylvania, 1994