Gerhard P. Dietrich, Partner

Practice Focus & Experience

Gerhard Dietrich has more than 25 years of courtroom experience and has successfully defended clients before juries, judges and arbitrators in both state and federal courts throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey and occasionally other states. While he has wide experience in civil litigation, the main focus of his practice is the defense of product liability and complex litigation matters including individual actions, mass torts and class actions. He also has experience representing corporate clients in business disputes, commercial and employment litigation, CERCLA actions, and insurance coverage disputes. He has argued before the appellate courts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey, as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Mr. Dietrich came to Ward Greenberg in its merger with Daller Greenberg & Dietrich, LLP, where he was one of the founding partners in 1994. He tried his first case to a judge in 1985 winning an injunction in a trademark dispute. He tried his first case to conclusion before a jury in 1990 winning a defense verdict. Since then he has won defense verdicts before juries in cases involving death or serious personal injuries in product liability, premises liability and motor vehicle cases. He represents as regional counsel manufacturers of HVAC equipment, truck-trailers, tires, pharmaceuticals and other products.

Representative engagements include:

• Won defense verdict from jury for manufacturer of a gas furnace in a wrongful death and survival action where the decedent was electrocuted while accessing the furnace. Shafer v. Goodman Manufacturing, Pennsylvania Supreme Court Nos. 398 and 399 WAL 2009, December 29, 2009 (denying plaintiff’s petition for allowance of appeal).
• Defeated a motion to remand in a wrongful death action removed on grounds of fraudulent joinder. Durkin v. Paccar, Inc., 2010 WL 176851 (E.D. Pa. Jan 19, 2010)
• Won summary judgment for tire manufacturer based on inadequate evidence that the client manufactured, distributed or sold the tire. Conley v Bridgestone Firestone North American Tire, LLC, Northampton CCP No. C-48-CV-2005-2895, March 11, 2009 (Beltrami).
• Achieved a major international brewer’s goals of terminating a Pennsylvania wholesaler and extinguishing the wholesaler’s claims to existing and future brand rights.
• Represented clients in class actions seeking medical monitoring, alleging violation of statutes, consumer fraud, and other torts, and involving cigarettes, light cigarettes, tires, retirement communities and power outages. An example is being responsible for drafting one and supervising the drafting of another of eight summary judgment motions filed in a tobacco class action and used, in part, to highlight individual issues leading to decertification. See Barnes v. American Tobacco Co., Inc., 161 F .3d 127 (3rd Cir. 1998); 984 F. Supp. 842 (E.D. Pa. 1997); 816 F. Supp. 369 (E.D. Pa 1993).
• Represented corporate employers in cases alleging breach of employment agreements, discrimination based on age, race and gender, sexual harassment, wage and hour violations, and violation of New Jersey’s Conscientious Employee Protection Act. Recent examples include successfully compelling arbitration and early settlement before a magistrate judge before a complaint was filed.
• Insurance coverage matters include Federated Life Insurance Co. v. Walker, 1997 WL 33264 (E.D. Pa. 1997) (obtained summary judgment voiding disability policy); Solcar Equipment Leasing Corp. v. Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Ass’n Ins. Co., (obtained summary judgment finding that substandard work of contractor not covered as occurrence under policy) 606 A.2d 522 (Pa. Super. 1992)

Education

• The Dickinson School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 1984
  - The Woolsack Society
• Gettysburg College, B.A. History and Business, cum laude, 1981
  - Phi Alpha Theta

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania, 1984
• New Jersey, 1995
• New York, 2010

Court Admissions

• U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit
• U.S. District Courts of Pennsylvania (Eastern and Middle)
• U.S. District Court of New Jersey
• U.S. District Court of New York (Southern)

Selected Publications & Presentations

• Product Liability Desk Reference: A Fifty-State Compendium, New Jersey Contributing Editor each year 1996 to current edition. Published by Aspen Publishers.

Professional Recognitions & Awards

• AV Rating – Martindale-Hubbell
• Listed in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers

Pro Bono Service

• Support Center for Child Advocates in Philadelphia
• Montgomery County Advocacy Program
• Colonial Foundation for Educational Innovation, Trustee
• Represented mentally ill individuals and charitable organizations in litigation