Honor

Blank Rome Attorneys Designated 2019 "Lawyer of the Year" by Best Lawyers®

Blank Rome is pleased to announce that Barry Abrams, Harvey I. Forman, Ronald William Frank, John E. Heintz, and Keith A. Rutherford have been selected as 2019 "Lawyers of the Year" by Best Lawyers® in the following practice areas:

• Barry Abrams is recognized in Litigation – Municipal (Houston)
• Harvey Forman is recognized in Banking and Finance Law (Philadelphia)
• Ron Frank is recognized in International Trade and Finance Law (Pittsburgh)
• John Heintz is recognized in Litigation – Insurance (Washington, D.C.)
• Keith Rutherford is recognized in Litigation – Intellectual Property (Houston)

Only a single lawyer in each practice area and designated metropolitan area is honored as a "Lawyer of the Year." Attorneys are selected based on exhaustive peer reviews and the recognition "reflects the high level of respect a lawyer has earned among other leading lawyers in the same communities and the same practice areas for their abilities, their professionalism, and their integrity." To view the complete methodology used by Best Lawyers® to compile the 2019 "Lawyer of the Year" rankings, please click here.

Meet Our 2019 Lawyers of the Year

Barry has more than 39 years of experience in solving complex disputes for his clients. His extensive trial, arbitration, and appellate experience includes capital project disputes in multiple industries, investment litigation arising out of securities and asset purchase and sale agreements, litigation involving financial institutions, investors and corporate officials and on behalf of local governments and public officials, and representation of law firms and lawyers. He is a Fellow in the American College of Trial Lawyers and a member of the American Board of Trial Advocates. He previously taught as an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center, and serves on the faculty of the Texas Trial Academy and Texas Pretrial Academy.

 

Harvey has more than 35 years of experience representing institutional lenders, including banks, commercial finance companies, mortgage companies, and insurance companies. He serves clients in areas such as: asset-based financing and commercial lending; secured transactions and creditors' rights; loan syndications and participations; loan restructurings and workouts; intercreditor relationships; lender liability prevention and defense; debtor-in-possession financing; and bankruptcy and reorganizations. He is an elected Fellow of the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers, of which he was a member of its board of regents from 2000 to 2003. Harvey serves on the Founders Leadership Council of the CFA Education Foundation, and is also a member of the Association of Commercial Finance Attorneys.

 

Ron concentrates his corporate practice on managing large, complicated financial projects. He has extensive experience in corporate finance and international transactions, and has advised clients on structuring and financing of joint ventures; mergers and acquisitions; privatization transactions; distribution network development; and the negotiation of sales agency, distribution, and licensing agreements. He has represented clients in internal and external investigations of crimes and in regulatory compliance matters; and has structured general partnerships, limited partnerships, and limited liability companies. He also has served as the general partner of successful oil and gas drilling programs, and as counsel to organizers of oil and gas drilling programs throughout the United States.

 

John is a veteran in the fields of corporate insurance recovery and complex litigation. With more than 40 years of experience, he has recovered billions of dollars in coverage for his clients, and has handled major cases in every area of insurance recovery, including several that rank among the largest in coverage litigation history. John is a member of the American Bar Association Section on Litigation as well as a charter member of the section’s Insurance Coverage Committee. He serves on the board of directors for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and on the board of trustees for The Legal Aid Society of Washington.