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Dexter R. Hamilton

Member

: Philadelphia
1900 Market Street
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19103
P: (215) 665-2166
TF: (800) 523-2900
F: (215) 701-2166

Dexter R. Hamilton

Dexter R. Hamilton has been a member of the firm since 1993 and has experience handling complex litigation matters for major corporations, governmental organizations, and nonprofit entities. He is an experienced trial attorney and practices in the areas of commercial litigation, construction litigation, products liability, and toxic tort litigation. In 2005 and 2009, he won major jury trials in construction breach of contract disputes. Successfully co-chaired a legal malpractice trial in 2013. He has been lead counsel in complex matters and has represented clients in state and federal courts in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia and North Carolina.

Dexter also serves as general counsel for a health system and advises the organizations on a variety of matters including litigation, labor and employment, government regulations, contracts, internal investigations, and corporate governance.

He chairs the Philadelphia Trial Group, a select group of experienced trial attorneys who are uniquely qualified to defend, prosecute, or try significant matters in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas.

Dexter serves as a Judge Pro Tempore for the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas, where he presides at settlement conferences. He is on the board of directors of the Lawyers Club of Philadelphia.

Active in a number of civic and community activities, Dexter is on the board of directors of the Bethesda Project, a nonprofit organization that serves the chronically homeless. He is a board member of Phil-Mont Christian Academy, a K-12 school, and a board member of The Sullivan Trust. He was appointed by the mayor of the city of Philadelphia to the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations.

Dexter earned his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1987, where he was recipient of the Civil Trial Advocacy Award and was elected by his peers to be an officer of his graduating class. He earned his B.A., magna cum laude, at Widener University in 1983, where he was recognized as the most outstanding student in political science. He was admitted to practice in Pennsylvania in 1987 and in New Jersey in 1990.

Outside general counsel for a mid-sized health system and advises in the areas of litigation, labor and employment, regulatory, contracts, internal investigations and corporate governance

Served as outside general counsel for a national debt collection firm which had contracts with municipal governments, utilities, and the U.S. Department of Education and provided advice in the areas of litigation, regulation, real estate, government contracts, and business financing.

Won a $1.3 million jury verdict for The City of Philadelphia in connection with a fire at the Fairmount Waterworks Engine House, which was built in 1815 and was our nation’s first municipal waterworks.

Won a $777,000 jury verdict for The City of Philadelphia in connection with the faulty installation of a sprinkler system in Philadelphia City Hall, a building which was completed in 1901 and is still the world's tallest masonry building.

Represented a gas utility in multimillion dollar breach of product warranty litigation.

Represented manufacturers in mass tort litigation and acted as trial counsel in numerous jury trials.

Represented a gas utility in a gas explosion incident.

Assisted the manufacturer of a well-known vitamin supplement with the resolution of consumer protection claims in the states of Alaska, Arkansas, Delaware, Idaho, Iowa, Indiana, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Ohio, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin.

Won a binding arbitration for an explosion demolition company in a serious construction site injury. Also recovered more than $80,000 in attorney's fees for the client.

Represented a Canadian paper manufacturer in a catastrophic industrial accident involving a fatality and serious chemical burns.

Successfully argued an appeal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit for a national builder of luxury homes.

Represented an international insurance company in multimillion dollar railroad worker occupational disease insurance coverage disputes.

Represented a Portuguese machine manufacturer in industrial accidents.

Defended a mid-sized, regional law firm and one of its senior corporate partners in a legal malpractice case brought in the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. The case involved an underlying business transaction that went bad. Our law firm clients had represented a closely held corporation whose stock was sold to a publicly traded company. When the sellers failed to get paid in full for their stock, they sued the law firm, alleging that the law firm represented them individually and should have done more to protect them from the deal going bad. After more than a week of jury trial (including expert testimony on behalf of the plaintiff), the Court granted our motion for nonsuit at the close of plaintiffs’ case.