PHILADELPHIIA, March 9, 2021 — Cozen O'Connor has chosen Rafael Rivera, an associate in the firm’s Global Insurance Department, to be a member of the 2021 class of fellows, participating in a landmark program created by the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD) to identify, train, and advance the next generation of leaders in the legal profession. The firm has also chosen Jordan Chisolm, an associate in the firm’s Business Law Department, and Orla Thompson, an associate in the firm’s Global Insurance Department, to be a members of the 2021 class of pathfinders, participating in a program designed by the (LCLD) to train high-performing, early-career attorneys in critical career development strategies including leadership and the building of professional networks.

Rivera focuses his practice on matters involving directors and officers liability insurance coverage. He has experience handling all aspects of D&O claims management and coverage analysis in connection with securities class actions; derivative actions; Delaware appraisal petitions; opioid-related claims; qui tam lawsuits involving the False Claims Act; antitrust and unfair competition claims; investigations and litigation by the SEC and DOJ; and other complex litigation. In addition, he has represented D&O insurers in a number of high-exposure cases involving a wide variety of coverage terms and provisions.

Chisolm focuses his practice on business and corporate matters. His practice spans mergers and acquisitions, entity formation, financing dispositions, joint ventures, and general corporate matters. Prior to Cozen O'Connor, Chisolm was an Equal Justice Works fellow at Legal Services of Greater Miami, Inc. in Miami, where he founded the Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Project, Legal Services’ s pro bono small business practice. Through the project, he provided pro bono transactional legal services to more than 100 low-income entrepreneurs as outside general counsel and was a frequent speaker on panels and workshops covering core legal issues for emerging business owners. Chisolm also served as a corporate associate at an Albany, N.Y., area law firm.

Thompson is an experienced litigator who focuses her practice on complex and commercial litigation matters, including toxic tort, construction, employment, federal whistleblower, business contract, and real estate claims. She has a particular focus on catastrophic accident cases concerning the New York Scaffold Law, motor vehicle laws, lead and mold statutes and ordinances, and Federal Railroad Safety Act (FRSA) whistleblower actions before the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). She has appeared as counsel in New York appellate courts, federal and state courts, and before federal administrative agencies. Thompson has significant experience with all phases of litigation, including case assessment and development, pre-trial pleadings and motions, discovery, trial preparation, and appeals. 

Founded in 2009, LCLD is a growing organization of more than 300 corporate chief legal officers and law firm managing partners who are personally committed to creating a more diverse and inclusive legal profession. The LCLD Fellows Program, which has trained more than a 1,600 mid-career attorneys since 2011, is one of LCLD’s most important initiatives.