Rhonda Symonds Fulginiti

Counsel

Recent Publication:

Settle and Sue Your Lawyer: The Muhammad Doctrine Under Fire

Thomas Wilkinson and Rhonda Fulginiti co-authored an article for the Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly discussing a recent concurring opinion in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case of Khalil v. Williams, which threatens the Muhammad Doctrine.

Rhonda is an experienced and accomplished litigator who focuses her practice on complex litigation.  As part of the Legal Professions Services Group, she handles cases for lawyers and law firms involving legal ethics and professional responsibility conflicts, legal fee challenges, risk management, cybersecurity and legal malpractice defense.

She also represents insured clients in connection with high exposure litigation, catastrophic losses, and “bet the company” cases. Rhonda works closely with clients to develop litigation strategies that limit exposure and prevent escalation, and clients rely on her courtroom savvy, business mindedness, and tenacity to guide their matters to a favorable conclusion. Rhonda has experience litigating before federal and state courts, where she has tried multiple cases to verdict.

A well-rounded litigator, Rhonda began her career with a focus on real estate and commercial litigation. She later gained experience handling construction litigation, with a particular focus on mold litigation cases. Rhonda was a frequent speaker for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI) on that subject, as well as on real estate litigation. She played a pivotal role in securing a favorable result for a client in a particularly high profile case centering on fraudulent commercial leases for car dealerships, litigated in the Southern District of New York.

After leaving private practice briefly to raise her two daughters, she returned to Cozen O’Connor in 2019, focusing on matters concerning structured settlements and life insurance as a member of the firm’s Life Insurance & Annuities group. She represented various major insurance and annuity companies in cases involving complex issues presented by structured settlements, as well as exposure created by the secondary market for life insurance. Rhonda has experience representing both for-profit and nonprofit entities.

In addition to her practice, Rhonda serves as an adjunct professor at Widener University Delaware Law School, where she teaches Legal Methods.

Experience

Publications

Settle and Sue Your Lawyer: The Muhammad Doctrine Under Fire

January 12, 2023

Thomas Wilkinson and Rhonda Fulginiti co-authored an article for the Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly discussing a recent concurring opinion in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case of Khalil v. Williams, which threatens the Muhammad Doctrine.

Pointers and Perils of Working with Witnesses [The Bencher]

November 04, 2022

Thomas Wilkinson and Rhonda Fulginiti authored an article for the November/December 2022 issue of The Bencher.

What Do You Do When You Inadvertently Produce Privileged Documents? Lessons Learned from the Sandy Hook Elementary School/Alex Jones Defamation Trial [Lawyers Representing Lawyers Blog]

August 24, 2022

The recent litigation surrounding Alex Jones and Infowars Podcast, relating to defamatory statements Jones made about the Sandy Hook Elementary shooting victims and their families, focused on an issue that was not supposed to be the center of this defamation trial. During the trial, Plaintiff’s...

Education

  • Villanova University School of Law, J.D., 1991
  • Fairfield University, B.A., cum laude, 1988
  • New Jersey
  • Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court -- New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court -- Eastern District of Pennsylvania

American Bar Association

Pennsylvania Bar Association

(Professional Liability Committee, Civil Equal Rights Committee)

Philadelphia Bar Association

(Professional Guidance Committee Vice Chair)

Delaware County Bar Association

Chester County Bar Association

Montgomery County Bar Association 

J. Willard O’Brien American Inn of Court at Villanova Law School