Stephanie Resnick

Litigation Department Chair / Partner

Stephanie is a trial lawyer who serves as a trusted advisor in sophisticated business disputes. While she regularly appears in state and federal courts across the US, she is also involved in alternative dispute resolution proceedings. Fortune 100 companies, family owned businesses and business executives call Stephanie when they need a voice of experience to guide them through their most important and sensitive personal and professional issues.

Stephanie is a member of the firm’s Executive Committee and serves as Chair of Fox Rothschild’s firm wide Litigation Department consisting of more than 200 attorneys in 18 offices in nine states and the District of Columbia. She has been named in “The Best Lawyers in America” in the area of Commercial Litigation for 2013 and as one of the leading litigation attorneys in Pennsylvania by Chambers USA, which noted that she "is one of the best litigators in the city – aggressive, driven, responsive." Benchmark Litigation lists Stephanie as one of the “Top 250 Female Litigators in America” and as a "Litigation Star" in Pennsylvania noted by peers for her “easygoing but powerful presence” and for her “ability to handle things calmly while maintaining an unflinching stance.” For many years, Stephanie has been named as a “Super Lawyer,” one of the “Top 50 Women Lawyers in Pennsylvania” and one of 10 women recognized as “Top 100 Lawyers in Pennsylvania” (2011) by Philadelphia Magazine and Law & Politics Magazine. Stephanie was selected for inclusion in the inaugural edition of the Martindale-Hubbell® Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers™, which includes less than 5 percent of women lawyers, and has been added every year since.

Stephanie has tried and arbitrated complex business matters, including injunctions and matters needing special and urgent relief. Among other things, she handles the following types of litigation:

• Shareholder and partnership disputes
• Family business disputes
• Intellectual property
• Directors' and officers' liability
• Unfair business practices and competition
• Misappropriation of trade secrets
• Corporate governance
• Breach of fiduciary duty
• Class actions
• Health care/physician issues
• Employment related litigation, including restrictive covenants
• Defamation and media issues
• Ethics and professional liability
• Insurance and reinsurance issues

Recent cases that Stephanie has has handled successfully include:

• Representation of physicians in issues of partnership and shareholder disputes.
• Representation of lawyers in partnership issues and breakups.
• Representation of Fortune 500 companies in injunction proceedings arising out of a commercial dispute.
• Representation of officers and directors in breach of fiduciary duty claims.
• Representation of officers and directors of charitable foundations and nonprofit organizations in issues concerning the control of the board of directors and other corporate governance decisions.
• Representation of family members who were partners in a restaurant chain against other partners in the business.
• Representation of  officers and directors in Chapter 7 and Chapter 11 bankruptcies.
• Represented officers and directors of a submarine manufacturer in a shareholder oppression lawsuit.
• Representation of officers and directors of one of the largest manufacturers of home exercise sports equipment in an adversary action in bankruptcy court.
• Represented officers and directors of a national cosmetics manufacturer in false advertising claims relating to products.
• Represented directors and officers of a retirement community in the resolution of a class action naming 91 plaintiffs arising out of a failed senior housing project.
• Represented officers and directors of a homeowner’s association consisting of more than 500 homes in a series of defamation actions.
• Represented officers and directors of a wholesale t-shirt manufacturer in a preliminary injunction hearing against its competitor relating to theft of trade secrets and other claims.
• Represented officers and directors of a major snack food manufacturer in breach of fiduciary duty claims.
• Represented a major hotel chain and officers in TRO proceedings relating to business disputes with certain customers.
• Represented officers and directors of numerous MRI centers in a dispute over earn-out and other contractual provisions.

Stephanie is the recipient of the highly coveted 2010 Sandra Day O'Connor Award presented by the Philadelphia Bar Association. The award, named for the first woman justice on the U.S. Supreme Court, has been conferred annually since 1993 on a woman attorney who has achieved the highest degree of professional excellence in her field and has visibly used her position and stature in the community to mentor, promote and advance other women lawyers.

Stephanie serves as a member of the Corporate Executive Board of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. She is a member of Fox Rothschild's Executive Committee, Diversity Committee, e-Discovery Committee and a former Chair of the Partnership Advancement Committee.

Beyond Fox Rothschild

From August 2009 to August 2010, Stephanie served as the Third Circuit Representative to the ABA Standing Committee on the Federal Judiciary, which evaluates candidates for the federal judiciary at the U.S. District, U.S. Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court levels. During her tenure, a significant number of prospective nominees were vetted along with two Supreme Court justices. The Committee works closely with the Senate Judiciary Committee, the Justice Department and the White House.

In 2009, Stephanie was appointed and served on the Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Distinguished Jurist Award Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association, which recognizes a jurist who adheres to the highest ideals of judicial service. She also previously served as chair of the Committee.

In October 2008, Stephanie was appointed to serve on Philadelphia Mayor Michael Nutter’s Advisory Task Force on Ethics and Campaign Finance Reform, which in December 2009, issued a comprehensive report and recommendations to the Mayor and to the President of City Council of the City of Philadelphia.

For over 25 years, Stephanie has been extensively involved in numerous leadership positions in the Philadelphia Bar Association, including as Chair of the Association's Board of Governors (2008-2009); as Chair of the Federal Courts Committee, the liaison between the federal bench and its practitioners (2004); and as Chair of the Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention (Judicial Commission) (1997).

In 2007, Stephanie served as Co-Chair of the Friends Committee of the National Association of a Women Judge.

In 2005, Stephanie was appointed a member of the Merit Selection Panel to consider reappointment of U.S. magistrate judges.

In 1996, Stephanie was appointed Trustee of the Campaign for Qualified Judges and was also appointed by the then President Judge of the Court of Common Pleas to the Task Force on Gender Fairness in the Courts. Stephanie also served as Co- Chair of the Women's Rights Committee and as a member of the Professional Responsibility, Professional Guidance and Fee Disputes Committees.

Stephanie provides pro bono legal work on behalf of the Support Center for Child Advocates and volunteers for numerous other nonprofit organizations. She is a former chair of Women's Way, the nation's oldest and largest funding federation for services for women and children.  

Honors and Awards

• Selected for inclusion in "The Best Lawyers in America" for Commercial Litigation (2013)
• Named as one of the leading litigation attorneys in Pennsylvania, Chambers USA (2009 – 2013)
• Recognized as one of the “Top 50 Women Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania” by Philadelphia Magazine and Law & Politics Magazine (2004-2012)
• Selected as one of the “Top 250 Female Litigators in America” by Benchmark Litigation (2012)
• Selected for inclusion in the Martindale-Hubbell® Bar Register of Preeminent Women Lawyers™ (2012, 2013)
• Selected as a "Litigation Star" in Pennsylvania by Benchmark Litigation: 2012 Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms and Attorneys
• Recipient of the 2010 Sandra Day O'Connor Award by the Philadelphia Bar Association (2010)
• Recognized among the "Top 100 Lawyers in Pennsylvania" and the "Top 100 Lawyers in Philadelphia" by Philadelphia Magazine and Law & Politics Magazine (2009, 2011)
• Recognized as a "Leader in the Law"by the Philadelphia Business Journal(2009-2011)
• Named as one of the "Super Lawyers" by Philadelphia Magazine and Law & Politics Magazine (2004-2012)
• Member of the American Law Institute
• Fellow of the American Bar Foundation (2009 - present)
• Martindale-Hubbell "AV" rated
• Women of Distinction Award, Philadelphia Business Journal (2004)