Douglas Evan Ress

Of Counsel

Work: 215-735-8700
Cell: 215-880-6889
Email: dress@kcr-law.com

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Overview

Following his graduation magna cum laude from Queens College, where he was its first state finalist for a Rhodes Scholarship and its Scholar Athlete, and his graduation cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center, Mr. Ress was an associate for three years at Morgan Lewis & Bockius handling commercial and other civil litigation. Mr. Ress then associated with Kittredge, Kaufman & Donley, in which he became a partner in 1985. In 1989, Mr. Ress became a co-founding shareholder of the Firm and has continued his practice in the area of commercial litigation, personal injury litigation and in a variety of other related litigation matters.

In 2023, Mr. Ress was inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers. For 2022, Mr. Ress had been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America as Philadelphia’s singular Lawyer of the Year in bet-the-company litigation, and Mr. Ress has been selected continuously for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America for 2007 through the present in the field of commercial litigation, as well as for 2015 through the present in the field of bet-the-company litigation. Mr. Ress also has been repeatedly recognized as a Pennsylvania “Super Lawyer”in Philadelphia Magazine. For 2007, Mr. Ress was recognized as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania, and for 2013, Mr. Ress was recognized as one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Philadelphia.

Effective July 1, 2021, Mr. Ress became “Of Counsel” to the Firm.

Education
Queens College, B.A. 1976, magna cum laude
Georgetown University Law Center, J.D. 1979, cum laude
Bar Admissions
Pennsylvania
New York
Activities and Honors
Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers, inducted Spring 2023.

In 2024, Mr. Ress has been appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court through March 31, 2027, as a Board Member of the Pennsylvania Lawyers Fund for Client Security, its mission being to reimburse victims of attorney dishonesty in the practice of law.

By Order of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Mr. Ress previously served in 2022 and 2023 as Chair of the Continuing Legal Education Board, after serving on the CLE Board in various positions since 2017, including Vice-President, Treasurer and the Board's appointee to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Investment Advisory Board. The CLE Board is responsible for administering the continuing education of Pennsylvania's over 65,000 lawyers, to assure that attorneys continue their education and maintain the requisite knowledge and skill necessary to fulfill their professional responsibilities.

Mr. Ress has also served as a Hearing Officer for the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board from 2002 to 2008;

Federal Arbitrator for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania;

Judge Pro Tem in the Dispute Resolution Center of the Philadelphia County Court of Common Plea; and

Court-appointed and privately retained arbitrator and mediator.

Mr, Ress has authored articles in his field, including a co-authored article: Tax­Affecting and Beyond: Dela. Radiology Experts Discuss 'Landmark' Case, Business Valuation Update, Vol. 13, No. 5, May 2007.

Mr. Ress also is a Senior Fellow of the Litigation Counsel of America, a Trial Lawyer Honorary Society, a contributing author to its e-journal: Thoughts From a Road Trip: Exploring What it Takes for Someone to be Truly Great in His or Her Profession, 4 Litigation Commentary & Rev. 29 (January/February 2011), and a member of its Complex Commercial Litigation Institute.

Member of the American, Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations and various trial lawyers' associations.

Board of Directors of Temple Beth Hillel-Beth El, Wynnewood, Pennsylvania, and served from 1993 to 2008 and again from 2014 to the present as a Trustee of its Endowment Fund.

Board of Directors of the JDOG Foundation, its mission dedicated to veteran and military wellness programs, suicide prevention, and higher education for veterans.

In 2012, Mr. Ress was inducted as one of nine inaugural Members of the Queens College Athletics Hall of Fame.

In 2023, Mr. Ress became a Trustee of the Queens College Foundation, the charitable arm of his undergraduate institution.
Court Admissions
United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
United States District Court for the Southern District of New York
Third Circuit Court of Appeals
U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims
United States Supreme Court
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Representative Cases

Case 1

Pennsylvania Commerce Court and Delaware Chancery Court litigation involving valuation of companies and/or dissenters’ rights, including almost $6 million judgment entered in Delaware Chancery Court for twice the squeeze-out appraisal value offered

Case 2

Numerous representations of Partners, Shareholders or Members in professional business divorce/freeze-out matters

Case 3

National coordinating counsel for a beryllium manufacturer in defense of toxic tort individual and class action litigation

Case 4

Representation of self-insured public companies defending premises and products liability actions

Case 5

Claims for injunctive relief in non-competition and trade secret matters

Case 6

Representation of insureds against carriers for an advertising injury; for coverage and bad faith claims on D&O policy; and for over-reserving and/or mishandling claims files on workers compensation policies with retrospectively rated premiums, establishing law on the burden of proof in such cases

Case 7

Defense of $ 5 billion claim against public company for its alleged theft of the idea to build a trash-to-steam plant seeking disgorgement of its operating profits and arbitrage from the related bond issues

Case 8

Civil RICO action for public company involving kickback scheme from product suppliers to company’s purchasing agents

Case 9

Fraud case against internet company and its owner for purchasing computer consulting services with checks they knew would be dishonored — judgment thereafter not avoided in bankruptcy

Case 10

ERISA litigation with issues ranging from the propriety of the denial of benefits by health plans to QDROs (qualified domestic relations orders)

Case 11

Personal injury and wrongful death representations of family of brain injured plaintiff who committed suicide after being permitted to self-medicate; of motorist suffering from vertebral artery dissection injury; of estates of decedents killed in single car accidents

Case 12

Medical malpractice plaintiffs’ verdicts in cases involving improper treatment of patient as being HIV-positive and improper catheterization during post-bladder cancer treatment