Connolly Gallagher Announces Newly Elected Partners

WILMINGTON, DELAWARE – Connolly Gallagher LLP announces that Ryan P. Newell and Scott E. Swenson have been elected partners of the firm, effective January 1, 2014.  Both have practiced with Connolly Gallagher since its inception in 2012, and before then with the Business Law Group of Connolly Bove Lodge & Hutz LLP since 2005.

Ryan P. Newell focuses on corporate and commercial litigation in the District of Delaware, the Delaware Court of Chancery, and the Delaware Superior Court.  Mr. Newell’s practice also includes corporate counseling and he is a certified mediator in the Superior Court.  From 2005 to 2008, Mr. Newell was part of the team that successfully defended the State of Delaware before the United States Supreme Court in an original jurisdiction action brought by New Jersey that challenged Delaware’s sovereignty over the Delaware River within its historic Twelve Mile Circle.  Mr. Newell is regularly consulted about electronically stored information and document retention issues, and writes frequently about current developments in Delaware law.

Mr. Newell has been recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star in Business Litigation.  The Delaware Supreme Court appointed him to the Commission on Law and Technology, where he chairs the electronic discovery subgroup.  In 2010, the Delaware State Bar Association presented Mr. Newell with its New Lawyers Distinguished Service Award.  Mr. Newell has served as the president of the St. Thomas More Society of the Catholic Diocese of Wilmington, is the president of the Notre Dame Club of Delaware, and serves on the board of the Catholic Charities of the Diocese of Wilmington.

Mr. Newell received his bachelor’s degree in 2002 from the Mendoza School of Business of the University of Notre Dame.  He received his law degree in 2005 from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University, where he served on the Penn State Law Review.

Scott E. Swenson focuses his practice on estate planning and administration, estate and trust litigation, and advising trustees and other fiduciaries on matters including trust administration, trust modification and risk management.  He has represented many institutional and individual clients, as fiduciaries and as beneficiaries, in trust and estate matters before the Court of Chancery.  His practice also includes taxation, alternative entities, non-profit organizations, tax controversies, and guardianship.  He is admitted to practice in Delaware and Maryland.

Mr. Swenson is a co-author of the Delaware Statutory Trusts Manual (LexisNexis, 2010), and has spoken to professional conferences on estate planning, trust drafting, and fiduciary law.  He is rated AV Preeminent® by Martindale-Hubbell and is recognized by Super Lawyers as a Rising Star.  He is active in the Delaware State Bar Association’s Estates and Trusts Section, where he chairs the Continuing Legal Education Committee, and sits on the Board of Directors for Delaware Care Plan, Inc., a state-chartered organization dedicated to managing special needs trusts and otherwise serving citizens with disabilities.

Mr. Swenson received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Maryland in 2001 and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2005, also earning a Certificate in Business and Public Policy from The Wharton School.