Three SGRV Attorneys Secure Best Lawyers in America® 2025 Listing
Spector Gadon Rosen Vinci P.C. Employment Law Group Chair Alan B. Epstein, Employment Law Group Member Jennifer Myers Chalal, and Environmental Law Group Chair Kermit Rader have been selected to the 31st Edition of The Best Lawyers in America list for the year 2025. Epstein was selected for his professional excellence in individual employment litigation, and both he and Chalal were selected regarding their professional excellence in labor and employment litigation. Rader was selected regarding his professional excellence in Environmental Law.
As the oldest and most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession, clients and legal professionals widely regard recognition in Best Lawyers in America as a significant honor. For over forty years, Best Lawyers in America has gained a reputation as a truly unbiased source of legal referrals. Epstein, Chalal, and Rader were chosen for this honor following an exhaustive peer review process in which the nation’s leading lawyers confidentially evaluate their professional peers.
Epstein concentrates his practice in civil litigation representation in the areas of employment rights, civil rights and constitutional torts and the provision of transactional advice in all areas of corporate governance, including personalized advice to corporate officers, boards and board members regarding adherence to state and federal regulations. He is frequently called upon to provide transactional advice to, negotiate employment contracts and severance agreements on behalf of, and litigate matters for, corporate entities, corporate officers and directors, and licensed professionals (and their entities), including lawyers, doctors, bankers, accountants, pharmacists and architects, as well as insurance, real estate and security brokers.
Epstein has litigated complex claims before courts throughout the United States of America and has been admitted to practice in cases pending before numerous state and federal trial and appellate courts and administrative agencies in Pennsylvania, California, Delaware, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Texas, and Washington as well as the United States Supreme Court. He is a frequent lecturer in his areas of concentration across the United States, and has served as an expert witness in state and federal courts regarding employment law and the professional and ethical responsibilities of lawyers.
He is a Fellow in the prestigious International College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and has served on its Board of Governors as an officer (Secretary, Treasurer, Vice President and then President) since 2011. He continues to serve on the College’s Board as its Past President. He holds an AV rating from Martindale Hubbell, has been selected as one of the Best Lawyers in America in the publication of that name for more than 10 years, and has been awarded Lifetime Achievement Awards by Philadelphia’s The Legal Intelligencer and Marquis Who’s Who. He was named in 2019 as an Influencer of Law by the Philadelphia Inquirer. He has been named a top 100 Super Lawyer in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania, most recently in 2023, and has also been selected as one of the nation’s 500 Leading Plaintiff Employment and Civil Rights Lawyers (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023), 500 Leading Lawyers (2010), Top 500 Plaintiff’s Lawyers (2009), and Top 500 Litigators (2006) by Lawdragon. In 2020, Mr. Epstein was selected as a Labor and Employment Star by Benchmark Litigation. In 2022, Mr. Epstein was awarded the honor of a spot on Lawdragon‘s Hall of Fame. He is an active member of the National Employment Lawyers Association, and has served as a volunteer mentor and Panel Coordinator for the Employment Litigation Panel of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and as a national leader and Inn President in the American Inns of Court movement. He is currently an active member of the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations.
In the context of significant litigation in the employment law area, Epstein is well known for his participation in high-profile litigation for individuals and corporate entities (including his representation of a young, HIV-positive attorney against a prestigious Philadelphia law firm that received national attention because of the daily televising of the trial by Court TV and CNN and the award-winning film “Philadelphia” starring Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington) and for his frequent representation of local and national sports figures, broadcast personalities, and officers and directors of large national corporations.
Epstein was also the founder and President/CEO of JUDICATE, The National Private Court System, a publicly held company coordinating private dispute resolution services through approximately 700 former judges throughout the United States and its territories. In the area of alternative dispute resolution, he has additionally lectured and served as a mediator and arbitrator by private appointment and through certification by state and federal courts.
Jennifer Myers Chalal concentrates her practice in the area of employment law handling all types of employment law matters including discrimination claims under Title VII, the ADA, the ADEA, the PHRA, and the NJ Law Against Discrimination, retaliation claims, wrongful discharge claims, wage and hour claims, FMLA claims, ERISA claims, breach of contract claims, non-compete claims, and claims involving workplace torts. She also handles ADA accessibility suits and denials of public accommodations for businesses especially in the hospitality industry. She provides advice to businesses regarding employment matters, conducts workplace investigations for businesses presented with complaints of sexual harassment or other forms of discrimination, prepares employment handbooks, and provides workplace seminars regarding discrimination laws. Her litigation practice extends throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey in both Federal and State Court.
With a diverse client base in his environmental practice, ranging from a variety of manufacturers to commercial and residential developers to a natural gas supplier, Kermit Rader assists his clients with government monitored and voluntary remediation including Brownfield development and Superfund projects, helps them to comply with government regulations and defend enforcement actions, advises them on environmental issues in real estate transactions and litigates environmental claims. In his oil and gas practice, he represents landowners in leasing and pipeline agreements, ensuring that gas companies operating in Pennsylvania’s Marcellus Shale region are in compliance with leases and applicable regulations.
Recognized in 2005-2010 by Chambers USA as one of “America’s Leading Lawyers-Environmental Law,” and in 2011 by Best Lawyers in America, Mr. Rader is a prolific author and speaker on environmental issues. He was an adjunct professor at the Temple University Beasley School of Law. He serves on the Board of Directors of the “Institute of Hazardous Materials Management” and was the former co-chair of the Environmental Law Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He is a member of the Natural Resources Section of the American Bar Association.
Spector Gadon Rosen Vinci P.C. has represented clients nationally and internationally for 50 years and provides counsel and expertise across the entire spectrum of legal practice, from complex litigation to sophisticated transactional and corporate matters. The firm has offices in Philadelphia, New Jersey, Florida, and New York.