The Lawyer of the Week Episode 11, Delaware, USA
Managing Director, The Bifferato Firm, PA
Interview Transcript
Pamela: Welcome to Lawyer of the week. I am so pleased this week to have Ian Connor Bifferato from Delaware, and he’s the Managing Member of The Bifferato firm. In addition to being the manager of his practice in which he’s been the Owner and Principal since 1996.
Connor has been litigating complex disputes arising in both tort and commercial context for more than twenty years. Connor is also Of Counsel with Labaton, one of the countries premier firms for prosecuting precedent-setting Securities Class Actions on behalf of defrauded investors.
Connor has been arbitrating and mediating cases for more than seventeen years. In addition to being chosen as a party arbitrator or neutral in matters assigned to Arbitration by Agreement. Connors has arbitrated and mediated a variety of actions assigned to the ADR in the Delaware State Courts including the Delaware Superior Court and the Court of Chancery.
He also frequently mediates commercial disputes in the United States District Court and the United States Bankruptcy Court. So we are so pleased to have Connor Bifferato with us here today. Hi Connor how are you?
Connor: Good, Pamela thank you very much for having me.
Pamela: Just so pleased that you are the Lawyer of the Week from Delaware. Can you tell us a little bit about what made you decide to become a lawyer?
Connor: Sure you know I grew up in a family of lawyers my father was a Superior Court judge for more than thirty years. And my mother was an attorney for approximately thirty years. My brother is an attorney. My brother in law is an attorney, and I am currently married to an attorney.
Pamela: Oh
Connor: It’s sort of, I have been surrounded by it and, and sort of bred into it my entire life.
Pamela: Yeah I think we can say being a lawyer is in your DNA.
Connor: It feels like it sometimes.
Pamela: Tell us about your practice like what are some of your biggest wins and what are some of your biggest challenges.
Connor: Well you know one of the areas of practice that I’m most proud of that we’ve undertaken for a number of years is representing severely injured individuals and their families.
Particularly children, who’ve been affected by carcinogens and other toxins that are they placed in the environment, quite frankly, by careless and often times indifferent corporations.
You know it’s always amazing to me that major corporations will do things that no individual would ever consider doing on a basis like this. And we have been successful in representing a number of families and children recovering from really just horrific injuries from people around the world really.
Pamela: Oh boy, that’s quite a win to be able to stand up for those who have no voices really.
Connor: It really it does it is very rewarding.
Pamela: Well what are your challenges in this day and time?
Connor: Well you know there’s constant there’s always ongoing efforts are both on the state and federal level to change laws in favor of corporations. Particularly these days there is just unlimited access to Congress and both again on the state and federal levels by corporations who want greater and greater protections and greater and greater freedoms.
You know at the same time, you have to be constantly vigilant to make sure that we are representing our clients in this arena and also making ourselves available and known to clients and potential clients that are out there.
Pamela: Okay that something that a lot of people may not be thinking of. But, we’re glad that you’re taking that cause up. And it has to be taken up to protect the clients and not just the corporation. That’s a very good point.
Connor: Yeah, unfortunately, most individuals who are placed in harm’s way by corporate interests don’t have nearly the same access to the same voice that those very wealthy corporations have.
Pamela: So that results in, do you think that sometimes justice is not carried out in in those cases?
Connor: Well I think when you can get into court, justice is more frequently than not carried out. I think where justice is lost is when corporations are successful in convincing lawmakers that there is some social benefit to protecting corporations from being subject to liability for their own conduct.
And that’s what happens when, when they’re able to put so much money into the political system.
Pamela: Right, right. Well, we’re happy again that you’re taking up this cause on behalf of your clients. Now, who would be a perfect referral for your law firm?
Connor: Well, certainly someone who is looking for assistance in representing someone who has been or, someone whose family or someone whose children, have been harmed by exposure to toxins that been placed into the environment: air, groundwater, earth, by corporations living nearby, certainly in farm areas.
But also people who are looking for an avenue for a resolution to litigation that may be pending for a long time or languishing because litigation can take a heavy toll on individuals as well as on corporations who are involved in protracted litigation. We have a lot of experience in helping you get to a resolution through alternative means.
Pamela: That’s really good to know. What are the benefits of someone using a lawyer like you who is in Delaware?
Connor: Well Delaware is a place where the majority of Fortune 500 companies and, quite frankly, large companies from around the world are incorporated and call their home. So Delaware is a location of substantial litigation regarding both corporate interests and corporate conduct.
Pamela: So it would be a benefit for people to get your services because that’s really where their headquarters are is that what you’re saying.
Thank you for joining
Lawyer of the Week!
