MICHAEL A. COGNETTI is a managing partner of the firm and is based in the Philadelphia office. He has been with the firm since graduating law school. Mr. Cognetti’s practice spans the five counties of Southeastern Pennsylvania through Northeastern and Central Pennsylvania. He represents governmental entities, financial institutions, and insurance companies in litigation and alternative dispute resolution forums. He has handled and tried cases in many of Pennsylvania’s sixty-seven counties and has served as lead trial counsel in hundreds of jury, non-jury and arbitration matters.
Mr. Cognetti is a member of the Pennsylvania, Philadelphia County, Chester County, Montgomery County, and Delaware County Bar Associations. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute. Mr. Cognetti has served on the Disciplinary Board for the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s hearing committees. He has served as an attorney’s chosen neutral arbitrator and as a Judge Pro Tempore for the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia for many years.
Mr. Cognetti has published on the topic of motor vehicle law, including motor vehicle and bad faith issues, by the PDI and PA UM/UIM for Chester and Montgomery Counties. He has also had the opportunity to lecture on these topics first as an Instructor with Defense Update and again as a Seminar Instructor to Temple Law Alumni and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute.
Mr. Cognetti was born and raised in Scranton, Pennsylvania. He received his B.S. in Accounting from St. Joseph’s University and his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law. At Duquesne, he was President of the Bar Association and received the Pennsylvania Lawyers’ Auxiliary Scholarship for overall contribution to the school.