George Yokitis is a partner in the firm of
DeForest Koscelnik Yokitis Kaplan & Berardinelli. He served as managing partner
of the Pittsburgh office of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis from
1994-2001. His practice concentrates on commercial, products liability,
environmental, media and labor litigation.
Mr. Yokitis has been lead trial counsel in numerous commercial disputes,
including employment, intellectual property, securities, lender liability,
commercial paper, contracts cases and in complex, multi-jurisdictional
class actions involving tens of thousands of claims with billions of
dollars at stake. He has litigated and tried cases in Pennsylvania,
Ohio, New Jersey, Maine, Michigan, Tennessee, Missouri, Louisiana,
Colorado, Texas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. Mr. Yokitis has argued in
a number of federal courts of appeals and state supreme courts. He
has experience before the United States Supreme Court.
In the employment area, Mr. Yokitis has defended and/or prosecuted
cases involving covenants-not-to-compete, trade secrets and employment
agreements. He has litigated cases involving age, sex, disability and
race discrimination claims, drug testing policies and unfair labor
practices.
As lead trial counsel Mr. Yokitis has obtained successful verdicts
or summary dismissals in a number of recent cases. For example, Mr.
Yokitis has:
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obtained defense verdict in complex lender liability
trial following more than three weeks of trial. |
| • |
obtained dismissal based upon Daubert/Frye challenge
in two leading reported
Pennsylvania cases. |
| • |
obtained injunctive relief for national outdoor
advertising company preserving
sale of business. |
| • |
obtained multi-million dollar cost recovery award
following successful
alternative dispute resolution proceeding. |
| • |
obtained injunctive relief for national publication
against copyright
infringement. |
| • |
obtained a seminal ruling in a leading case under
Hague Convention. |
Mr. Yokitis has published in the Toxic Law Reporter and co-authored the Environmental
Disputes Handbook: Liability and Claims. Mr. Yokitis is a frequent speaker for
the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and has lectured before the Society of Professional
Journalists and various trade organizations. Mr. Yokitis is an arbitrator for
the American Arbitration Association.
Mr. Yokitis graduated magna cum laude Phi Beta Kappa from Indiana University
of Pennsylvania. Mr. Yokitis is a 1979 Temple University School of Law alumnus
where he was the class Barenkopf Scholar and graduated first in his class. Prior
to graduation from law school, Mr. Yokitis pursued a professional football career
as a quarterback with the New York Jets.
Mr. Yokitis is active in a number of civic and professional organizations, including
the St. Vincent dePaul Society Executive Committee and Berkeley Hills Athletic
Association Board of Directors. He is head coach of the St. Sebastian boys varsity
basketball team.
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