John H. Estey, Esq., Chairman

John H. Estey, Esq.

From January 2003 through April 2007, John H. Estey served as Chief of Staff to Edward G. Rendell, the 45th Governor of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Estey now serves as a senior advisor to the Governor.

From 1997-1999, Estey served as Deputy Chief of Staff to Governor Rendell while he was Mayor of Philadelphia. As Deputy Chief of Staff, Estey helped develop and implement the Keystone Opportunity Enterprise Zones program, oversaw the revitalization of Independence Mall, and played a key role helping Rendell pursue his vision for Philadelphia which led to unprecedented economic growth.

An attorney, Estey most recently served as a partner at the law firm of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP in Philadelphia. Estey’s law practice concentrated in the areas of government relations and corporate law. His practice included representing government agencies as well as counseling information technology and telecommunications companies in a range of business matters.

Prior to entering private practice, Estey served as a law clerk to the Honorable Thomas N. O’Neill, Jr., a U.S. District Court Judge for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Estey received his Bachelors degree from Carleton College and his law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

Estey resides in Delaware County with his family.

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Rina Cutler

Rina Cutler, Deputy Mayor for Transportation and Utilities was appointed to the job by Mayor Michael Nutter in March, 2008.  She is responsible for the coordination and oversight of all transportation functions in the City of Philadelphia.  In addition, Ms. Cutler will oversee the operations of a variety of City agencies including the Streets Department, the Philadelphia Water Department, the Philadelphia International Airport and the Philadelphia Gas Works.  She will oversee the City’s interests with  a variety of transportation agencies including SEPTA, the Parking Authority and the Delaware Valley Regional Planning Commission and the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.

Prior to returning to Philadelphia, Ms. Cutler had been the Deputy Secretary for Administration at PennDOT since 2003.  Her deputate was responsible for managing resources, monitoring spending and ensuring that management and productivity controls were in place to maximize departmental operations.  In addition, Ms. Cutler served for almost 2 years as the Acting District Executive in PennDOT for the 5 county Philadelphia region which was responsible for the areas of design, construction and maintenance responsibilities for State owned roads and bridges.  In this capacity, Ms. Cutler also focused her attention on project delivery, context sensitive design and smart transportation principles.

Deputy Secretary Cutler has extensive experience in the management and operations of parking and transportation programs.  Her prior experience also includes Transportation Commissioner for the City of Boston, the Director of Parking and Traffic for the City of San Francisco and the Executive Director of the Philadelphia Parking Authority.

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Clifford E. Haines, Esq.

Clifford E. Haines, Esq., founder of Haines & Associates, is a nationally recognized litigator and a leader in the legal community. He is an expert in jury trials, and shares his expertise by lecturing at the Temple University Beasley School of Law in the LLM program, teaching continuing legal education course, and presenting professional development seminars for practicing attorneys.

Prior to starting his own practice in 2004, Mr. Haines was a member of the Litvin, Blumberg, Matusow & Young law firm for 23 years, representing catastrophically injured people in malpractice and product liability suits. For nine years at the outset of his career, Mr. Haines was an assistant district attorney in Philadelphia, where he was chief of homicide and chief of hiring and training. Mr. Haines holds a juris doctor degree, cum laude, from the Ohio State University College of Law.

In several of Mr. Haines cases, juries returned verdicts in excess of $5 million in favor of his clients. Because of his achievements, Mr. Haines was invited to join the prestigious International Academy of Trial Lawyers and The American College of Trial Lawyers.

In 1997, Mr. Haines served as chancellor of the 13,000-member Philadelphia Bar Association, the oldest metropolitan bar association in America. He has also chaired numerous committees of the Philadelphia Bar Association over the past 20 years, and is active in other bar associations and legal organizations, including as a Delegate to the American Bar Association and as a member of the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania Bar Association.

At Temple University, Mr. Haines teaches Introduction to Trial Advocacy and Advanced Trial Advocacy, and was director of the school's Academy of Advocacy. He also teaches locally and nationally for the National Institute of Trial Advocacy.

Mr. Haines is committed to pursuing justice in the courts as well as in the arts as is demonstrated by his various volunteer positions, including the following:

• Mr. Haines is the current chairman of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a bipartisan, non-profit corporation seeking to reduce bias in the justice system through a variety of efforts, including improving the jury system. The organization is also a proponent of the merit selection of appellate court judges in Pennsylvania so that money is taken out of the mix of who sits on the bench.
• Appointed by the former Philadelphia Mayor, Edward G. Rendell, Mr. Haines sat on a citywide task force that addressed and eventually advocated for the use of videotaping confessions made by defendants in criminal cases.
• Mr. Haines is a current Vice-president of the Philadelphia Opera Company

Recently appointed by Governor Rendell, Mr. Haines was approved by the State Senate to sit on the Board of the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts.

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Michael A. Rashid

As Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Michael A. Rashid is responsible for leading and overseeing business operations for Keystone Mercy Health Plan, the largest Medical Assistance managed care organization in Southeastern Pennsylvania, serving more than 270,000 members. Mr. Rashid also provides leadership for Keystone Mercy’s sister organizations AmeriHealth Mercy Health Plan in Harrisburg, PA, Passport Health Plan in Kentucky, Select Health in South Carolina and PerformRx, the pharmacy benefit management division from AmeriHealth Mercy. Headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Keystone Mercy and its affiliated health plans comprise the largest family of Medicaid managed care plans in the United States. Through ownership, affiliation or management, AmeriHealth Mercy touches the lives of more than 2 million members in nationwide.

Prior to joining Keystone Mercy, Mr. Rashid was President and Chief Executive Officer of Mercy Health Plan of New Jersey (now Horizon NJ Health), where he led the provision of comprehensive managed health care services to Medicaid clients in New Jersey. Prior to that, Mr. Rashid served as Director of Medicaid Operations for Prudential Health Plan's Atlantic region, which included operations in Baltimore, Maryland and start-ups in Washington, DC and Virginia. He also served as Chief Executive Officer of Total Health Care, a Medicaid managed care plan in Baltimore. In addition, Mr. Rashid has several years of experience in health care management consulting and managing health care provision in a city health corporation.

Mr. Rashid is the Chairman of the Urban League of Philadelphia and he currently serves on the boards of other local organizations, including the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority. His contributions to the community have resulted in a variety of honors and awards, including the Whitney M. Young, Jr. Award from the Cradle of Liberty Council of the Boy Scouts of America, and the Signature Award from the West Philadelphia YMCA.

Mr. Rashid earned a Masters of Business Administration in Finance from the Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Science degree in Marketing from the University of Southern California.

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Herb Vederman

Herb Vederman is a senior consultant in Stradley Ronon’s government and public affairs group. Mr. Vederman provides government and media relations services to the firm’s clients in a variety of industries. He handles legislative affairs and business development issues for clients. He represents clients in matters with city and municipal governments including the City of Philadelphia and the Pennsylvania counties of Montgomery, Delaware, Bucks and Chester.

Mr. Vederman also serves on several boards and commissions including: the Pennsylvania Economic Finance Authority, the World Trade Center, the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority, the Drexel College of Medicine, Historic Philadelphia, and the Philadelphia Regional Film Office. He is an Adjunct Professor of History and Political Science at Drexel University.

Mr. Vederman’s family was one of the founding members of Charming Shoppes, Inc., a chain of retail apparel companies with more than 2,200 stores nationwide. As a member of the company’s executive board, he was responsible for business initiatives, product development, and sales and outsourcing strategies in both the domestic and international markets.

Prior to joining Stradley Ronon, Mr. Vederman worked in public service. As Deputy Mayor for Economic Development for former Philadelphia Mayor Ed Rendell, Mr. Vederman played a crucial role in the revitalization of Philadelphia in the 1990s. He promoted neighborhood economic development, quality-of-life issues, and was instrumental in the redevelopment of Center City Philadelphia and many other local business corridors. After Mayor Rendell completed his two terms, Mr. Vederman served as the finance chairman of his campaign for the office of Governor of Pennsylvania. He was responsible for coordinating fundraising and assisting in “get-out-the-vote” efforts, as well as public events efforts across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. As co-chair of the Rendell Inaugural Committee, he had the responsibility for financing and marketing matters in connection with Gov. Rendell’s inauguration. Mr. Vederman then worked as Senior Policy Advisor for Economic Development and was the primary point of contact between Gov. Rendell’s office and the Pennsylvania business community.

*Not a member of the bar.

PRACTICE AREAS
Government and Public Affairs
Gaming Industry

EDUCATION
B.A, Long Island University

MEMBERSHIPS
Board of Directors, Pennsylvania Economic Finance Authority
Board of Directors, World Trade Center
Board of Directors, Philadelphia Regional Port Authority
Board of Directors, Drexel College of Medicine
Board of Directors, Historic Philadelphia
Board of Directors, Philadelphia Regional Film Office

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Rhonda Hill Wilson

The first woman in her family to earn an advanced degree, Rhonda Hill Wilson has been practicing law for nearly three decades. She is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and is a member of numerous federal bars, including the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Ms. Hill Wilson launched her own firm in 1994, after leaving an insurance defense practice. At that time, she decided to fight for the rights of injured individuals and their loved ones. She now concentrates her practice in nursing home negligence, while also handling medical malpractice, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, motor vehicle accident and premises liability matters.

An accomplished and award-winning leader, Ms. Hill Wilson has presented, lectured and taught in areas including nursing home litigation, deposition strategies, ethics, damages, direct and cross-examination and the essentials of civil litigation. She has been named one of the Top Black Lawyers in the Tri- State Area by The Network Journal, she has received the Presidential Award from the National Bar Association, she's been made a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and she has been listed in Who's Who in American Law, just to name a few.
Ms. Hill Wilson is past president of the National Bar Association's Women's Law Division-Philadelphia and a past member of the American Association for Justice's National College of Advocacy Board of Trustees and its Executive Committee. She also serves on the Executive Committee for the American Association for Justice. Locally, Ms. Hill Wilson is on the Board of Governors and the Executive Committee for the Pennsylvania Association for Justice. She is on the Board of Governors for the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, and acts as the organization's membership coordinator. Ms. Hill Wilson also serves on the Governing Board of the Philadelphia Regional Port Authority.

In an effort to educate the public, Ms. Hill Wilson has acted as a radio host since 1993. From 2003 through March of 2007, she hosted “Truth Rising” which was heard on WURD 900-AM on Fridays from 10 am-12 pm. On “Truth Rising,” Ms. Hill Wilson discussed local, national and international legal and political issues. From March 2007 through November of 2009, Ms. Hill Wilson co-hosted "The Morning Team" on WURD on Fridays from 7 am-10 am. She serves as a role-model and gives back to the community by teaching young, inner-city women life skills and goal setting strategies, and by acting as the chair for the Philadelphia area "A Mind Is" Annual Giving Society, a national contributors' program of the United Negro College Fund.

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