Robert Pratter has brought his broad based legal experience to Cohen, Placitella & Roth where he heads up the firm’s complex litigation group primarily representing public entities, union pension funds and private individuals in securities, anti-trust environmental actions and other complex commercial litigation. Prior to joining CPR, Bob was as a partner in a national general practice law firm (Duane Morris LLP), General Counsel and Senior Vice President of a large regional insurance holding company (PMA Capital Corporation), acting Insurance Commissioner of Pennsylvania and Executive Deputy General Counsel of Pennsylvania. Bob’s experience in the private, corporate and public sectors gives him a comprehensive understanding of how businesses and government operate, what drives their decisions, and an ability to make informed, practical judgments on litigation and dispute resolution strategy for Cohen, Placitella & Roth’s diverse body of clients. His knowledge of & experience with insurance issues is particularly helpful in addressing insurance coverage issues that arise in our cases.
Bob first worked with Cohen, Placitella & Roth in the successful civil suit by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania against Consol Energy, Inc. for the collapse of the state-owned Ryerson Dam, resulting in a $36 Million settlement on appeal from a favorable administrative agency award, the largest recovery in Pennsylvania during 2013. He also was the senior state attorney working in conjunction with Cohen, Placitella & Roth on successful securities actions resulting in multi-million dollar recoveries. Mr. Pratter also spearheaded the successful defense in HAP v. Commonwealth Department of Insurance, in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the Commonwealth’s right to use over $700 Million of cigarette taxes for general fund purposes to help end the 2009 budget crisis in Pennsylvania.
Bob began his legal career at Duane Morris in 1969, practicing at the firm for 30 years. He chaired its Administrative Law practice group and served on the firm wide Partners Board before departing in 1999 to become PMA Capital Corporation’s General Counsel. In 2008, after guiding PMA through the process of becoming a publicly held company and providing counsel during the company’s expansion, he joined the Pennsylvania Office of General Counsel as its Executive Deputy General Counsel for litigation. From July 2008 to July 2011, Mr. Pratter supervised and participated in litigation conducted by the 29 Commonwealth executive agencies under Governors Rendell and Corbett and personally represented the Commonwealth in major litigation involving the Commonwealth’s budget, insurance health care reform, prevailing wage enforcement, civil rights and natural resources.
Throughout his legal career and particularly during his Commonwealth service, Mr. Pratter has also participated in numerous legislative and regulatory reforms, drafting projects and litigation relating to such legislation.
Mr. Pratter is an honors graduate of the University of Pennsylvania Law School and a magna cum laude graduate of Yale University. He is a member of the American Law Institute and University of Pennsylvania Inn of Court.
Bob has been an active supporter of a number of charitable enterprises, including Board membership for the Overbrook School for the Blind in Philadelphia, the oldest such specialized school in the United States serving blind children and young adults. Contrary to what many people may believe, blindness in children has not been eradicated, and many babies suffer blindness and other disabilities for a variety of reasons. Bob has also been an avid supporter of the performance arts and has been a Board member of the Mann Performing Arts Center in Philadelphia. He also sings in the Wayne Oratorio Chorus, a 200 member mixed chorus that performs sacred works regularly in Philadelphia, and more recently at the Washington National Cathedral.
This year, in recognition of his 50th year of graduation from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, Bob and his wife have established an endowed fund to support law student academic travel expenses . Bob is also a member of the Penn Inn of Court and the American Law Institute.
