Hon. Lawrence F. Stengel (Ret.)

Hon. Lawrence F. Stengel (Ret.), former Chief Judge for the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, is a shareholder at Saxton & Stump and focuses his practice on investigations and criminal defense, arbitrations and mediations, monitorships and receiverships.

Current Practice

As a member of the firm’s Investigations, White Collar and Criminal Defense group, Judge Stengel works with a team of attorneys who conduct fair and thorough internal investigations for corporations, educational institutions, governmental agencies, municipalities and other organizations across the country. The team is also uniquely qualified to handle Title IX investigations and sexual misconduct grievances for individuals and higher education institutions, serving as counsel or hearing officers.

Judge Stengel’s reputation for fairness and insight makes him a sought-after arbitrator and mediator. He leads a team of neutrals at Optimal Dispute Resolutions, a rapidly growing regional and national alternative dispute resolution (ADR) provider.

In addition, Judge Stengel works with Saxton & Stump’s Labor and Employment and Intellectual Property groups, having significant experience in various kinds of employment cases as well as in patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret litigation. He is also a member of the firm’s Attorney and Judicial Ethics and Discipline practice, led by Hon. Robert A. Graci (Ret) and frequently consults for the firm’s Business Litigation and Strategic Solutions practice by examining and strengthening arguments for trial.

Recent Appointments, Professional Activities, Notable Matters

Special Investigator in the National Football League’s (NFL) Concussion Settlement MDL: Court-appointed in 2019 by the Honorable Anita Brody of the EDPD to be Special Investigator. Judge Brody appointed Judge Stengel to investigate allegations of fraud in the claims process under the Concussion Settlement Agreement.
Chair of the Independent Oversight Committee for the Archdiocese of Philadelphia Independent Reconciliation and Reparations Program (IRRP). Oversaw the claims administration process and worked closely with Ken Feinberg & Associates who managed the claims process. Reported to the Archbishop and to Archdiocese leadership regarding status and progress of the case. Testified before the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary Committee on the activities of the IRRP.
Special Master in Re: Valsartan, United States District Court for the District of New Jersey, court-appointed as Special Master to conduct settlement negotiations in this large pharmaceutical MDL.
Special Master in State of Connecticut et. al v. Sandoz Inc. et. al., the USDC District of Connecticut Court-appointed by the Honorable Michael P. Shea to be Special Master handling discovery disputes between the states and manufacturers of generic drugs.
Special Master in Steves & Sons v. Jeld-Wen, Inc., United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia: Appointed by the Honorable Robert Payne of the EDVA, to serve as Special Master to oversee the divestiture of a company acquired by Jeld-Wen. This Clayton Act Antitrust case went to trial in the EDVA and an antitrust violation was found by the jury. As part of the remedy, Judge Payne ordered the divestiture of the Towanda plant which had been acquired by Jeld-Wen. This marked the first Court-ordered divestiture in a case not involving the Justice Department. The divestiture occurred and was approved by the Court in 2024.
Special Master in Re: Generic Pharmaceuticals Pricing Antitrust Litigation, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Court-appointed by the Honorable Cynthia Rufe in this MDL to be a Special Master handling discovery disputes in this case involving antitrust and price fixing claims against the manufacturers of generic drugs.
Special Master in Re: Glucagon, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Court-appointed by the Honorable Karen S. Marston as Special Master in this MDL to manage and make recommendations on discovery disputes.
Special Master in Holtzman v. Philadelphia Art Museum, United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Court-appointed by the Honorable John Milton Younge as Special Master to manage and make recommendations on discovery issues in this case brought pursuant to the Holocaust Expropriation Recovery Act of 2016.
Conducted internal investigations for a company with a national presence in the music event, design and sound business regarding employment matters and allegations of sexual harassment. Conducted research and interviewed parties and made reports to management.
Internal investigation for the Court Administrator of Pennsylvania on behalf of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court into allegations of discrimination and misconduct by supervising judges in Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Courts of Common Pleas.
Title IX Hearing Officer for Carnegie Mellon University.
Internal Review Officer (appellate review) for University of Michigan Title IX cases. This involves review of the record and serving as appeal officer for final decisions concerning decisions made by Hearing Officers in Title IX cases for the University of Michigan.
Mediation of a wrongful death claim arising out of the death of a child in the care of a major metropolitan hospital in Pennsylvania.
Hearing officer for a Philadelphia Area Hospital System in cases regarding denial of staff privileges.
Mediation of 22 cases of sexual abuse and sexual harassment brought by former students and graduates against a prominent university. The case involved one week of daily mediation sessions involving victims, insurers and leadership of the University resulting in the settlement of 20 out of 22 cases.
Mediated numerous employment discrimination claims, breach of covenants not to compete and trade secret misappropriation for cases brought by and against former executives of a major national pharmaceutical manufacturers.
In Re: Tobacco. Judge Stengel has been serving as one of three arbitrators, hearing disputes between multiple states and the Participating Manufacturers under the Tobacco Litigation Master Settlement Agreement of 1998. Case involves numerous discovery disputes, scheduling matters and multi-week hearings to resolve disputes between the settling states and the manufacturers under the Master Settlement Agreement.

Judicial Experience

Judge Stengel served as a judge for nearly three decades and has presided over a breadth of criminal and civil trials, both jury and non-jury. He has extensive experience in deciding matters involving corporate governance, civil rights violations, discrimination, and compliance with federal and state regulations. He has worked with law enforcement professionals, attorneys and others and understands the need for legal expertise and interpersonal skills in conducting sensitive and confidential investigations.

His judicial career began in 1990 when he was appointed by Governor Robert Casey to fill a vacancy on the Lancaster County Court of Common Pleas. In 1991, Judge Stengel was elected to a full-term on the court and was retained in 2001. During his 14 years of service, he presided over hundreds of trials, jury, and nonjury; wrote hundreds of opinions; and conducted settlement conferences in numerous cases. He handled 20 homicide cases, two of which were capital cases that went to trial. His state court work included many complex negligence, product liability, professional malpractice, land use and commercial cases involving trials, hearings, motions and settlements.

In 2000, he was elected to the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges and received the President’s award in 2002 for his work in planning an educational program for the state judiciary on racial disparity in sentencing.

Former President George W. Bush nominated Judge Stengel to the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania in 2003. After Senate confirmation, he was sworn in on June 29, 2004 and served as a federal judge in Philadelphia and Reading. On August 1, 2017, he was named Chief Judge of the EDPA, the third-largest federal court in the nation. At the federal level, Judge Stengel authored more than 1,400 opinions and has presided over dozens of civil and criminal trials, including two multidistrict litigation cases.

In 2009, he was appointed to the Judicial Conference Committee on Judicial Resources, the committee responsible for human resources policy for the entire federal judiciary. He was subsequently named Chairman of the Committee on Judicial Resources by Chief Justice Roberts in 2015.

Judge Stengel announced his retirement from the bench in 2018 and joined Saxton & Stump shortly thereafter.

Background

Judge Stengel received a Bachelor of Arts from Saint Joseph’s University in 1974 and his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1980 where he served on the Law Review. Early in his career, from 1980 to 1984, he was in private practice in Pittsburgh with Dickie, McCamey, and Chilcote, P.C. He then began his own practice in Lancaster with his father, Lawrence E. Stengel, from 1985 until 1990.

He was a teacher at Lancaster Catholic High School from 1974 until 1977 and has served as an adjunct professor at Millersville University, Franklin and Marshall College and the Beasley School of Law at Temple University.

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Hon. Lawrence F. Stengel (Ret.)

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Current Practice

Recent Appointments, Professional Activities, Notable Matters

Judicial Experience

Background

Significant Opinions

Media Mentions

Professorships

Community Involvement

Memberships and Professional Services

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