H. Laddie Montague Jr. Wins 2021 Lifetime Achievement Award; Camille Fundora Rodriguez Named Rising Star of the Plaintiffs Bar by the National Law Journal

Berger Montague is proud to announce that Chair Emeritus & Of Counsel H. Laddie Montague Jr. has won the National Law Journal’s 2021 Elite Trial Lawyers Lifetime Achievement Award. In addition, Shareholder Camille Fundora Rodriguez was named a Rising Star of the Plaintiffs Bar. The Firm is a finalist in three other award categories: Antitrust Department of the Year, Pharmaceutical Litigation Department of the Year, and NLJ’s Diversity Initiative Award.

Each year, the lawyers and law firms honored in the Elite Trial Lawyers award series demonstrate repeated success in cutting-edge work on behalf of plaintiffs and possess a solid track record of client wins. For the 2021 award series, NLJ editors and reporters reviewed hundreds of submissions.

H. Laddie Montague Jr. Wins Lifetime Achievement Award

Mr. Montague has had a unique and distinguished 56-year legal career, including 13 years as Berger Montague Chairman. After graduating from the Dickinson School of Law and a stint in the army, he joined David Berger at Cohen, Shapiro, Berger & Cohen in 1964. In 1970, Mr. Berger formed David Berger, P.A., and Mr. Montague was one of four attorneys who joined the new firm. In 1977, David Berger, P.A. became Berger & Montague, P.C. While David Berger is considered one of the founding fathers of the application of the class action device, Mr. Montague is one of its founding mentors.

Merrill G. Davidoff, a longtime managing shareholder of the Firm, says this about Mr. Montague:

“Throughout the nearly 50 years that I have known and admired Laddie, the overriding theme was that we would provide the highest quality of lawyers, and the most ethical lawyering, in the profession. We grew our Firm when it was still very much a profession, not just a business. Thanks to Laddie’s mentoring, that is still our philosophy.”

For his long and successful career, Mr. Montague was singled out as one of the top antitrust attorneys in Pennsylvania by Chambers and Partners, lauding him for his longtime stewardship of the Firm’s antitrust department and as “one of the most accomplished figures in the Pennsylvania antitrust arena.” In addition to being recognized in publications such as Lawdragon, Who’s Who Legal, The Legal 500, Law360, the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Philadelphia Business Journal, and Philadelphia Magazine, Mr. Montague was one of only two inaugural inductees into the American Antitrust Institute’s Private Antitrust Enforcement Hall of Fame in 2018. He is a Fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

Some of the cases in which Mr. Montague participated as a co-lead counsel or as one of the trial counsel include In re Corrugated Container Antitrust Litig., In re Master Key Antitrust Litig., Bogosian v. Gulf Oil Co., the Tobacco Litigation representing the State of Connecticut, In re High Fructose Corn Syrup Antitrust Litig., the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Litig., and the Payment Card Interchange Fee Litig., pending in the Second Circuit.

Mr. Montague is past Chairman of the Dickinson School of Law Board of Governors, Chairman of the Dickinson Law Association, and led the shaping and finalization of the Law School’s relationship with Pennsylvania State University. He is a Public Interest Law Center Board and Executive Committee member and a Haverford School Trustee.

Camille Fundora Rodriguez Named Rising Star of the Plaintiffs Bar

Ms. Rodriguez has been an attorney with the Firm since 2014. During that time, she has served in key roles in many nationwide wage and hour class and collective actions arising under the Fair Labor Standards Act and state laws.

She has successfully challenged the unlawful wage and hour business practices of numerous industries, including home health aide companies, meat and poultry plants, and landscaping companies. Her work has resulted both in payment of back wages and compensation changes by the companies. Currently, Ms. Rodriguez represents individuals in a variety of industries including utilization review nurses and delivery couriers.

Ms. Rodriguez has also distinguished herself as a leader within the Firm. In February 2020, she was named Berger Montague’s first Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Coordinator and has assembled a task force to help ensure that proactive efforts are being made to continue to foster and encourage a collaborative, supportive, and respectful environment among all those who work for and with the Firm. Two of her first major initiatives included drafting the Firm’s DEI Mission Statement and working to have Juneteenth—the date (June 19th) when Major General Gordon Granger arrived in Galveston, TX to announce the end of the Civil War and slavery—declared an annual Firm holiday and day of action.

Ms. Rodriguez is an active member of the National Employment Lawyers Association and the Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, and Hispanic Bar Associations. She also served as a Board Member of Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) of Philadelphia.

Firm Chairman Eric Cramer has this to say about Ms. Rodriguez:

“Camille is a true leader within her cases, our Firm, and in the community. We could not be prouder to have her become a Shareholder of our Firm. We look forward to benefitting from her leadership for many years to come.”

Berger Montague Named a Finalist for the Antitrust Department of the Year, Pharmaceutical Litigation Department of the Year, and Diversity Initiative Awards

The 2021 Elite Trial Lawyers winners are set to be announced at the Elite Trial Lawyers event on July 29, 2021, at Mandarin Oriental in New York City.

Meet The Team

[ View Bio ]

H. Laddie Montague

Of Counsel

• hlmontague@bm.net
• 215-875-3010

[ View Bio ]

Camille Fundora Rodriguez

Shareholder

• crodriguez@bm.net
• 215-875-4635