Thomas Loikith is Of Counsel in Harwood Lloyd’s Commercial Department, concentrating his practice in financial services law, commercial transactions, real estate, and business law. Mr. Loikith has extensive experience in representing financial services clients, representing lenders and borrowers in commercial asset-based and real estate loan transactions, and forming and counseling small businesses. Mr. Loikith received his B.A. in Political Science, Summa Cum Laude, from Montclair State College in 1975. He received his J.D., with Honors, from Rutgers School of Law-Newark in 1978. Mr. Loikith was Law Secretary to Hon. Peter Ciolino, Judge, Superior Court of New Jersey, Chancery Division, Passaic County for the 1978-1979 Term. Mr. Loikith has been named by New Jersey Super Lawyers® magazine as one of the top attorneys in New Jersey for 2019. The selections for this list are made by the research team at Super Lawyers, which is a service of the Thomson Reuters, Legal division based in Egan, MN. Each year, the research team at Super Lawyers undertakes a multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check. The decisions made by Super Lawyers have not been approved by the New Jersey Supreme Court. Mr. Loikith was an adjunct faculty member, teaching principally legal research and writing in the Legal Studies Department of Montclair State University, and the first-year writing program at Seton Hall University School of Law. In recent years, he has spoken at seminars regarding commercial loan documentation, Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, and the New Jersey Revised Uniform Limited Liability Company Act. Mr. Loikith is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New Jersey (1978), the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1978), the United States Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit (1981), and the United States Supreme Court (1982). Mr. Loikith is currently President and a Trustee of the Bergen County Bar Association, and Co-Chair of its Banking / Business Law Committee and Corporate Law Committee. He is also a President and a Trustee of the Bergen County Bar Foundation.

William DeVito is a Partner at Harwood Lloyd. Prior to joining Harwood LLoyd, he was a Staff Counsel Attorney for AIG from 2000 to July of 2024, including serving as co-attorney of record in New York and attorney of record in Connecticut from 2017 through July of 2024. Mr. Devito worked at another prominent defense firm briefly at the end of 2024, handling high exposure cases for Liberty Mutual and Progressive Insurance before joining Harwood Lloyd. Shortly, after joining AIG Staff Counsel in 2000 he was promoted to Senior Trial Attorney and became the dedicated handling attorney for a major municipal contractor and several City agencies. From 2006 to 2008 he managed bad-faith litigation throughout the country for AIG’s personal lines unit. He has handled automobile, premises, construction UM/UIM and general liability cases. He was also dedicated to training Claims Professionals and his staff counsel lawyers as well as, presenting programs for the NY Defense Association and National Business Institute. He has presented courses on defending Traumatic Brain Injury claims, Legal Ethics, Premises and Liability, Lifecare plans and the NY Administrative Code as it applies to trip and fall cases. Prior to working at AIG, he served as a Law clerk for the Superior Court of Connecticut for one year and then began his litigation experience working for a prominent plaintiff firm in NYC for two years. In 1996, he joined Geico’s Staff Counsel team in New York where he led and affirmative motion unit and then was promoted to trial attorney and exclusively handled trials in Kings County from 1998 to 2000.

Carmel J. Decker is a Partner with Harwood Lloyd, practicing in its Insurance Defense Litigation and Commercial Litigation Departments. Ms. Decker concentrates her practice in employment law, civil rights violations, construction law, corporate and contract law and insurance law. Ms. Decker’s employment law practice includes complex litigation in state and federal courts involving wrongful termination, sexual harassment/hostile work environment, discrimination, retaliation, breach of contract, corporate and business law, common-law claims, ERISA, CEPA, the New Jersey Law against Discrimination, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, hiring practices, restrictive covenants, employee handbooks and workplace torts. Ms. Decker represents companies, public entities and public employees in matters involving civil rights violations, negligence and police conduct. Ms. Decker also handles matters involving directors’ and officers’ liability, particularly employment and civil rights disputes. Ms. Decker lectures on employment matters including sexual harassment/hostile work environment discrimination, hiring practices and litigation of employment issues. Ms. Decker drafts employee handbooks, counsels clients on risk management and regulatory compliance and provides preventive counseling to employers on employment issues. Ms. Decker also appears in matters before the New Jersey Division on Civil Rights and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Ms. Decker’s construction law practice includes complex multi-party litigation involving claims of construction defect, professional liability of architects and engineers and construction site accidents. As part of her construction defect practice, Ms. Decker handles matters involving claims of deficiencies in construction and design, latent construction defects, building code violations, breach of contract and insurance. Ms. Decker’s construction law practice encompasses matters arising on public, private, commercial and residential projects. Ms. Decker received her B.S., cum laude, in Business Administration from Montclair State College in 1978 and her J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1981. Ms. Decker is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New Jersey (1982), the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1982) and the courts of the State of New York (1989). Ms. Decker is a member of the Federal Bar Association, the Bergen County Bar Association and the Professional Liability Underwriting Society.

William H. Grae joined Harwood Lloyd LLP in 2024 as Counsel with potential responsibility for litigation and trial work in New York and New Jersey. He received his B.A. in Anthropology Crom Cornell in 1991 and a J.D. from Pace Law School in 1994, graduating from both school with academic honors. He has more than thirty (30) years of experience as a creative and innovative litigator, trial attorney, and appellate advocate, whose work in the area of personal-injury defense with a particular emphasis on NY Labor Law/construction accidents, tractor trailer/common carrier claims, general-liability hospitality industry and Dram Shop claims, product liability claims, and litigation of related coverage disputes in NY and NJ. He has both prosecuted and defended professional liability claims involving the medical, dental, podiatric, veterinary, and engineering fields. With respect to construction-related litigation in NY, Grae has particular experience providing risk-management, emergency site-response coordination, and cost-effective legal counsel to defend large-loss claims asserted against construction project participants including owners, general contractors, and construction managers, along with litigation of related coverage disputes. In addition to the specialty, Grae has also extensive litigation and trial experience involving general-liability claims, catastrophic motor carrier and aviation events, mass torts (pharmaceutical, motor-vehicle product liability, lead, and asbestos exposure) in New York and New Jersey State and federal courts. Grae has served as local trial counsel for multiple nationwide defense programs and has experience trying cases before juries throughout the City and State of New York and several NJ counties as well as federal court. Outside the field of personal-injury, Grae also has substantial experience representing clients including financial services providers, real-estate developers, and other business entities confronted by commercial, regulatory claims, and employment-discrimination claims. This includes TILA and CFPB compliance work and defense of consumer credit, NY and NJ Consumer Fraud, usury and related liability claims in NY, NJ and federal courts. In NY, he has also assisted property developers and owners negotiate and litigation issues related to large-scale commercial development projects, land use, and access agreements. Grae has also represented clients and helped resolve based on alleged architectural barriers claims under ADA, wage-and-hour claims under FLSA and related NY State and City/local law, and employment-discrimination claims based on federal, NY, and local law. Grae’s appellate experience includes multiple appearances before each department of the New York State Appellate Division, the New York State Court of Appeals, the NJ Appellate Division, and the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. His active practice involving alternate dispute resolution not involves frequent mediations and arbitrations. Grae has also served as a volunteer arbitrator in the City of New York Small Claims Court (Kings and Bronx Counties). Grae’s prior pro bono work includes representing the survivors of the Golden Venture disaster and Haitian civil war in US Asylum proceedings as well as serving as a (volunteer) Special Assistant District Attorney with the Appeals Bureau of the Office of the Kings County District Attorney (Brooklyn, NY). In 2004, he was certified as a NJ Animal Cruelty Investigation and later was commissioned as a Human Enforcement Officer (volunteer) with the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Animal Cruelty Task Force/Bergen County Chapter of the NJ SPCA (Law Enforcement Division), volunteer work he continued from 2005 to 2010. Grae has lectured on construction-accident liability arising under New York’s Labor Law, medical malpractice risk management, and other litigation-related subjects.

André obtained his Juris Doctor in 2008 from Fordham Law School., and joined the firm in 2025. His extensive litigation experience includes the representation of insurance companies and their insureds, municipalities, lending institutions, cooperative and condominium boards, property management companies, and private clients, among others. André is admitted to practice in New York at both the state and federal levels.

Kathleen M. Lee is a Partner with Harwood Lloyd’s Commercial Department, specializing in commercial litigation, environmental law and estate litigation. Ms. Lee also has experience with employment, contracts and real estate matters. Ms. Lee received her B.A. in Journalism and History from the University of Connecticut in 1993. She received her J.D. from Rutgers School of Law – Newark in 1997. While attending Rutgers Law School, she served as Business Editor of the Women’s Rights Law Reporter from 1996-1997. Since 2001, Ms. Lee has served as pro bono counsel for Goals For Life, Inc., a non-profit, charitable corporation that has raised over $350,000 for worthy women’s health initiatives. Ms. Lee assisted with the formation of Goals For Life, has been a trustee of the organization since 2002 and President since 2004. Ms. Lee is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New Jersey (1997), the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1997), the courts of the District of Columbia (2013), and the courts of the State of New York (2013). Ms. Lee is a member of the Bergen County Bar Association.

Mark D. Marino is a Partner in Harwood Lloyd’s Commercial Department where he represents public companies, private businesses and individuals in both an advisory role and as trial counsel throughout New Jersey and New York state and federal courts. Mr. Marino regularly represents clients in a wide array of disputes, including, product liability and toxic tort, real estate and general commercial disputes. Mr. Marino also regularly represents insurance brokers in malpractice disputes. Mr. Marino earned his B.A. in Political Science from Boston College in 1995. He received his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law in 1998. Mr. Marino served as law clerk to the Hon. Patricia K. Costello, Judge Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Civil Part Hudson County for the 1998-1999 term. Mr. Marino is admitted to practice before the courts of New Jersey (1998) and New York (1999), the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (1998) and the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York (1999). Mr. Marino is also a member of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

John W. McDermott is a Co-Managing Partner of Harwood Lloyd, LLP. Mr. McDermott has engaged in all aspects of commercial transactions and litigation including but not limited to real estate, loans, mortgage foreclosures, fraud, land use and zoning. He is presently spearheading the development of the firm’s new Cannabis Law practice group. Mr. McDermott received his B.S. in Economics, magna cum laude, from St. Peter’s College in 2003. He received his J.D. from Seton Hall University School of Law in 2008. While at Seton Hall, Mr. McDermott was a member of the Appellate Advocacy Moot Court Board and aided in drafting semester assignments which highlighted current discrepancies in federal appellate circuit court decisions. Additionally, Mr. McDermott authored, “Growth Attenuation in the Profoundly Developmentally Disabled: A therapeutic Option or a Socioeconomic Convenience” which was published in the Seton Hall Legislative Journal. Mr. McDermott clerked for the Hon. Mark M. Russello, Judge, Superior Court of New Jersey, Law Division, Bergen County. Prior to joining Harwood Lloyd, Mr. McDermott worked for a Fortune 100 Company in Manhattan. He is actively involved in the community and has participated in and arranged various pro bono projects. Mr. McDermott is admitted to practice before the courts of the State of New Jersey (2008), the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey (2008), and the courts of the State of New York (2009). Mr. McDermott was appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court and is currently Vice Chair of the District IIB Ethics Committee. He was also previously appointed by the New Jersey Supreme Court to serve on the New Jersey Fee Arbitration Committee where he served as Vice Chairman of the Bergen County District Fee Arbitration Committee. Mr. McDermott has been named by New Jersey Super Lawyers® magazine as one of the top attorneys in New Jersey for 2018. The selections for this list are made by the research team at Super Lawyers, which is a service of the Thomson Reuters, Legal division based in Egan, MN. Each year, the research team at Super Lawyers undertakes a multi-phase selection process that includes a statewide survey of lawyers, independent evaluation of candidates by the attorney-led research staff, a peer review of candidates by practice area, and a good-standing and disciplinary check. The decisions made by Super Lawyers have not been approved by the New Jersey Supreme Court. Mr. McDermott has been named by Best Lawyers in America as one of America’s Best Attorneys for Real Estate Law. Mr. McDermott is named in New Jersey Monthly Magazine as one of New Jersey’s best attorneys.

Alan G. Philibosian is a Partner in Harwood Lloyd’s Commercial Department, concentrating his practice in real estate lending, commercial leasing, acquisitions and dispositions of commercial and residential real estate, and land use and development. Mr. Philibosian has represented national and local community banks in connection with real estate loan transactions. Mr. Philibosian received his BA in History, with high honors from Rutgers College in 1975. He was also elected a member of Phi Beta Kappa in 1975. Mr. Philibosian received his JD from Boston College Law School in 1978 and LLM in Taxation from New York University in 1979. He served as a Commissioner for the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey from January 1995 through January 2003. While at the Port Authority he was Chairman of the Audit Committee, Chairman of the Construction Committee, Vice-Chairman of the Finance Committee and as a Member of the World Trade Center Sub-Committee and Special Sub-Committee on Security. During his tenure at Port Authority he also served on the Operations Committee, Capital Programs and Port Planning and the Business Opportunity Committee and Goals and Objectives Sub-Committee. Mr. Philibosian previously served as a Board Member of Mack Cali Realty Corporation (CLI), a national real estate investment trust, listed on the New York Stock Exchange from 1997 – 2019 (now known as Veris Residential). He served as a member of the Executive Compensation and Option Committee (of which he previously served as Chairman) and as a member of the Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee. He also served as counsel to the Haworth Planning Board from 2002-2008. Mr. Philibosian previously served as a member of the Board of Directors and currently serves on the Budget Finance, and Endowment Committees of the Armenian Missionary Association of America in Paramus, New Jersey, and as a member of the Board of Elders of the Armenian Presbyterian Church in Paramus New Jersey.

Eva Signore is Counsel to Harwood Lloyd’s Insurance Litigation Department, focusing on premises liability, automobile negligence, products liability, social host liability and claims against public entities. A seasoned trial attorney, Ms. Signore spent over a decade as the primary litigator for Bergen County Counsel, defending the County in a wide range of civil matters. She also served as a Bergen County Assistant Prosecutor, where she single-handedly handled domestic violence weapons forfeitures, expungements and Krol hearings. Her diverse background –spanning civil, criminal, matrimonial law and municipal law, gives her a sharp well-rounded perspective in every case she handles.