Montgomery McCracken elects New Partners for 2012
March 13, 2012
Types : Press Releases
William W. Keffer and David J. Roper Named Newest Firm Partners
Montgomery McCracken today announced that the firm has named William W. Keffer and David J. Roper to its partnership, effective March 1, 2012. Mr. Keffer and Mr. Roper are members of the Firm’s Business Department.
William W. Keffer represents non profit and for profit (privately held) companies in connection with their general operations, structure, governance, compliance, mergers, acquisitions, succession planning and other transactions, including international dealings. Mr. Keffer has extensive experience handling all types of commercial real estate matters, including acquisitions, dispositions, leasing, financings and also all types of liquor licensing matters, where he represents local, regional and national clients in alcoholic beverage matters. Mr Keffer also represents corporate trustees and foundations in all aspects of their operations and he counsels individuals and families in connection with their estate planning and estate administration.
Mr. Keffer’s professional and civic association activities include the Philadelphia Bar Association, for which he serves as an Executive Committee member of the Real Property Section and the Rose Valley Borough Zoning Hearing Board. He is a trustee of Camp Tecumseh, a boy’s camp located in Center Harbor, New Hampshire and a member of the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Association of Independent Schools (PAIS). Mr. Keffer is a soccer coach in the Nether Providence Athletic Association.
Mr. Keffer is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.
Mr. Keffer received a J.D. degree from Widener University School of Law in 1994 where he served as a staff articles advisor for the Delaware Journal of Corporate Law. He graduated from Denison University with a B.A. degree in History and minor in Spanish in 1988.
David J. Roper concentrates his practice on transactional work in the pharmaceutical industry. He is experienced in drafting and negotiating commercial and intellectual property agreements, including patent, technology and software license agreements, supply agreements, manufacturing agreements, asset purchase agreements, license agreements to license compounds in for development and commercialization as drugs, license agreements for research tools, sponsored research agreements with universities, and research collaboration, software development, service, testing, consulting, material transfer and confidentiality agreements. His experience also includes negotiating agreements with European and Japanese companies, drafting and prosecuting patent and trademark applications, and mergers and acquisitions, including extensive involvement in two multi-billion dollar divestitures. He has extensive experience in providing legal services to in-house business development, research and development, and procurement personnel in the pharmaceutical industry.
Prior to joining Montgomery McCracken, Mr. Roper was engaged for five years as an independent contractor on a full-time basis by a multi-billion dollar international pharmaceutical company to serve as outside counsel and provide ongoing counseling and legal services to a team of in-house personnel that was responsible for ongoing product development initiatives and for supporting the research and development of new drugs. Prior to that engagement, he served as in-house counsel for eleven years in several chemical and pharmaceutical companies, including U.S. subsidiaries of European owned companies. His in-house experience includes serving as an Associate General Counsel at DuPont Pharmaceuticals Company, as Chief Patent Counsel at Avecia Inc., and as a Senior Attorney, Intellectual Property at Zeneca Inc.
Mr. Roper is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and Kentucky. He is also registered to practice before the United States Patent and Trademark Office.
Mr. Roper received a J.D. degree from the University of Chicago School of Law in 1984. He earned a B.S. degree in Chemistry, summa cum laude, from Furman University in 1981. He graduated from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary with a Master of Divinity degree in 1987.