MARKHAM READ ZERNER - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Member of the Bars of Massachusetts

Bridget Zerner is a member of the bars of Massachusetts and New York and is admitted to the United States District Courts of Massachusetts and the Southern, Western and Eastern Districts of New York, and the United States Court of Appeals for the First, Seventh, and Eleventh Circuit. Since joining the firm in 2006, Bridget has represented clients in civil and criminal matters in Massachusetts and New York, and in federal cases across the country, including California, Georgia, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas, and Utah. Her practice has predominantly focused on civil litigation of commercial and fraud disputes as well as defense of civil and criminal government actions, including claims of fraud, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act violations, securities fraud, civil forfeiture, insurance disputes, contract disputes, and defamation. She has also handled cases involving discrimination, student rights and violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act and has experience defending criminal cases including charges of drug distribution, assault and battery, and fraud. Bridget grew up in Maryland until moving to Washington, DC to attend American University where she double majored in Law & Society and Philosophy and received her Bachelor of Arts Degree in 2004 graduating summa cum laude with University Honors in philosophy and was inducted into the academic honor society Phi Beta Kappa. Bridget then moved to Boston in 2004 and was awarded a J.D. from Boston College Law School in 2007. During her studies at Boston College, Bridget was a participant, then a co-leader, of the Indian Law Service project that organized service trips to the Navajo Nation where law students interned for the Navajo Supreme Court and Department of Justice. She also interned for a summer in New Mexico where she provided legal aid services for the Navajo Nation and Jicarilla-Apache tribe.

Elizabeth Read was first admitted to practice in California in 1979. She is a graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, and received her J.D. from UC Hastings College of Law.

John Markham has been practicing law since 1973. He first practiced commercial law as an associate at the Wall Street law firm of Shearman & Sterling in New York and at Lillick, McHose & Charles (now Nixon Peabody) in San Francisco. He later served as a federal prosecutor for six years in San Diego, San Francisco, and Boston, where he was appointed Chief of the Major Frauds Section. Between his private practice and his six years as a prosecutor, he has tried federal cases, mostly criminal, in Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, Oregon and California. John has also argued appeals in federal courts throughout the country. John is a member of the bars of Massachusetts, Maine, New York, and California, as well as a member of the United States District Courts in those states. He is also admitted to the federal bar of the Districts of Vermont, Connecticut, and Wisconsin, the United States Courts of Appeal for the First, Second, Third, Seventh, Eighth and Ninth Circuit Courts of Appeal, the Tax Court, and the United States Supreme Court. John has taught a course in criminal litigation at the Harvard Law School as an adjunct faculty member (1986-89), taught criminal law and procedure as well as evidence at the University of Santa Clara Law School as a full-time professor (1989-1994), and was an instructor at the Attorney General's Advocacy Institute at the Department of Justice (1986-1990). His writings include contributions to books and journals: California Criminal Trial Practice, Matthew Bender. A three-volume treatise on the California Evidence Code. Making the Most of the Multiparty Defense, Litigation, The Journal of the ABA Section of Litigation, Vol. 18, 1992. Attacking and Supporting Witness Credibility, California Litigation, The Journal of the Litigation Section (California), Vol 4, No. 3, Spring 1991. John received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Roanoke College in Salem, Virginia in 1969. He majored in French literature and made the Dean's List for his academic achievements. As an undergraduate, he defended other students charged with honor and conduct violations, was captain of the varsity tennis team, and played varsity soccer. He went on to obtain his law degree from Washington & Lee University School of Law in 1972. He won the school moot court competition, competed as a regional finalist in the National Moot Court Competition, and edited and contributed to the Washington & Lee Law University Review. He was a member of the Honor Counsel and was inducted into the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates.