Clark Hill Thorp Reed lawyers exemplify the firm’s commitment to hard work, high ethical standards and dedication to client service. Our attorneys practice in diverse areas of law, and combine a multidisciplinary approach to solving legal problems. The bottom line: Clients of Clark Hill Thorp Reed benefit from attorneys whose expertise and commitment deliver effective client outcomes and superior legal service.

Edward B. Harmon was a partner with Clark Hill Thorp Reed from 1988 to 2007. He spent eight years as a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, and he leads the Strategic Transactions practice. Ed has over forty years of legal experience, and he devotes most of his time to acting as counsel for United States and international corporations, financial institutions, buy-out groups and other institutions on their merger and acquisition, disposition, investment banking, and financing transactions. He also frequently counsels board of directors on strategic issues and corporate governance matters.

Ed has recently been quoted in the national news media regarding the Hewlett-Packard Board investigation, executive compensation, anti-trust, corporate governance and merger and acquisition issues.

Education

• J.D., New York University School of Law, 1971
  Editor, New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, 1970-1971
• B.A., City College of the City University of New York, 1968

Professional / Civic Activities

• Adjunct Professor of Law, University of Florida School of Law
• Guest Lecturer, Poe Center for Ethics Education and Research, Warrington College of Business Administration at the University of Florida
• Member, Advisory Board, Department of Finance/Economics, Robert Morris University
• Guest Lecturer, Department of Finance/Economics, Robert Morris University
• Member, The Duquesne Club
• Pennsylvania Bar Institute lecturer on Environmental Law
• Arbitrator for the American Arbitration Association
• Mentor of the Entrepreneurial Fellows Center of the Katz Graduate School of Business of the University of Pittsburgh
• First President of the Sewickley Farms and Estates Homeowners Association
• Serves on the Board of Directors of Entaire Global Companies, Inc., and is Chairman of the organization's Audit Committee
• Serves on the Board of Directors and on the Audit and Compensation Committees of Markovitz Enterprises, Inc.
• Serves on the Board of Directors and the Audit Committee, and also as Chairman of the Compensation Committee, of Superior Forge and Steel Corporation
• Member of American Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association and Allegheny County Bar Association
• Counsel to the Flat Glass Logistics Research, Education and Standards Council
• Former member of the Board of Directors of the Urban League
• Member, World Affairs Council of Pittsburgh
• General Counsel, Pittsburgh Electric Engines, Inc.
• Appointed as Guardian Ad Litem in the 8th Judicial Circuit of the State of Florida

Bar / Court Admissions

• Passed July 1971 New York State Bar Examination
• Admitted to Bar of the State of New York, February 1972 (Inactive)
• United States Court of Appeals, Second Circuit, February 1974
• United States District Court for Southern District of New York, October 1974
• United States District Court for Eastern District of New York, October 1974
• Passed July 1988 Commonwealth of Pennsylvania State Bar Examination
• Admitted to Bar of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, November 1988
• United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, November 1994

Mergers and Acquisitions

• Represented regional convenience store franchisor and operator with respect to disposition of certain locations.
• Represented largest United States distributor of automotive replacement glass in acquiring assets of similar entity with over one thousand employees and one hundred and twenty different locations.
• Represented multimillion dollar metals processing company in its acquisition, simultaneously, of two Canadian entities, whose shareholders were then involved in active litigation against each other, and selected assets of a New York based distributor thereof.
• Primary counsel with respect to the acquisition, by merger, by a large public company, of each of a publicly traded chemical and industrial gases company and a manufacturer of household appliances.
• Counsel with respect to the acquisition, by a client, of a substantial portion of a previously shuttered steel manufacturing facility.
• Counsel with respect to the acquisition of two large world famous publicly traded restaurant companies by negotiated tender offers.
• Counsel with respect to the acquisition of a substantial electronic component manufacturer by a "management group", the subsequent financial and operational restructuring thereof and the later purchase, by a different client, of the assets of the same entity.
• Counsel with respect to the acquisition of a facility related to the manufacture of industrial gases in California.
• Representation of a "technology startup company" with respect to its acquisition, from a large international conglomerate, of intellectual property and counsel to the board of directors and shareholders thereof with respect to development plans.
• Representation of a client with respect to its acquisition of one of the largest importers of alcoholic beverages into the United States.
• Counsel with respect to the acquisition, by a manufacturing client, of a "research and development organization" and addressing of related intellectual property issues.

Financial and Business Transactions

• Represented the selling shareholders of a prominent railroad equipment manufacturer in the sale of the entity to a diversifying conglomerate.
• Represented automotive equipment component manufacturer in a "management buyout."
• Represented a leading manufacturer of oilfield flares and related equipment in connection with both its sale and the sale of numerous foreign divisions and subsidiaries.
• Lead counsel with respect to numerous bank financings and/or restructurings.
• Primary counsel with respect to a sale of a world renowned medical equipment manufacturer to a "leveraged buyout" group.
• Represented management in the course of its sale of one of the largest suppliers of water purification equipment to a diversifying conglomerate.
• Counsel to "startup" corporations in the course of their initial relationships with shareholders, venture capitalists and lenders and successive “rounds” of financings including, but not limited to, the negotiation, execution and delivery of related employment agreements, shareholders’ agreements, investment agreements and registration agreements.
• Counsel to prominent software design firm in all of its legal matters including, but not limited to, negotiation of principal licensing agreements, employment agreements and general guidance to the board of directors.
• Represented numerous senior executives with respect to the negotiation, execution and delivery of employment agreements.
• Serves on the board of directors of numerous clients as well as on the audit and compensation committees thereof.
• Principal counsel with respect to the sale, in separate segments, of a large multi-national industrial leasing concern.
• Counsel with respect to the sale of a large naval equipment supply entity to a foreign "non-NATO" acquirer with attendant national security concerns addressed.
• Counsel with respect to two transactions involving the sale of lawnmower and related equipment manufacturers.
• Counsel with respect to the purchase and later sale of a fire equipment control corporation.
• Counsel to two separate governmental entities with respect to their negotiation, execution and delivery of master software development, licensing and maintenance agreements.
• Counsel to a world renowned diversified publicly held company with respect to the execution and delivery of a master management and information services consulting agreement with one of the "big five" accounting firms.
• Counsel to a governmental entity with respect to the negotiation, execution and delivery of certain "privatization" agreements and the implementation of the same.
• Substantial experience with respect to the acquisition and securing of intellectual property assets and personnel attendant thereto.
• Counsel, on an ongoing basis, to numerous engineering and construction firms including serving as lead counsel with respect to the formation of "partnering" relationships and the acquisition of real property and the related construction of a new headquarters facilities for one of such clients.
• Served as counsel to a client serving on the committee of unsecured creditors with respect to a significant bankruptcy proceeding.
• Counsel for a newly formed national trade association.
• Furnishing of antitrust and related regulatory guidance to numerous clients.
• Counsel with respect to the sale of a calcium carbide producer.
• Counsel with respect to the sale, by a conglomerate, of its interests in a manufacturer of tape drives.
• Representation of a client with respect to its sale of a substantial business engaged in the rental of electronic test equipment.
• Representation of a client with respect to the sale of a United States manufacturer of pyrotechnic devices, primarily sold to the Department of Defense and certain foreign entities, to a foreign investor.
• Primary counsel with respect to the financial restructuring of a large publicly held entity which transaction involved "dealing" with a bank group of twenty-nine large multinational lending institutions and substantial equity investors.
• Counsel for numerous clients with respect to the securing by said clients of tax advantaged financial assistance.
• Counsel with respect to the dissolution of a New Jersey based joint venture between a domestic client and a large German chemical manufacturer.
• Counsel with respect to the sale, by a client, of a large domestic food processing corporation.

International Law

• Represented several clients with respect to the establishment of joint ventures in the People’s Republic of China and the later dissolution of one of them.
• Represented clients with respect to the sale of large industrial gases companies in Columbia, Venezuela, Aruba and Texas to a French-owned conglomerate.
• Counsel to an English software company with respect to its equity investment, by a license of certain intellectual property assets, in a United States enterprise.
• Representation of foreign investors, from both the People’s Republic of China, and numerous other jurisdictions, in the United States.
• Representation of client in the pultruded fiber glass industry with respect to a sale of minority interest in that enterprise to the largest oil company in Finland.
• Representation of a United States manufacturing client with respect to its acquisition of two United Kingdom based manufacturers.
• Representation of large Mexican publicly owned conglomerate with respect to certain of its United States investments and activities.
• Counsel with respect to the sale by a United States based conglomerate of an aluminum manufacturing facility in Luxembourg to a Swedish conglomerate.