Copeland G. Bertsche

Co BertscheCo Bertsche’s wide-ranging business career has encompassed regulatory matters, telecommunications, securities, domestic and international corporate governance and restructuring, commercial real estate, ERISA, benefit plan administration and investment in real estate, gas, oil and other “non-traditional” assets, Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), international arbitration, domestic and foreign manufacturing, joint venture negotiations around the world, and language translation. Most recently he has been deeply engaged in healthcare and elder care governance and administration, and serves on the Boards of a local college and a healthcare foundation. Bertsche has a law degree and an MBA in Finance and is a full-time highly experienced business mediator.

International

Bertsche was part of the senior management team in support of AT&T’s international optical fiber and copper cable manufacturing business, including the negotiation, trouble-shooting (“mediating”) and dissolution of joint ventures around the world, including in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Venezuela, Ireland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, India, Thailand, Russia, China and Japan.

Co Bertsche’s Specialties
  • Healthcare
  • Real Estate Construction and Development
  • Commercial Disputes
  • Technology
  • Europe
  • Asia-Pacific

Upon the creation of Lucent Technologies Inc., and its spin-off from AT&T, Bertsche assumed responsibility for Lucent’s International Law Group and was the architect of and responsible for implementation of a worldwide restructure of Lucent’s international corporate organization. He also served as chief counsel to Lucent’s Wireless (now Mobility) Division, directed numerous negotiations worldwide, including in The Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Israel and India. He was also responsible for legal support of its Saudi Arabia operations, and conduct of a related multi-year international arbitration in London.

Bertsche’s early international experience was with the family-owned Lawyers’ & Merchants’ Translation Bureau (NYC), which at the time was the largest privately held language translation company in the United States. Lawyers’ & Merchants’ focused on serving the language translation needs of the legal community, particularly in the areas of patents and other intellectual property, but also provided substantial translation support for the Organization of American States (OAS) and other government organizations. It was out of Lawyers’ & Merchants’ that the American Translators Association was born.

Business and Corporate

As a Bell System corporate and regulatory counsel, Bertsche had focused on general corporate, regulatory and securities matters. At AT&T corporate headquarters, he specialized in corporate and securities matters, was intimately involved in the break-up of the Bell System, was ERISA counsel to the investment management division of AT&T and its multi-billion dollar pension assets, and served as General Counsel of AT&T’s real estate subsidiary, at the time the largest real estate owner/tenant in the country outside the U.S. government.

Bertsche began his career in private practice of law with a small firm specializing in securities law in Newark, NJ, which was subsequently merged into McElroy, Connell, Foley & Geiser (Newark, NJ).

Dispute Resolution

Bertsche is a skilled and experienced dispute resolution professional and business “trouble-shooter.” His considerable mediation experience includes the areas of commercial and residential real estate construction and development, landlord-tenant disputes, insurance coverage claims, vendor-purchaser disputes, legal malpractice, and, more recently, mortgage foreclosures.

He is an Accredited Professional Mediator and a New Jersey court-approved mediator. He serves as a neutral with CPR-The International Institute for Conflict Resolution and is registered with the USCIB/ICC International Court of Arbitration. He is also a member of the New Jersey Association of Professional Mediators, a member of the Board of Directors of the Section on Dispute Resolution of the New Jersey Bar Association, a member of the Justice Marie. L. Garibaldi American Inn of Court for Alternative Dispute Resolution and the New Jersey, New York and American Bar Associations.

Healthcare and Non-Profit Governance

Bertsche serves on the Board of Trustees of The Mountainside Health Foundation (Montclair, NJ), and as President and Member of the Board of Senior Care & Activities Center, a licensed medical adult day care facility (Montclair, NJ). He was a member of the Board of Atlantic Health System (Morristown, NJ) and Chairman of the Advisory Board of its constituent Mountainside Hospital (Glen Ridge, NJ) until the sale of the hospital in 2008. He was instrumental in brokering that sale.

He serves on the Board of Trustees and Executive Committee of Bloomfield College, and is extensively engaged in the development efforts of his alma mater, Colgate University. He is Vice-President and member of the Board of Trustees of the Montclair Golf Club.

Education

Bertsche holds a law degree from Seton Hall Law Center, an MBA in Finance from the predecessor to the Stern School of Management at New York University, and a Bachelor of Arts in German from Colgate University.