An experienced litigator with a strong understanding of how to successfully navigate pre-trial practice to position a case for favorable resolution, Dylan has a keen awareness of the business implications surrounding litigation and constantly seeks to balance aggressive advocacy with cost-effective counseling for his clients. He concentrates his practice in matters involving catastrophic casualty claims, premises liability, commercial and residential construction and property disputes, transportation & logistics, product liability, insurance, and other complex torts and business disputes. He has successfully tried multiple cases to verdict, has handled numerous mediations and arbitrations, and has secured countless dismissals and favorable settlements for individual, insurance, and corporate clients. 

Dylan serves on the Member Committee and previously served as co-chair of the firm’s Associates Committee and chair of the Associates Social Committee. He is also actively involved in summer associate and lateral recruiting, and the mentoring of associates. He has served for a number of years as captain of the firm basketball team in the Philadelphia Lawyers League and is a founding member of Cozen O’Connor Champions, a firm committee that combines running and fitness with business development activities. Prior to joining the firm, Dylan participated in the firm's Summer Associate Program. 

Active in pro bono and community work, Dylan has served on the Eastern District of Pennsylvania’s Attorney Panel for Pro Se Prisoner Civil Rights Cases, does charitable work to benefit various local organizations such as Philabundance, and recently collaborated with the Pennsylvania Innocence Project to help exonerate a man who served a decade in prison for a crime he did not commit.

Dylan received his bachelor's degree in political science from Washington University in St. Louis, graduating with college honors. He earned his law degree, cum laude, from Villanova University School of Law. While at Villanova, he was a staff writer and managing editor of the Villanova Law Review and participated in the Civil Justice Clinic.

Experience

News

Cozen O’Connor Attorneys Win Several PA Legal Awards; Firm Named Finalist for Law Firm of the Year

March 19, 2024

John Cunningham, Steven Haas, Kristina Bakardjiev, Dylan Alper, and Maureen Holland were all recognized this year.

In Their Words: Hacks For New Lawyer Parents From Veterans

November 03, 2023

Dylan Alper was featured in a Law360 article discussing the advice he would give to new parents on navigating the challenges that come with being a parent and a lawyer.

49 Cozen O'Connor Attorneys Named Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and Rising Stars

June 01, 2022

Super Lawyers has selected 49 Cozen O'Connor attorneys to the 2022 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and Rising Stars lists.

More Than 205 Cozen O’Connor Attorneys Named Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch By The Best Lawyers In America

August 19, 2021

Best Lawyers selected 210 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 23 of the firm’s nationwide offices for inclusion in the 2022 edition of The Best Lawyers in America.

Cozen O’Connor Trial Team Led by Paul Leary Named to Top 20 Verdicts in California 2020 List

May 14, 2021

Cozen O’Connor is pleased to announce that a trial team led by Paul Leary has been chosen as a winner of one of the Top 20 Verdicts in California in 2020.

200 Cozen O’Connor Attorneys Named Best Lawyers and Ones to Watch By The Best Lawyers In America

August 20, 2020

Best Lawyers selected 200 Cozen O’Connor lawyers from 23 of the firm’s nationwide offices for inclusion in the 2021 edition of The Best Lawyers in America© (Copyright 2020 by Woodward/White, Inc., of Aiken, SC).

Cozen O’Connor Wins Major Lawsuits Involving Philadelphia’s Comcast II Tower Project and a California Oil Spill

February 24, 2020

Cozen O’Connor today announced it has secured major wins in two high-profile commercial litigation cases, one in Pennsylvania and the other in California.

Publications

Third Circuit Applies Corporate Law to Free Exercise Clause [The Legal Intelligencer]

September 25, 2013

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit recently decided a case involving a challenge, on religious grounds, to the Affordable Care Act. In Conestoga Wood Specialties v. Secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, No. 13-1144, the Third Circuit rejected a religious-based constitutional challenge to the act's provision requiring companies to offer health insurance that covers contraceptives for women.

Supreme Court Revisits Pre-emption Pertaining to Pharmaceuticals [The Legal Intelligencer]

June 13, 2013

The U.S. Supreme Court is presently considering whether federal law pre-empts state design-defect claims targeting generic pharmaceutical products. Just two years ago, the court insulated generic-drug manufacturers from state-law failure-to-warn claims. It seems doubtful that any of the justices in that majority will treat this case differently, and, thus, generic drugmakers may soon enjoy a new immunity.

Re-examining Funding and the Unconstitutional Conditions Doctrine [The Legal Intelligencer]

March 14, 2013

Congress funds a variety of causes to the exclusion of others. That is permissible and necessary. Congress cannot, however, condition its spending on the abandonment of recipients' constitutional rights.

The Supreme Court Revisits the Takings Clause [The Legal Intelligencer]

February 07, 2013

The U.S. Supreme Court granted certiorari this term on two issues concerning the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause. The justices heard oral arguments January 15 on a case focused on the conditions that a land-use agency may attach when issuing a development permit.

Judge Orders Parties to Keep it "Kleen" [E-Discovery Law Review Blog]

November 07, 2012

The first rule of successful lawyering is that one must be a zealous advocate for his or her client. While this mantra is essential to best practice, it should not be followed to the exclusion of traditional trial etiquette. This was the message propounded by the Honorable Nan R. Nolan...

Education

  • Villanova University School of Law, J.D., cum laude, 2012
  • Washington University in St. Louis, B.S., 2009

Awards & Honors

Pennsylvania Super Lawyers "Rising Star" 2022. This award is conferred by Super Lawyers. A description of the selection methodology can be found here. No aspect of this advertisement has been approved by the Supreme Court of New Jersey.

  • Pennsylvania
  • New Jersey
  • Pennsylvania Supreme Court
  • Supreme Court of New Jersey
  • U.S. District Court -- Eastern District of Pennsylvania
  • U.S. District Court -- New Jersey
  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit