On May 30, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued its long-awaited opinion in Pottstown School District v. Montgomery County Board of Assessment Appeals. In a 5-2 decision, the court held that Pottstown Hospital in Montgomery...more
In a June 13, 2025 decision, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court held that a municipality impermissibly granted conditional use approval to an oil and gas well pad and interconnect facility on tax lots that were already...more
It’s an everyday dilemma for many cyclists: Should you leave the roadway when faster-moving traffic approaches? According to a recent decision from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court (and as with many legal issues), it depends. ...more
For a long time, psychological expenses under the Pennsylvania Support Guidelines were treated differently than other medical expenses. While “routine” or “traditional” medical expenses such as surgical, dental, optical, and...more
In a significant victory for property owners in Pignetti v. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT), the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has relaxed the standard for establishing that two noncontiguous parcels of...more
Key Points: Effective April 1, 2025, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania has amended Pa.R.C.P. 220.3, pertaining to voir dire of jurors....more
In a much anticipated decision, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has now defined parentage to include intent-based parentage in the landmark case Glover v Junior. Historically Pennsylvania recognizes parentage of a biological...more
Not everything stamped “privileged” is safe from prying eyes. The Pennsylvania Superior Court recently ruled that interview notes compiled by a sorority’s leadership after a tragic incident were not shielded by...more
In Erie Insurance Exchange v. Hannah Baluch, ___ A.3d ___, 2025 WL 22562 (Pa. Super. Ct., Jan. 3, 2025), the Pennsylvania Superior Court addressed whether an insured with her own automobile insurance policy is entitled to...more
Did you fall for the clickbait headline? No, this post does not take a shot at Pennsylvania’s highest court. Instead, here we consider the court’s practice of ordering some cases “dismissed as improvidently granted” or...more
Let’s assume you inherited a 150 acre farm in Lycoming County that has been owned by your family since 1909. In 2020, you are approached by ABC Drilling about a new oil and gas lease for the farm. You retain counsel and...more
As of December 18, 2024, The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has approved new guardianship rules, effective immediately. These changes include revisions to procedural requirements, updates to forms and new rules for guardianship...more
On October 24, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued a pivotal ruling regarding the public release of investigatory grand jury reports and the due process rights of individuals named in such reports but not charged with...more
Key Points: Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently evaluated the no felony conviction recovery rule. No felony conviction recovery rule bars medical malpractice and indemnification claims brought against murderer’s medical...more
On July 18, 2024, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided that environmental groups were entitled to intervene in a case challenging the lawfulness of a greenhouse gas regulation because the state’s attorneys failed to raise...more
Pennsylvania Superior Court holds that trial court correctly entered nonsuit on plaintiff’s corporate negligence claim for failing to show actual or constructive knowledge....more
Ivy Hill Congregation of Jehovah’s Witnesses v. Dep’t of Human Servs., 2024 WL 561402 (Pa. Feb. 13, 2024) - The plaintiff filed a petition for declaratory judgment with the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, seeking a...more
In Freilich v. Se. Pennsylvania Transportation Auth., 302 A.3d 1261 (Pa. Commw. Ct. 2023), appeal granted, No. 245 EAL 2023, 2024 WL 1044586 (Pa. Mar. 11, 2024), the Pennsylvania Supreme Court was asked whether Section...more
Perhaps unsurprisingly for plaintiffs’ and defense attorneys who have been following the ongoing saga related to statutory damages caps, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court granted an appeal in Freilich v. SEPTA, 302 A.3d 1261...more
Just before Christmas, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court delivered a lump of coal to products liability defendants: Sullivan v. Werner Co., 2023 WL 8859656 (Pa. Dec. 22, 2023), affirming a lower court ruling that barred evidence...more
On November 22, 2023, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania clarified the “quality-quantity” test used to determine whether a company “regularly conducts business” in a county under Pa. R.Civ.P. Rule 2179(a)(2). In Hangey v....more
In a 3-2 decision in Zilka v. Tax Review Board, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld the Commonwealth Court and sided with the City of Philadelphia Department of Revenue in a case addressing whether a City resident was...more
Philadelphia County has long been a preferred forum for plaintiffs’ bar in Pennsylvania. Until last week, a motion to dismiss for improper venue under Pa. R. Civ. P. 1028(a)(1) was a tool at the disposal of any corporate...more
In an unpublished opinion from the Pennsylvania Superior Court handed down on August 31, 2023, a long-standing disagreement about the wording of Pennsylvania's Statute of Repose was finally resolved. In Pennsylvania, “a civil...more
SDSP, LLC v. Attias, 2023 Pa. Super. Unpub. LEXIS 1518 - The Superior Court of Pennsylvania vacated a multimillion-dollar award to subcontractors arising from a payment dispute, and remanded the matter to the trial court...more