The Pennsylvania Legal Blog

The Pennsylvania Bar Association Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility today issued Formal Opinion 2020-300 – Ethical Obligations of Attorneys Working Remotely. The Opinion is intended to provide global guidance to attorneys working from home, not only during the COVID-19 pandemic, but also for those who will work remotely even after the situation returns […]

It is incompetent for a lawyer to believe, let alone say or write that “It is illegal [for a lawyer] to text or email anything of substance.” The statement is also completely wrong, legally and ethically. Yet one lawyer, an ethics “maven” no loss, who writes a column for a major local legal newspaper, actually […]

Employment discrimination claims are a challenge because almost all end up in Federal Courts where the law has favored employers. That’s why when an employee wins a claim, it’s important. When an employee wins a claim in the U.S. Supreme Court, it is an even more important victory because that decision will impact every employee […]

Clients new and old have been calling their attorneys, including our office, to either prepare their Wills, Living Wills, Powers of Attorney and other documents as they recognize that life is often fragile. While the logistics of planning are not convenient now, it is unfortunately a good time to draft these documents and avoid a […]

Once again, the Trump Administration is proposing changes to the Social Security Disability benefits program that could result in many people losing their SSDI and SSI benefits. Individuals who receive disability benefits are always subject to “continuing disability reviews,” which were originally intended to determine whether they still deserve compensation. For many years, there have […]

The Commonwealth Court has, in another case in which Attorneys Dan Siegel and Christa High were appeals court counsel, eliminated yet another method used by insurers and employers to prevent medical providers who treat injured workers in Pennsylvania from being paid. In the case, Workers’ First Pharmacy v. Bureau of Workers’ Compensation Fee Review Hearing […]

Recovering from an automobile accident can be difficult and painful. It is even harder if your auto insurance company requires you to go to a medical examination whenever it wants and with a doctor it selects—or risk losing your benefits. No more. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently ruled that insurance companies cannot mandate that insureds […]

If you get hurt walking to your job from the parking lot, you are often eligible for workers’ compensation benefits in Pennsylvania. On November 20, 2019, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court unanimously agreed that injured workers should be compensated if they are injured in a parking area—even if that parking area is optional. Attorney Daniel J. […]

We all hear that voting matters. Recent events highlight why voting matters for every worker in Pennsylvania and why, if the legislature reflected the values of injured workers, this blog post might be different. Tomorrow, Pennsylvanians vote for judges, and it’s important to vote for candidates who reflect your values; your vote matters. Here are […]

The term itself sounds alien – “interlocutory.” It refers to interim court decisions that usually aren’t appealable. Yet, the Pennsylvania Appeals Court Rules permit parties to appeal from some interlocutory rulings. The rub is when and how, two considerations lawyers may not think about or understand. Today, we won a case in which the Superior […]