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
In a July 17, 2024 Opinion, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided in AUUE, Inc. v. Borough of Jefferson Hills Zoning Hearing Board, No. 28 WAP 2022, ___ A.3d ___ (Pa. 2024), that the Pennsylvania Municipalities Planning Code...more
As reported in Public Citizen’s Consumer Law & Policy Blog, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently agreed to review Chilutti v. Uber Technologies, Inc., in which a divided panel of the Pennsylvania Superior Court (and later...more
On August 20, 2024, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania issued a ruling in Wolfe v. Reading Blue Mountain & Northern RR Co. The Court overturned the Commonwealth Court’s determination that a condemnation of private land by a...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
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will soon hear arguments in a case that may have far reaching implications for businesses facing consumer protection claims in the state....more
Across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Pace-O-Matic’s (or “POM’s”) “skill-based” games have been creeping into bars, gas stations, restaurants, and other local establishments. These games resemble slot machines in their...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
Last month, in Mertis v. Oh, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that a physician subpoenaed for deposition in a malpractice case does not have unfettered discretion in choosing his or her attorney. Rather, the Supreme...more
When Pennsylvania’s Lottery Law created the state’s lottery in 1971, the internet was still a figment of Al Gore’s imagination. Fast forward half a century, the internet has become a digital battleground, where state...more
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court recently gave consumers a huge win by allowing them to recover both treble damages and punitive damages under Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (UTPCPL)....more
Dinardo v. Kohler, 304 A.3d 1187 (Pa. 2023) - Both the trial court and the Superior Court found that the plaintiff’s claims were barred by the no felony conviction recovery rule. The plaintiff filed a medical malpractice suit...more
Freilich v. Septa, No. 10 EAP 2024, review granted Mar. 11, 2024 - States, including the Commonwealth, enjoy immunity from suit and have since “before the ratification of the Constitution.” Goldman v. Septa, 57 A.3d 1154,...more
On May 31, 2024, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued a landmark decision that established a bright line rule in third-party child support matters in the case Caldwell v. Jaurigue. The decision sets a significant precedent...more
In March 2012 Joe Caldwell and Jacqui Spencer have a child. Seventeen months later Jacqui and the toddler move in with Philip Jaurigue. For the next several years the child lives primarily with Jacqui and Phil. Then Jacqui...more
In its May 22, 2024 non-precedential memorandum decision in Frye v. Penn View Exploration, Inc., 919 WDA 2023 (Pa. Super. Ct. May 22, 2024), the Pennsylvania Superior Court found that an oil and gas lease’s shut-in royalty...more
Briggs v. Southwestern Energy Production Company, LLC is good news for Pennsylvania mineral owners bringing claims for subsurface trespass by fracking. In 2018 in “Briggs 1”, the Briggs family sued SWN for subsurface...more
A little-known statutory change now allows for certain fraternal societies to obtain tax exempt status in Pennsylvania. In Hospital Utilization Project v. Commonwealth, 487 A.2d 1306 (Pa. 1985) (“HUP”), the Pennsylvania...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
On January 1, 2023, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania unraveled a 20-year venue rule applicable to medical professional liability cases. Under the previous venue rule, a medical professional liability action may be brought...more
Careening race cars, missing diamonds, and gold treasure provide some of the backdrop for insurance issues that courts had to decide this past month. We begin in Pennsylvania where the state’s high court reined in some loose...more
On April 25, 2024, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania held that trial courts considering violations of Pennsylvania’s Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law (“UTPCPL”) may not limit damages because of separate...more
The vexing issue of whether insurance carriers, third-party administrators and self-insured employers will be required to pay for a broad array of non-prescription items (for example, over-the-counter medications, dietary...more
It’s probably reasonable to assume — at least from the defense standpoint — that the success rate of a statute of limitations (SOL) defense to a legal malpractice claim is virtually zero. This may be more so in some...more
On 10 April 2024, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania heard argument in Herold v. Univ. of Pittsburgh, in which the Court is reviewing a 2023 Commonwealth Court decision holding that the exclusive remedy provision of the...more