Pennsylvania

Former BigLaw Clients Helped Small Offit Kurman Add Nearly 80 Attorneys Since 2001, Partner Says

Founded by two brothers in 1987, a small Maryland-based law firm known as Offit Kurman grew gradually over the years but still had only 10 attorneys in 2001. But rapid BigLaw expansion and a recessionary economy in which other legal partnerships have struggled helped fuel a growth explosion at his…

Jun 18, 2012 3:55 PM CDT

McQueary Testifies re Penn State Shower Incident; Caseworker Says Sandusky Admitted ‘Raspberries’

As testimony continued Tuesday in the child sex-abuse case against Jerry Sandusky, witnesses for the prosecution offered details intended to bolster the accounts of young men who said they were victimized by the former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach. A former junior colleague of Sandusky’s, onetime assistant coach Mike…

Jun 12, 2012 9:54 PM CDT

Sandusky Defense Tells Jurors Accusers of Ex-Penn State Asst. Football Coach Have Financial Motive

Updated: A group of young men who have accused a former Pennsylvania State University assistant football coach of sexually abusing them as youths have a financial interest in the outcome of the criminal case in which he is now at trial, defense counsel said Monday in opening statements. And defense…

Jun 11, 2012 6:15 PM CDT

Man Faces Criminal Charges After Police Say He Threatened to Blow Heads Off Law Office Workers

A man who police say threatened to go get a firearm and blow the heads off of employees of a Pennsylvania law firm during a Thursday-afternoon visit is being held in a Luzerne County jail in lieu of $20,000 bail. Joseph Giordano, 45, is charged with making terroristic threats, disorderly…

Jun 8, 2012 5:40 PM CDT

Ex-Client Sues Stradley Ronon, Says Securitization Errors re $200M Subprime Loans Cost It Big Bucks

A former client of Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young sued the Philadelphia-based law firm on Monday, contending that errors in documenting some $200 million in loans to a subprime lender cost a bank involved in making the loans millions of dollars. After the subprime lender, Taylor Bean & Whitaker Mortgage…

Jun 6, 2012 10:38 PM CDT

Judge Nixes Tweets and Pseudonyms for Witnesses as Jerry Sandusky Child Sex-Abuse Trial Looms

While major news organizations often opt not to name alleged victims of sex crimes, several of the witnesses in a high-profile case against former assistant Pennsylvania State University football coach Jerry Sandusky had asked to testify using pseudonyms. Given the publicity expected to be accorded the Bellefonte, Pa., trial witnesses…

Jun 4, 2012 4:58 PM CDT

Pennsylvania Supreme Court Orders Ouster of Justice Melvin After Criminal Charges Are Filed

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has relieved Justice Joan Orie Melvin of all judicial and administrative responsibilities, ordered her records secured and directed the court administrator to “ensure that the premises are vacated.” The action, announced in a press advisory, follows news today that Melvin has been charged with nine counts,…

May 18, 2012 4:19 PM CDT

Appeals Court OKs Trustee’s $500M Suit Blaming K&L Gates for Missing Massive Fraud

A Pennsylvania appeals court has revived a bankruptcy trustee’s $500 million lawsuit against K&L Gates, finding that an Allegheny County trial court dismissed the malpractice case in error. The law firm had argued that it could not be sued by the trustee on behalf of Le-Nature’s Inc., because K&L Gates…

May 15, 2012 8:50 PM CDT

Church Lawyer Testifies Everyone Lied to Him About Secret List of Priest Abuse Suspects

The former chief counsel for the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Philadelphia testified on Monday that church officials lied to him about a secret list of 35 priests suspected of abusing children. The list is at issue in the trial of Msgr. William Lynn, accused of allowing priests suspected of abuse…

May 15, 2012 2:16 PM CDT

Federal Judge Who Once Helped Thurgood Marshall in School Desegregation Fight Dies at 89

Senior U.S. District Judge Louis Pollak died of heart failure on Tuesday following a long illness. He was 89. Pollak was formerly dean of both Yale and Pennsylvania law schools and was an early pioneer in civil rights cases, report the Philadelphia Inquirer and the Philadelphia Daily News. He was…

May 10, 2012 12:28 PM CDT

Law License of Pa. State Senator Is Suspended Following Conviction in Political Corruption Case

The law license of a Pennsylvania state senator has been suspended after her March conviction in a political corruption case, the Legal Profession Blog reports. Sen. Jane Orie was acquitted on 10 counts but found guilty of 14, including theft of services, forgery and conflict of interest, the Associated Press…

May 8, 2012 5:39 PM CDT

Pepper Hamilton to Open New LA Office with Former Dewey & LeBoeuf Partner

Pepper Hamilton is opening a new Los Angeles office with the acquisition of a former practice leader from Dewey & LeBoeuf. Gary Apfel, who is one of, at last report, over 85 partners to exit the struggling Dewey firm in 2012, served as co-chairman of the consumer financial services practice…

May 1, 2012 4:11 PM CDT

A Partner’s Cancer Battle Results in Suit over His Law Firm Shares and Insurance Proceeds

Updated: After class action lawyer Thomas Mellon Jr. was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he told staffers that the Doylestown, Pa., law firm he founded would cease to operate, according to allegations in a lawsuit. But a different partner in Mellon, Webster & Shelly apparently believes the decision isn’t his to…

Apr 25, 2012 1:01 PM CDT

PD Files Suit Claiming Staffing Shortages Led to Rejection of More than 300 Defendants

A public defender in Pennsylvania is taking his battle over staffing shortages to the courts. Luzerne County chief public defender Al Flora Jr. says in a suit filed on Tuesday that his office has refused to represent more than 300 people who qualified for a public defender. The suit alleges…

Apr 11, 2012 2:27 PM CDT

Former Cozen Associate Suspended for False Billings, Practicing Law on Inactive Status

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has imposed a 30-month suspension on a former associate at Cozen O’Connor accused of false billing while at the law firm and continuing to practice law while on inactive status. The associate, Matthew Francis Henry, was an associate at Cozen from at least September 2001 through…

Apr 4, 2012 4:46 PM CDT