News from January 2024
Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Day of Service on January 15, 2024
Greenberg Traurig proudly joins the tens of thousands of volunteers who will fan across the region and participate in hundreds of community service projects of every size and scope, touching and elevating neighbors and neighborhoods as part of the 29th annual Greater Philadelphia Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, proclaimed as the largest such King Day event in the nation.
Tucker Arensberg Estates & Trusts Attorney Nora Gieg Chatha Elected to Serve as Fellow for the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel
During the Fall 2023 Meeting, the Board of Regents of the of The American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC) elected Tucker Arensberg Estates & Trusts Attorney Nora Gieg Chatha to become a Fellow.
Man exonerated after 27 years in prison for murder passes away while civil lawsuit is pending
PHILADELPHIA – A man who spent more than half of his life, 27 years, wrongly incarcerated and filed a civil suit against the City of Philadelphia and various officers involved in his arrest and prosecution has passed away.
Judge: Biological father of girl who died in hoverboard house fire cannot recover Wrongful Death Act damages
ALLENTOWN – A federal judge has ruled that the biological father of one girl among two killed in a fatal house fire in Hellertown in April 2022, a fire started by a hoverboard device which malfunctioned while charging, is not eligible to recover damages under the Wrongful Death Act.
Pa. State Police officer denies conducting unlawful search of N.J. man's car
WILLIAMSPORT – A Pennsylvania State Police officer has denied allegations from a New Jersey man that he conducted an unreasonable search of the plaintiff’s car through threatening to have the car towed and impounded, despite an alleged lack of probable cause.
Class action suit over powerboat maintenance will stay in original court
PITTSBURGH – Plaintiffs behind a class action lawsuit which claimed that a manufacturer of sailboats and powerboats has violated the Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act through preventing third-party professionals from performing maintenance operations on their boats, without voiding the owners’ respective warranties, have successfully pushed for the suit to stay in its court of origin.
Doctor sues Pennsylvania town over costs of sidewalk repairs
PITTSBURGH - A Mt. Lebanon property owner has sued the township, alleging he and others similarly situated have been forced to pay extra costs associated with sidewalk repair.
Reed Smith closes $200 million ABS transaction for Diversified Energy Company
A Reed Smith energy transactions team has successfully advised Diversified Energy Company PLC (Diversified) in connection with an innovative and first-of-its-kind asset-backed securitization (ABS) and equity capital transaction with a cash value to Diversified of approximately $200 million.
Comcast faces lawsuit after data breach
PHILADELPHIA (Legal Newsline) - Comcast customers claim their personally identifiable information wasn't protected from a December data breach
Contract dispute between finance law firm and marketing group headed to Pa. Superior Court
HARRISBURG – The case of a financial law practice’s breach of contract suit against a legal marketing company it alleged had devised a scheme to sabotage its website and social media outreach will come before the Superior Court of Pennsylvania this week.
Man's suit against Bath & Body Works over exploding candle to be resolved in arbitration
PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia man’s lawsuit claiming that a candle he had lit nearly three years ago caught fire and ignited in an explosive fashion, causing him to suffer severe burns to his fingers, hands and arms, will be addressed in arbitration as opposed to a courtroom.
Class action plaintiffs who alleged that lender violated cap on interest rates refuse arbitration compulsion
ERIE – A pair of in-state plaintiffs who alleged that a Delaware-based lender has violated Pennsylvania guidelines setting a cap on interest rates, are now rejecting an attempt to have their class action litigation against that same lender sent to arbitration.
Philly argues that RFK Jr.-chaired nonprofit's case against COVID child vax measures should be dismissed
PHILADELPHIA – The City of Philadelphia seeks to dismiss litigation from a California nonprofit group chaired by independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. concerning allegations that the City was vaccinating young children against COVID-19 without parental consent, for failure to state claims upon which relief could be granted.
Lawsuit blames Carbon County jail staff for inmate's suicide
SCRANTON - Carbon County jail employees could have prevented a woman's suicide, a wrongful death lawsuit alleges.
Staff at Devereux accused of ignoring sexual abuse
PHILADELPHIA - Six former residents of juvenile facilities say staff at the Devereux Foundation abused and allowed the abuse to continue.
Eckert Seamans Member Renardo (Rick) Hicks Selected for Judicial Nomination Advisory Panel for Middle District of Pennsylvania
Renardo (Rick) Hicks, a Harrisburg-based Member with national law firm Eckert Seamans, has again been named to a Judicial Nomination Advisory Panel for the Middle District of Pennsylvania.
Troutman Pepper Names Robert Gallagher Office Managing Partner in Pittsburgh
Robert A. Gallagher, a partner in Troutman Pepper’s Construction practice, has been appointed to office managing partner in Pittsburgh, effective January 1, 2024. Gallagher succeeds Partner Ralph A. Finizio.
Plaintiff says his injury lawsuit was used as collateral to obtain litigation funding behind his back
PHILADELPHIA – A Philadelphia man has filed a lawsuit against his former lawyer, charging that the counsel in question used his underlying job injury suit as collateral to obtain litigation funding and subsequently transferred that amount’s high-interest loans to his legal fees.
Pa. Superior Court considering Philly hospital slip-and-fall case, where $1.8M verdict was overturned
HARRISBURG – The Superior Court of Pennsylvania will consider a hospital slip-and-fall case which originated in Philadelphia, received a $1.8 million jury verdict after a half-day trial and saw that same verdict struck down by the presiding judge two months after it was rendered.
Suit over maintenance man's fatal MDS may be sent to Commerce and Complex Litigation Center
PITTSBURGH – A suit alleging that a woman’s late husband was subjected to a variety of hazardous and toxic substances in his maintenance duties for U.S. Steel, including benzene – which she maintains caused her husband’s death in 2021 from myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) – may be transferred to Allegheny County’s Commerce and Complex Litigation Center.