News from 2014

Managing Partner Craig J. Staudenmaier Has Been Selected for Inclusion in the 21st Edition of The Best Lawyers in America

For the third consecutive year, Managing Partner Craig J. Staudenmaier has been selected by his peers for inclusion in the 21st Edition of The Best Lawyers in America in the practice area of Commercial Litigation. Craig concentrates his practice in the areas of state and federal litigation and Right-to-Know/media law. He routinely represents clients in all phases of the litigation process including mediation and arbitration… Read On

Marcellus Shale Update – The Major Issues Addressed by the Commonwealth Court on Remand of the Robinson Township Case

Following the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s landmark plurality decision that struck down several sections of Act 13 under the Environmental Rights Amendment, Robinson Township v. Commonwealth was remanded back to the Commonwealth Court. On remand, the court reconsidered four issues raised by Act 13: (1) whether requiring DEP to notify public, but not private drinking water systems of a fracking fluid spill was unconstitutional because it created a special law or violated equal protection… Read On

Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Act is more Employee Friendly than its Federal Counterpart

The rate of overtime pay to which an employee is entitled can differ greatly under state and federal labor law when an employee is paid on a salaried basis. Just ask RadioShack, which recently lost a putative federal class action case involving over 100 salaried employees. Pennsylvania’s Minimum Wage Act (PMWA), like its federal counterpart, requires overtime pay at not less than one and one-half times the regular rate of pay for any hours worked over 40 by employees subject to the law… Read On

Unemployment Compensation and Impact of Severance and Retirement Benefits

As of June 2014, Pennsylvania’s unemployment rate was 5.6%, the lowest rate since September 2008. This is great news, but regardless of the state of the economy, employers will always have to deal with employee turnover and associated Unemployment Compensation (“UC”) claims. The receipt of severance payments and/or retirement benefits can affect the amount of UC benefits an otherwise eligible employee is entitled to receive… Read On

Protecting Your Business Intellectual Property

It’s hard to think of a business where intellectual property does not play a role. No matter what the industry or line of business, whether local or global, retail or manufacturing, intellectual property can be essential to business growth and success. While large companies typically have vast resources dedicated to IP protection, intellectual property is equally important to many smaller enterprises and entrepreneurs… Read On

Office of Open Records May Conduct “Private Screenings” of All Information in Interpreting the RTKL

When a governmental agency decides some requested information is exempt under the RTKL, on initial appeal, an Office of Open Records (OOR) appeals officer is tasked with determining whether the agency has met its burden to prove that such information is in fact exempt.  But how would an appeals officer know if the information met a RTKL exemption if he or she could never view it? Read On

Most Bills from Your Publicly Paid Attorney Are Not Privileged Under the RTKL

On remand from the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Commonwealth Court issued this opinion further defining the exceptions under the RTKL. The issues were (1) whether descriptions of legal services provided to Senate employees were “privileged” under the RTKL, as attorney work-product; (2) whether federal or state law requiring grand jury secrecy prohibited disclosing the names of those employees under the second RTKL exception… Read On

Technology vs. Privacy

Managing Partner Craig J. Staudenmaier has authored an article, entitled “Technology vs Privacy” for the July/August issue of The Pennsylvania Lawyer. The article is a prelude to a panel discussion of privacy and the impact of social media on Wednesday, July 16th at Penn State University’s Lehigh Valley branch campus, hosted by the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Bar/Press Committee and PCN… Read On

Trade Secret/Proprietary Information Exemptions Block Access to Hotel Tax Information

“Trade secrets” and “confidential proprietary information” are not only exempt from the RTKL, but wide open to judicial interpretation that will surely shape the law’s effectiveness as a true means to access information. 65 Pa. Stat. Ann. § 67.708. Take for example the courts’ broad interpretation of “personal identification information” which prevented the disclosure of agency-issued contact information belonging to state executive-level officials and employees… Read On

Citizens Have a “Right-to-Know” Whether Their Government Collects Outstanding Debts

Under the RTKL agency records are presumably “public records” available for inspection by the public unless “exempt from being disclosed under any other Federal or State law.” 65 P.S. § 67.102. The question then becomes whether public debts (like unpaid taxes or sewer bills) must be disclosed to the under the RTKL, given that Pennsylvania’s Fair Credit Extension Uniformity Act (FCEUA) prohibits creditors from publishing lists of customers who have outstanding debts… Read On