Joshua D. Bonn
200 North 3rd Street
18th Floor
Harrisburg, PA 17101
- 717-236-3010 ext. 129
- 717-234-1925 (fax)
- jbonn@nssh.com
Bio
Josh Bonn is a trial attorney who represents clients in the railroad, media, insurance, and financial industries. Josh handles a variety of civil litigation matters, including personal injury, contractual disputes, real property and condemnation, replevin, mortgage foreclosure, ejectment, enforcement of judgments, and bankruptcy matters. Josh handles appeals in Pennsylvania’s Supreme, Commonwealth, and Superior courts, and in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, he has experience in handling complex matters including legal proceedings instituted in the Commonwealth Court’s original jurisdiction.
Right-to-Know/Media Law
Josh has extensive experience representing municipalities, individuals and media entities in public records litigation under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law (RTKL). He routinely briefs and argues open records appeals in the Office of Open Records (OOR) and in trial and appellate courts. His cases have resulted in favorable precedential rulings on privacy, trade secrets, and attorney-client and attorney work-product privileges. Josh lectures various groups on provisions of the RTKL, including the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, the Pennsylvania Association of Boroughs, and the Dauphin County Bar Association.
Municipal Law
Josh also advises several mid-state municipalities and is the Solicitor for the Capital Tax Collection Bureau. Josh counsels local governments in governance, zoning, land use and subdivision, codes enforcement, and public records matters. He formerly worked as an assistant district attorney in York County, Pennsylvania.
Rail & Transportation Law
Josh counsels Class I, regional, and shortline railroads in a variety of matters. Josh handles personal injury cases arising from crossing accidents and workplace accidents arising under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). He has also represented clients in administrative proceedings before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) involving the maintenance of rail-highway crossings, administrative proceedings before the United States Surface Transportation Board (STB) involving the abandonment and discontinuance of rail lines, and condemnation proceedings instituted by natural gas utilities. He is also familiar with the procedures for eminent domain proceedings in federal and Pennsylvania courts.
Other Practice Areas
Resume
Education
- Lock Haven University, B.A., magna cum laude, 2001
- Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, J.D., 2004
Bar Admissions
- Pennsylvania, 2004
Court Admissions
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court
- United States District Courts for the Middle and Eastern Districts of Pennsylvania
- Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Professional Affiliations
- Dauphin County Bar Association
- Cumberland County Bar Association
- Pennsylvania Bar Association
- Graduate of the 2017 class of Leadership Harrisburg Area’s Community Leadership Series.
Publications
- Maintaining Electronic Records in Your Borough, Borough News, July 2016.
- Municipal Regulation of Signs, What Reed v. Town of Gilbert could mean for your Borough, Borough News, December 2015.
- Right-to-Know Law—Judicial and Legislative Developments, Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, July 2015.
Highlights
Josh has been involved with the litigation of numerous high profile cases including:
- Department of Education emails related to the Jerry Sandusky scandal declared to be public records. Bagwell v. Pennsylvania Dep’t of Educ., 76 A.3d 81 (Pa. Commw. 2013).
- Emails transmitted by Township Supervisors on personal email accounts declared to be public records. Mollick v. Township of Worcester, 32 A.3d 859 (Pa. Commw. 2011).
- Agency may not use prepayment demand as means to avoid processing request. Pennsylvania Dep’t of Educ. v. Bagwell, 131 A.3d 638 (Pa. Commw. 2016).
- Exemptions to public access do not apply to records made unconditionally public by law other than RTKL, subject to constitutional balancing test for personal information. Reese v. Pennsylvanians for Union Reform, 173 A.3d 1143 (Pa. 2017).
- Applications for permits to grow, process, and distribute medical marijuana in Pennsylvania are public records subject to “minimal redaction” to ensure facility security. Mission Pennsylvania, LLC v. McKelvey, ______ A.3d ______ (Pa. Commw. 2019).