Category: Litigation / Personal Injury

The vast majority of our clients have little occasion to come into contact with the criminal justice system, and those who do generally are involved in minor matters known as summary offenses.With Congress gearing up for the impeachment inquiry of the President, we are hearing… Continue reading →

Our legal system typically imposes liability for money damages only upon a showing that a person was negligent (i.e., failed to use due care) or somehow intended to bring about an injury or damage to another. There are cases, however, where an actor can be… Continue reading →

The dreaded summons arrives in the mail.  You have never been busier at work or home and have been directed to appear at the local county courthouse for jury duty!  You are told to fill out a form giving private information, and you shuffle off… Continue reading →

A dramshop is a bar.  The name has evolved from the Middle Ages in England when drinks were sold by the dram which is one-eighth of an ounce. Under the Liquor Code in Pennsylvania (and similar statutes in most states) it is illegal to serve… Continue reading →

Pennsylvania has replaced its former “small claims court” system of Magistrates and Justices of the Peace with a uniform statewide District Justice system. In southeastern Pennsylvania, all the counties use a nearly identical District Justice system with the exception of Philadelphia, which uses a Municipal… Continue reading →

Do you write many checks? If you do, you should know something about the Holder in Due Course (“HDC”) rule contained in Article 3 of the Uniform Commercial Code. The rule was developed so that negotiable instruments (checks for our purposes) could be moved from… Continue reading →

Imagine that you are a real estate broker holding a deposit in escrow in connection with the sale of a house. Following inspection, title, and mortgage application complications, the transaction falls apart and both the buyer and seller are threatening to sue you for payment… Continue reading →

Litigation is rarely a tidy or expeditious process. Parties to lawsuits generally are impatient and angry not only at the other party but at the plodding and often very expensive system. All of the problems seem to be exacerbated with celebrity litigants, especially when the… Continue reading →

In our litigious society, we seem to hear it all too often – one person claiming in a lawsuit that another was “negligent”, often seeking millions of dollars in damages. The news media probably make more of these cases than would otherwise be justified, and… Continue reading →

Contrary to what some non-lawyers might think, res judicata is not the name of the latest trendy disco, nor is it the most recent Latin pop music phenomenon to hit our shores. Instead, it is an important legal doctrine which promotes finality in court cases.… Continue reading →