Douglas J. Smillie is a shareholder and Chair of the Firm’s Litigation Group. Mr. Smillie’s practice includes commercial litigation and trials, bankruptcy and creditors rights, shareholder disputes and business litigation, non-competition and trade secrets, media law and employment litigation.
In October of 2019, the Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit issued a decision addressing an often-asked question in bankruptcy: whether it is a violation of the automatic stay to retain a vehicle that was repossessed pre-bankruptcy? The Court of Appeals answered in the negative, as addressed in this article, posted on this site […]
Douglas J. Smillie and Maraleen D. Shields secured another win for the City of Allentown. Nearly three years after an eminent domain action was filed, the Commonwealth Court agreed with the original arguments the duo advanced on behalf of the City and dismissed the appeal by Somera Road – 835 West Hamilton Street, LLC. The Court […]
In February 2017, an incident involving a student and a teacher occurred on a school bus in the Easton Area School District. Interest in the incident sparked the Express-Times and lehighvalleylive.com to request a copy of a video that captured the incident under Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law (RTK Law). The school district objected to […]
On May 21, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court issued an Order declaring that the previously established judicial emergency in Pennsylvania will cease after June 1, 2020. However, the Court also ordered that previously entered judicial orders in the intermediate appellate courts and local courts shall remain in full force and effect until they expire by […]
The impact of COVID-19 continues to be felt throughout the economy, with a collapse of demand in basically every consumer-facing industry, including restaurants, hotels, airlines, gas stations, and non-grocery retail stores. These problems flow through the economic food chain, with businesses unable to pay landlords. Many businesses have questions about how to handle payments to […]