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 […]

Maraleen D. Shields, a shareholder in Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba’s Litigation and Healthcare practices was named to the Joint Task Force on Continuity of Delivery of Legal Services by Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) President David E. Schwager. Given the disparities in technological services across Pennsylvania’s counties, this 29-person task force is focused on creating recommendations […]

Over the years, courts have articulated various standards and factors in determining which employees of religious institutions are exempt from employment discrimination laws, and this has led to much confusion and little consistency. This past week, the United States Supreme Court issued a decision that will impact and clarify the employment landscape for religious institutions […]

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 […]

In a case regarding  business privilege tax, the Lehigh County Court of Common Pleas found in favor of Fitzpatrick Lentz & Bubba (FLB) client Phoebe Services, Inc. and established on appeal that Phoebe Services, Inc. is not liable to the City of Allentown (the City) for the tax. In late 2019, FLB Shareholder and Chair […]

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 […]

On May 7, 2020, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed an executive order to create and extend protections to property owners and tenants throughout the Commonwealth from the latent economic impacts of the state-wide lockdown in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Specifically, the executive order builds on a Pennsylvania Supreme Court order that closed court eviction […]

On Tuesday April 28, 2020, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court updated its previous Orders, directing that the previously declared judicial emergency is extended through June 1, 2020. However, the Court also ordered that, beginning on May 4, 2020, the Courts shall be open to conduct business. At the same time, the Order directs that in-person access […]

Under new guidelines issued by the Wolf Administration in Pennsylvania, construction projects can reopen this Friday, May 1, 2020, as long as they observe social distancing rules. Previously, the Governor had ordered most construction projects to temporarily close down unless they were supporting life-sustaining businesses or were granted an exemption from the general “stay at […]

(Updated April 24, 2020) On April 20, 2020, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf signed Senate Bill 841 into law and announced the first few incremental changes toward opening up Pennsylvania after its shutdown to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Governor Wolf announced the restart of construction projects statewide starting Friday, May 1, curbside pickup of […]