Pennsylvania Tag Archives — Page 2 of 5

COVID-19 UPDATES: Pennsylvania Construction Re-Opened

May 4, 2020 | Jacklyn Fetbroyt

Illustration of construction worker holding saw and leaning on pole. Although originally slated for May 8, the construction industry in Pennsylvania re-opened a week early on Friday, May 1st, with guidelines imposed by the Commonwealth. All construction businesses authorized to conduct in-person operations in the Commonwealth must adhere to requirements of the guidance, as well as all applicable business and building safety orders issued by the Secretary of Health, though localities may elect to impose more stringent requirements.

The guidance, developed with the assistance of the General Contractors Association of Pennsylvania, includes an array of distancing and cleaning mandates such as:

Require social distancing (6-feet minimum distance between workers) unless the safety of the public or workers require deviation (e.g. drywalling, team lifting).

Kang Haggerty’s Henry Donner recognized as Senior Statesman for Construction Law in 2020 Chambers USA

April 24, 2020 | Kang Haggerty LLC

HD Headshot with Recognition

Kang Haggerty LLC, a boutique business litigation firm with offices in Philadelphia, PA and Marlton, NJ, is proud to once again congratulate Henry Donner, Of Counsel, named the Senior Statesman for Construction Lawyers—Pennsylvania—in the 2020 edition of Chambers USA.

As the only senior statesman for the construction law practice in PA, Chambers USA states that Donner has vast experience in litigating a range of construction disputes, noting that peers highlight him as “a legend in Pennsylvania.”

See the Chambers USA 2020 Review Here

COVID-19 UPDATES: Philadelphia Courts to Remain Closed

April 23, 2020 | Jacklyn Fetbroyt

On April 22, 2020 the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania executed a Continuation of Judicial Emergency Order, extending the terms issued March 16, 2020 and extended April 1, 2020 by Pennsylvania Supreme Court Order. Under yesterday’s order, the Judicial Emergency in Philadelphia is extended through close of business on May 29, 2020. A summary of the April 1^st Order can be found on Kang Haggerty’s blog here.

During this time period, the courts are authorizing alternative methods for signing, delivering, and service of court orders if authorized by each individual judge. Residential writs of possession (issuance, execution, and enforcement) are stayed until June 1, 2020. The Philadelphia County Sheriff’s Mortgage Foreclosure Sale scheduled for June, 2, 2020 will be rescheduled for Tuesday September 1, 2020. The Philadelphia County Sheriff’s Tax Sales June 2020 dates will be rescheduled for dates in September 2020.

Kang Haggerty continues to monitor the orders and other guidance by various courts, which are rapidly changing. Clients should contact their Kang Haggerty attorney for questions related to their specific matters.

COVID-19 UPDATES: Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Announce Trial, Arbitration Postponements

April 16, 2020 | Kandis Kovalsky

Sampling of Philadelphia Skyline
Last Updated: April 16, 2020

While COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc on our daily lives, the Judiciary continues to operate as an essential function. At Kang Haggerty, as business litigation attorneys, we continue to prepare for trials and arbitrations by doing what most of us are doing—working remotely–in conducting depositions, discovery, legal research and diligently protecting the interests of our clients. However, the safety and well-being of everyone necessitates delays and postponements in court activities. We are following these daily changes in the many courts where we appear.

At our “home base” here in Philadelphia, yesterday the Philadelphia Court of Common Please Trial Division announced postponements of Civil Trials, Compulsory Arbitration Hearings and other Civil Court events.

COVID-19 UPDATES: The NJ and PA Courts

April 3, 2020 | Jacklyn Fetbroyt

Last Updated: April 3, 2020

As the COVID-19 continues to spread, each day creates a new challenge. Courts are issuing standing orders regarding delays and closures to protect the public health and ensure the courts continue to operate as effectively as possible. Below is a summary of the most recent orders issued by the Supreme Courts in New Jersey and Pennsylvania regarding certain deadlines and extensions.

On Friday, March 27, 2020, the Supreme Court of New Jersey entered a standing order regarding State court operations amidst the current pandemic, such as: Continue reading ›

COVID-19 UPDATES: Delay for (State) Tax Day (Maybe?)

April 1, 2020 | Jacklyn Fetbroyt

Outline of NJ on pink background
April 1, 2020 Update: As anxiously anticipated, Governor Murphy joined all other States in providing New Jersey taxpayers relief by extending the income tax deadline to July 15, 2020, the same date that federal tax filings are due under the IRS extension. In a Joint Statement released in the late morning of April 1^st, the Governor, along with Senate President Steve Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin, stated they “have reached agreement that the state income tax filing deadline and the corporation business tax filing deadline will be extended from April 15th to July 15th.” They further announced that New Jersey’s fiscal year should be extended to September 30th and affirmed their commitment to “to working together to enact the necessary legislation and supplemental appropriations to accomplish these goals.” See the full text of the joint statement here.

Original Post:

Last week, we posted that, after a few false starts, the IRS announced the federal income tax filing due date was automatically extended to July 15, 2020, which meant that both tax returns and tax payments originally due to be filed April 15th with the IRS are extended three months.

COVID-19 UPDATES: Non-Life Sustaining Business Waiver from March 19 Order of Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf Directing Massive Closures

March 24, 2020 | Jacklyn Fetbroyt

Illustration of office building with two trees out front. All windows are darkened but one, which shows the the figure of one person. With the current outbreak of COVID-19, each day creates a new normal. Government officials are adjusting to the new pandemic and implementing different policies to help protect the community’ s public health. On Thursday, March 19, 2020 Governor Tom Wolf issued an order mandating that all non-life-sustaining businesses close their physical locations by Thursday at 8 PM. Specifically, the order provides:

No person or entity shall operate a place of business in the Commonwealth that is not a life sustaining business regardless of whether the business is open to members of the public. This prohibition does not apply to virtual or telework operations (e.g., work from home), so long as social distancing and other mitigation measures are followed in such operations. Continue reading ›

Legal Intelligencer: Five Years After ‘Daimler’: It’s All in the Specifics

January 2, 2020 | Edward T. Kang and Kandis Kovalsky

In the January 2, 2020 edition of The Legal Intelligencer Edward T. Kang and Kandis L. Kovalsky co-authored “Five Years After ‘Daimler’: It’s All in the Specifics.”

Major cases such as 2014’s Daimler AG v. Bauman have refined the requirements for, and in many senses restricted, the establishment of personal jurisdiction over parties. This goes for both the exercise of general and specific jurisdiction.

The exercise of personal jurisdiction is fundamentally connected with the constitutional right to due process. The question of whether it is fair and procedurally proper to subject a person to a forum state’s jurisdiction has been refined by the U.S. Supreme Court multiple times in the past decades, and especially in recent years. Major cases such as 2014’s Daimler AG v. Bauman have refined the requirements for, and in many senses restricted, the establishment of personal jurisdiction over parties. This goes for both the exercise of general and specific jurisdiction.

The basic notion behind general jurisdiction is that the defendant has to have, to quote directly from the well-known International Shoe v. State of Washington opinion, “continuous and systematic” affiliations with the forum state to reasonably expect that state’s jurisdiction over her, no matter the issue at stake (as opposed to specific jurisdiction, where the issue in question is the only reason one could expect to land up in another state’s court). But, what does “continuous and systematic” mean? Continue reading ›

Kang Haggerty Sponsors Barristers’ 35th Annual Turkey Drive

November 25, 2019 | Kang Haggerty LLC

Kang Haggerty proudly sponsored the Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia, Inc’s 35th Annual Turkey Drive in advance of the Thanksgiving holiday. This year, the Barristers were able to provide 700 Philadelphia families in need with “turkey baskets” which included a turkey, stuffing, corn, green beans and cranberry sauce.

Volunteers consisted of practicing attorneys and their families as well as law students. Some notable volunteers were Continue reading ›

Legal Intelligencer: ‘T.M. v. Janssen Pharmaceuticals’—Lessons on Standards of Evidence

September 6, 2019 | Edward T. Kang

In the September 5, 2019 edition of The Legal Intelligencer, Edward T. Kang, Managing Member of Kang Haggerty wrote “‘T.M. v. Janssen Pharmaceuticals’ – Lessons on Standards of Evidence.”

The value of the reinstatement of T.M. v. Janssen for lawyers is that it clarifies laws about evidence, how courts determine evidence’s reliability, and general lessons on procedural law.

Last month, the Pennsylvania Superior Court reinstated a case concerning the drug Risperdal, which had initially been dismissed mid-trial in 2016. Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutical’s drug, Risperdal, is currently the subject of thousands of suits alleging that the drug directly caused gynecomastia in many young men.