Governmental Litigation and Public Affairs

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Several of our lawyers have served or now serve as public officials. Our litigation shareholders include two former Philadelphia City Solicitors, a former General Counsel of the School District of Philadelphia, and a member of the Zoning Board of Haddonfield, New Jersey. We are often called upon to render advice to public institutions and government entities and, when necessary, to represent them in high-profile litigation projects. We find in such cases that our insights into the best methods of managing the press and public opinion are highly valued by our clients.

Shanon Levin, Associate, Litigation

We have successfully represented the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Department of State in several high-profile lawsuits related to the use of electronic voting machines.  In one of the cases, our attorneys obtained a victory in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court; in another, we obtained a favorable result following a preliminary injunction hearing in federal court.  We also represent the Commonwealth’s Department of Education in an action that seeks to place a school district into equity receivership on account of profound financial mismanagement.  After a 9-day trial on preliminary relief, the Commonwealth Court appointed a receiver pendente lite. Hearings on a full receivership have been completed and a decision is expected soon.  We achieved a significant victory for Governor Edward G. Rendell and other executive officials in a lawsuit filed by Pennsylvania legislative leaders; a unanimous Commonwealth Court, sitting en banc, held that Governor Rendell had the clear constitutional authority to veto language in an appropriations bill and to enact the remainder into law. 

We defended the City of Philadelphia against more than a dozen civil rights lawsuits filed by activists who were arrested or detained during protests at the 2000 Republican National Convention. We resolved all of these lawsuits favorably. We also have represented the Mayor and the City in a civil rights and defamation lawsuit brought by a former high-level official, the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission in a case alleging discriminatory and retaliatory termination, and the Philadelphia Housing Authority in a number of employment disputes and whistleblower suits.