Litigation

By: Daniel P. Dwyer

Contractors, subcontractors and material providers have various legal remedies for protecting themselves against general contractors and/or property owners who fail to pay for construction services and materials. One of these remedies is the Pennsylvania Mechanics Lien Law. This law permits contractors, subcontractors and material men, under some circumstances, to place a lien on the real property for which they provided work or materials for which they were not paid. Although the statute is essentially in the same form as it was when originally enacted in the early 1900s, and so can be difficult to navigate, significant changes were made in 2007 and, more recently, in October 2009. To view a more in depth discussion about the recent amendments, please click here.

Please contact Daniel Dwyer for more information.

By: Daniel P. Dwyer

Attorneys hoping to minimize cost and increase efficiency for their clients will often engage in communications or joint defenses with co-defendants. This is often done either informally or with the use of formal joint defense agreements. Although this practice is fairly common, there has been relatively little guidance from the court on issues raised, such as whether and under what circumstances engaging in a joint defense will result in waiver of the attorney client or work product privileges. For more information on concerns with joint defenses, please read the full article. Contact Daniel Dwyer for more information.

By: Stephen P. Lagoy

General Motors is prepared to proceed with a Congressionally-mandated program that will allow 2000 of GM’s closed dealerships to appeal the closure decision through an independent arbitration process. Dealers who want to file for reinstatement must do so through the American Arbitration Association and commence arbitration by Jan. 25. Under the law, decisions must generally be made by June 14. To read more about this arbitration process, see

http://www.detnews.com/20100108 and http://www.detnews.com/20100109

For information on how arbitration can help you, please contact Stephen P. Lagoy.

By: John K. Fiorillo

We can easily and quickly assist you in evaluating whether your property is over assessed. Your real estate taxes usually support your local school district, County and in many instances, your local municipality. Two things factor into your real estate taxes; your tax rate and your assessment. The tax rate is a political matter and one that only your local school board, county commissioners and municipal officials can address. The assessment is a different story. Your assessment is supposed to represent a specified percentage of the fair market value of your property. If you are assessed at a higher percentage of your fair market value than the average for your county, you should consider an appeal. You have the right to challenge your assessment on an annual basis. Usually, this is in the late spring or during the summer months. Each county has a different period for filing an annual appeal. We can quickly determine whether your property is over assessed and explain the appeal process. Simply pull out your current or most recent tax bill and call us with your assessment. It will be listed on your bill. If you do not have the bill available, we can look up your assessment for you and help you determine if you are paying too much. A simple phone call could result in significant savings that will compound year after year. Please contact John K. Fiorillo for more information.

By: Nancy J. Glidden

When can a member of a closely held LLC be held personally liable for the LLC’s debts? According to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, liability is established when a member deals with creditors personally, without identifying himself or herself as an agent for the LLC.

In the case In re LMcD, LLC, the Trustee for a Chapter 7 bankruptcy estate offered up several theories in an attempt to tag the LLC members with personal liability for certain of the LLC’s debts. The Court, however, rejected each of the arguments advanced by the Trustee and instead seized upon the fact that a member of the LLC did not clearly identify that he was acting as an agent for the LLC when transacting business with several creditors whose debts the LLC sought to avoid in the bankruptcy.

For a more in depth explanation of the case click here.