The Legal Intelligencer Blog

Suit Over Lackawanna Co. Guardian Ad Litem Changes Defendants

By Ben Present
Of the Legal Staff

Three judges — instead of the entire county judiciary — have been named as defendants by a Northeast Pennsylvania man who has filed a lawsuit over Lackawanna County’s guardian ad litem program.

Judges Trish Corbett and Chester T. Harhut, along with President Judge Thomas J. Munley, were named Friday in an amended complaint filed by plaintiff Michael Stefanov. Corbett presided over a custody dispute to which Stefanov was a party, Harhut was in charge of the family court division and Munley serves as president judge. They were named in the amended complaint and the Lackawanna County Court of Common Pleas has been removed from the complaint as a defendant.

All three judges are now being sued in their “official capacity.” The court was being represented by Michael P. Daley, an attorney for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts. It was unclear if Daley would be representing the judges, who did not have docketed counsel as of Monday afternoon. Art Heinz, a spokesman for the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, declined to comment on the amended complaint.

In his lawsuit, Stefanov challenges the appointment of guardian ad litem Danielle Ross and her actions in the custody case.

The federal judge assigned to the case, U.S. District Judge A. Richard Caputo of the Middle District of Pennsylvania, has not yet ruled on a motion to dismiss that has been made by the court. The court, along with Ross in a separate filing, have asserted immunity in asking Caputo to dismiss them from the suit.

Stefanov, in the amended complaint, is asking for declaratory relief in the form of an order declaring the county’s GAL system and Ross’ involvement in Stefanov’s life “unlawful and unconstitutional.” In a plea for injunctive relief, Stefanov asked the court to block any further implementation of the GAL system as well as Ross’ involvement in his own, or his son’s, life.

Stefanov renewed claims that Ross threatened parents with sanctions if her recommendations were not followed while the court’s family court division abdicated its duties to Ross and "rubberstamped" her recommendations into court orders. He accuses all named defendants of engaging in conduct that violated Pennsylvania law governing when a guardian ad litem may be appointed to a dispute.

Stefanov’s attorney, Paul J. Cianci of the Levin Legal Group in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., declined to comment on the amended complaint.

Ross’ attorney, Nicholas S. Mattise of Scranton firm Mattise & Kelly, was not immediately available for comment.

Judge Expects New Phila. Family Courthouse to Open in 2014

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

The new Philadelphia family courthouse is slated to open at the end of the summer in 2014, Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Kevin M. Dougherty, administrative judge of the family division, said during a meeting this week at the Philadelphia Bar Association's family law section.

There will be 29 courtrooms on floors three to six, administrative offices on floors seven to 12 and judge's chambers on floors 13 and 14, Dougherty said. There will be a total of 15 floors in the family court, but the additional story will be preserved for any expansion needed in the future, The Legal previously reported.

In addition to reporting on the future of a new physical plant for the family court, Dougherty reported on many other changes in the operations of family court.

The court system has worked “diligently to try to reduce the number of children in placement,” Dougherty said.

In the juvenile part of family court, 85 percent of the kids in the system are African-American, Dougherty said. There is “disproportionate minority contact within our system,” Dougherty said.

Dougherty said that he couldn't control who police arrest in juvenile cases, but he could control the number of adjustments made by probation officers, who do the intakes of juveniles charged with crimes at the Youth Study Center.

Prior to becoming administrative judge, Dougherty said that not a lot of adjustments were made.

The Philadelphia District Attorney's Office was in agreement that more adjustments needed to be made, so now young African-Americans males between the ages of 15 and 17 charged with possessing small amounts of marijuana will get the same type of remedies as white, male college-age students charged with underage drinking, Dougherty said.

The judge pointed out that most people would rather sit next to a young man who has consumed a marijuana blunt than one-fifth of a bottle of whiskey.

The person who has drunk one-fifth of a bottle of whiskey “may be inclined to hit ya with that bottle,” Dougherty said.

In juvenile cases, there was diversion in about 30 percent of the cases in 2011, Dougherty said.

In terms of delinquency cases, the average length of stay for youth has been reduced from 20.5 months to nine months, Dougherty said.

The number of kids on probation has fallen from 5,000 to a little north of 3,000, Dougherty said. The number of kids on probation has been reduced because of more intensive treatment and fewer arrests being made, Dougherty said.

In dependency cases, Dougherty said there has been a six percent decrease in placing children out of their homes and a 45 percent decrease in placing children outside of Philadelphia County or out of state.

Dougherty attributed the decrease in the number of placements because dependency cases are now reviewed every 90 days in court.

There also have been changed in adoption cases, Dougherty said.

The number of adoptions has increased 88 percent, Dougherty said.

It used to be adoption petitions would be filed without all the necessary paperwork and no court date would be given, Dougherty said.

Now the court requires a date certain for the adoption cases to be ready to go forward, Dougherty said.

There were 339 adoptions in 2007, and adoptions are now up to over 700, Dougherty said.

Dougherty said he and Judge Margaret T. Murphy, supervising judge of the domestic relations section, sit at the will of the state Supreme Court. But as they enter the seventh year of their leadership, Dougherty said he remains confident that they have the backing of the Supreme Court.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Friday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The top story this morning is a judge saying it isn’t apparent that Pennsylvania Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille knew of Jeffrey Rotwitt’s dual roles in the construction of a new family courthouse. As reporter Gina Passarella writes, Allegheny County Common Pleas Court Judge R. Stanton Wettick Jr. ruled on a number of preliminary objections in the First Judicial District’s lawsuit against Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel and Rotwitt, a former partner, related to the new courthouse. The judge found the defendants could not succeed on their preliminary objections to the FJD’s fraud, conspiracy and breach of fiduciary duty claims.

Also above the fold on Page 1, reporter Zack Needles writes that a Franklin County senior judge denounced the scope of the Drug-Free School Zones Act, calling the law “poorly drafted” and “an overreaction” by the state legislature. The judge refused to apply the act’s mandatory minimum sentence of two years in prison for selling drugs within 1,000 feet of a school, saying it would have been “unjust, unfair and unconstitutional” in a case where neither the buyer nor the seller knew they were near a school.

Below the fold on Page 1, Gina Passarella writes that the state Supreme Court has declined to rule continuity of ownership is an essential element in determining whether a de facto merger has taken place that would confer corporate liability.

In more Regional News on Page 3, reporter Ben Present writes that former state Sen. Vincent Fumo has sued the owner of two area restaurants, claiming the man approached him to invest in both projects and failed to pay him on investment returns.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In a Bankruptcy Update, Rudolph J. Di Massa Jr. and Laura D. Bonner write about a recent case in which a lack of candor in retention applications resulted in the forfeiture of fees.

A Litigation column on Page 7 discusses the art of opening statements, detailing ways to connect with jurors, based on a recent CLE program.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Tuesday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer, which also includes this week’s edition of Pennsylvania Law Weekly. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

Today’s top story comes from PLW, as reporters Ben Present and Zack Needles write about questions looming over the Lackawanna County Family Court guardian ad litem program. A review of family court records by the reporters reveals that the court contracted one person to act as guardian ad litem an average of 88 cases per year between 2009 and 2011. This came after there were no such appointments in 2007 or 2008. There will be more on this story in subsequent issues of The Legal and PLW, so stay tuned.

Below the fold on Page 1, Ben Present writes that a trial court may not refuse to award contractual interest to a prevailing party if the agreement provides for a specific amount. The state Supreme Court reversed a split panel of the Superior Court in TruServ Corp. v. Morgan’s Tool and Supply Co.

On Page 3, reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes in an allocatur story that the state Supreme Court is going to consider if health care providers or their records-producing proxies must disclose their actual and reasonable costs of producing charts and records.

There’s much more inside this week’s PLW, including Samuel C. Stretton’s Ethics Forum, in which he discusses a county president judge interfering with a district judge’s constitutional rights; Brandon Swartz’s Personal Injury column on diagnostic testing and bone scans; a $2.6 million medical malpractice verdict heading back to trial court after a second appeal; and Shelly Pagac and Jennifer Russell’s commentary on Employment Law and English-only rules in the workplace.

The lead story in today’s Legal is a look at profit margins and how they relate to a firm’s fiscal health. As reporter Gina Passarella writes, the profitability of firms has become an increasingly important issue. Of the 10 Pennsylvania-based firms that have reported financials so far this year, profit margins range from 22 percent to 44 percent.

Also above the fold on Page 1, Zack Needles writes that a federal judge has preliminarily approved the $17.75 million settlement of the “kids-for-cash” lawsuit. Robert K. Mericle, the builder of two juvenile detention centers who allegedly paid millions in “finder’s fees” to former Luzerne County Judges Michael T. Conahan and Mark A. Ciavarella Jr., agreed to the settlement in December in a civil suit brought by a class of juvenile plaintiffs.

Below the fold on Page 1, Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that a Lehigh County judge has upheld a $23.1 million award in a medical malpractice case in which a woman had both of her legs and a finger amputated because of an infection that went septic and gangrenous.

In more Regional News on Page 3, Hank Grezlak has a From the Chief column in which he asks when men are going to put an end to the boys’ club and stop the misogyny that has become all too common.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sibling publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

On Page 5 today is Peter F. Vaira’s look at the Eastern District, as he writes about the use and misuse of depositions in a conversation with Dennis R. Suplee, an expert in depositions from Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis.

In a Business of Law column on Page 7, Frank Michael D’Amore writes the second in a series about the top areas where law firms differ, including their willingness to embrace change.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

Fresh Ink: Inside Today's Legal

Welcome to your Thursday morning round-up of stories in today’s edition of The Legal Intelligencer. All of the links below will take you directly to today’s stories, or you can head straight over to The Legal’s homepage. (Some stories may require registration or a paid subscription.)

The top story this morning is an insurance company covering Penn State asking a Philadelphia court to declare it should not have to provide coverage of cover the university’s defense costs in a lawsuit stemming from the Jerry Sandusky sex-abuse scandal. As reporter Ben Present writes, a complaint seeking declaratory judgment filed by the Pennsylvania Manufacturers’ Association Insurance Co. in Philadelphia Common Pleas Court, an “abuse or molestation exclusion” in its general liability policy should excuse it from paying the school’s costs.

Also above the fold on Page 1, Wolf Block has asked the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to review a lawsuit filed against it by a former partner seeking severance payments from the now-defunct firm. As reporter Gina Passarella writes, Wolf Block has lost to ex-partner Michael Budin at both the trial court and Superior Court levels. Budin sued when he did not receive an annual $26,000 severance pay he was expecting.

On the bottom of Page 1, reporter Amaris Elliott-Engel writes that the Philadelphia family courthouse has received the green light from the Philadelphia Art Commission to add an additional story to the building. The added story will unify the family court’s domestic relations and juvenile divisions in one site.

In more Regional News on Page 3, a Philadelphia judge has ruled that an expert’s overnight change in his report was proper cause for nonsuit, despite the plaintiff’s lawyer not completing his case. As Amaris Elliott-Engel writes, the plaintiff in the case alleges her husband’s brain cancer was caused by exposure to a Rohm and Haas chemical manufactured by an Illinois plant and then allegedly negligently stored.

As always, our People in the News section is on Page 2, and the top stories from our sister publications across the country make up the Page 4 National News section.

In this week’s Employment Law column on Page 5, Andrew J. Rolfes and Jeffrey L. Braff write about the legacy of former National Labor Relations Board Chairman Wilma Liebman.

As it is Thursday, this week’s Young Lawyer column is on Page 7, as Stephanie L. Kosta writes that she learned all the essential skills she needed to become partner way back in elementary school.

If you have questions or comments about any of today's stories, or our coverage as a whole, we invite you to e-mail any of the reporters directly. We hope you'll enjoy today's Legal.

New Family Court Building Moves Closer to Getting Built

By Gina Passarella
Of the Legal Staff

The state Department of General Services on Friday officially acquired the air rights to 15th and Arch streets, the site of a new family court building, allowing construction of the project to begin in the coming weeks.

The acquisition was the last piece of a settlement with former owner Donald Pulver of Northwest 15th Street Associates, who was kicked off the project after the court found out he had a side deal with the First Judicial District's tenant representative, Jeffrey Rotwitt, to develop the project. Rotwitt was also terminated from the project.

The Administrative Office of the Pennsylvania Courts issued a statement Friday that said the acquisition of the air rights completed a "complex bankruptcy settlement" that would allow DGS to build the courthouse using architectural plans commissioned by the FJD and paid for with $7 million from the Family Court Facility Fund that was established for that specific purpose.

DGS paid Pulver as part of the settlement $1.1 million to acquire the air rights.

According to the court, the project's general contractor, Daniel J. Keating, estimated construction to begin "within weeks." DGS is developing the building and, upon completion, will lease it to the city of Philadelphia under a long-term lease on behalf of the First Judicial District. Pulver has agreed to continue to consult on the project as needed.

Pulver said in a statement Friday that he was "very pleased that the family court project continues to move toward completion." He said he looks forward to continuing to work with DGS, the FJD and the city of Philadelphia to provide whatever support and expertise he can to benefit the project.

"For more than six years, we've worked on developing a first class property that would create jobs and make a positive impact on the Philadelphia community," Pulver said in the statement. "Since that time, we've made a great deal of progress toward that goal. We developed architectural and engineering plans, applied for and obtained permits, worked with city officials to get 15th Street widened, and conducted environmental and geotechnical studies, just to name a few."

Gina Passarella is the senior reporter for The Legal. She can be contacted by e-mailing Gpassarella@alm.com or caling 215-557-2494. Follow her on Twitter at @GPassarellaTLI.

Phila. Family Courthouse Project Back in Court

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

The Philadelphia family courthouse project is back in court.

Gordon Group Electric, of Feasterville, Pa., has filed an appeal to the Commonwealth Court protesting the state Department of General Services' decision to award to another contractor the electric contract for a courthouse unifying the Philadelphia juvenile and domestic relations branches into one building.

Lawyers for Gordon Group, Joel L. Frank and Scot R. Withers of Lamb McErlane in West Chester, said they do not think their client's appeal will delay the project.

"While we don't have an exact timeline for the overall anticipated project, we don't believe there would be much delay to the overall project," Frank said. "It's our understanding that a lot of work needs to be done before ... the electrical work needs to be done."

Gordon Group is seeking to have the contracted awarded to it, Frank said. Gordon Group's overall bid was $300,000 less than the winner contractor's bid and would be a savings to Pennsylvania, Frank said.

The Commonwealth Court has scheduled oral argument for April 27 on Gordon Group's application for a stay and its application for special relief.

Troy Thompson, a spokesman for DGS, said the project is going to move forward as the appeal is pending. But he said that construction contracts haven't been finalized until the real property at the courthouse site is transferred to the state. The transfer of the real estate is still under negotiation, according to interviews.

DGS Deputy Secretary for Administration James E. Henning said in correspondence from March that he was denying the protest as without merit because, among other reasons, while Gordon submitted the lowest cost on the electrical contract for $22.1 million, its technical submission scored lower.

According to DGS's analysis of Gordon Group Electric's protest, Gordon Group and the winner electrical contract bidder, the Farfield Group, satisfied the mandatory requirements for the contract. Farfield Group bid $22.4 million.

Gordon Group also argued that Farfield should have been disqualified because Farfield vice president and chief operating officer Edward Nescot's electrician's license in the city of Reading has been suspended.

According to correspondence released by DGS, Gordon Group said that unlicensed electrical tradesmen employed by Farfield did work at a school in Reading. However, Farfield is still being allowed to perform work in Reading using another Farfield employee's master electrician's license.

Gordon Group also told the DGS that its debriefing process of the DGS' decision involved "lack of transparency" because of "the refusal of DGS to disclose or discuss the scores Gordon Group received and to provide any input or rationale." Gordon Group wants the basis for each respective score to be revealed.

In response, DGS said that a prospective contract has "no legally maintainable interest" to access score sheets.

Farfield Company's counsel, Theodore A. Adler of Reager & Adler in Camp Hill, Pa., could not be reached immediately for this blog.

Amaris Elliott-Engel is a reporter for The Legal Intelligencer. She can be contacted at aelliott-engel@alm.com.

FJD Collection Efforts Showing Results

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff
 
After two months of allowing former defendants to set up plans to pay tardy court fees, fines and costs without penalty, the First Judicial District is reporting that it is collecting 4 percent of that outstanding debt, exceeding debt industry expectations.

Experts were projecting that the court system would be able to only collect 1 or 2 percent of the outstanding debt.

Now that the penalty-free period for setting up payment plans is over this week, other former defendants who still owe the FJD will have their cases turned over to a collection law firm, said David Wasson III, the FJD chief deputy court administrator, during a press conference today. The amount of remittances received in January and February doubled, Wasson said.

The FJD also announced today that 622 city of Philadelphia employees owe a total of $1 million in tardy court fees, fines and costs. The FJD is working with the City Controller's Office to identify those employees to give them the opportunity to set up payment plans for the delinquent court fees, fines and costs or to issue orders attaching their wages.

If employees do not set up payment plans, Municipal Court President Judge Marsha Neifield said she would issue orders to attach their wages.

Neifield said it not the responsibility of the courts to remedy Philadelphia's ongoing debt and fiscal challenges, but the FJD would do its part to try to collect money owed by "622 Philadelphia city employees who should know better."

Wasson said the largest amount owed by a city employee is $150,000, but a more typical debt is under $1,000.

Up to 20 percent of a former defendant's wages can be attached, Wasson said. But on a sliding scale based on salaries and that most people owe less than $1,000, most people will pay $35 a month, Wasson said. Controller Alan Butkovitz said that the sliding scale is based on federal law thresholds based on poverty and income levels. That sliding scale also was used when the Controller's Office initiated a collection effort in 2010 of back taxes owed by city employees, Butkovitz said.

Wasson said the court gives up to 20 years for people to pay back debt.

Court officials estimate that a total of $1.5 billion is owed to the court with some of that debt dating back decades.

Contested Construction Contract Slows Progress on Phila. Family Courthouse

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

While the state's public works developer is moving ahead with plans to develop a new family courthouse in Philadelphia, the process has been slowed while the office responds to a protest to its decision on awarding the electrical contract for the building, a state Department of General Services spokesman said.

DGS spokesman Troy Thompson said Hampton Technologies Inc. filed a protest Jan. 22 to DGS's decision to award the electrical contract to the Farfield Co. of Lititz, Pa.

DGS's process in response to protests to its contract awards is to have its contract officer file a response, to have the protesting party file a reply to the contract officer's response, and then to have the DGS secretary or the secretary's designee make a decision on the protest, Thompson said.

The matter is pending until a decision is made by DGS Acting Secretary Sheri Phillips or her designee, Thompson said.

All of the contracts have to be in place before the project moves ahead because all of the ultimate contractors need to be involved in the planning process, Thompson said.

The construction contracts also must be fully executed before DGS buys the real property at the courthouse site at 15th and Arch streets as part of the bankruptcy settlement of private developer Northwest 15th Street Associates, Thompson said.

Northwest filed for bankruptcy last year because the original Family Court deal structure unraveled upon the revelation that the court's tenant representative had struck a codevelopment agreement on the other side of the transaction with Northwest.

But in the settlement of Northwest's bankruptcy, the state plans to buy the air, surface and developments rights at 15th and Arch streets from Northwest, which has a mortgage for those rights from the Philadelphia Parking Authority. The settlement will not be considered finalized until the sale of the real property rights closes.

Court leaders were worried that Gov. Tom Corbett would not support a project championed by former Gov. Edward G. Rendell, but the project has received Corbett's support, The Legal previously reported.

The four contracts that DGS awarded in January for general contractor, mechanical, plumbing and electrical would equal $122,447,000, $60 million less than the $200 million budgeted to construct the courthouse.

Amaris Elliott-Engel can be contacted at aelliott-engel@alm.com.

DGS: Family Court Construction Contractors Will Be Selected Next Week

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

In the waning days of Gov. Edward G. Rendell's administration, the state Department of General Services is expecting to announce the selection of the construction contractors to build the Philadelphia family courthouse next week, a spokesman reported today.

Today is the day by which the DGS had originally aimed to award the contracts. The contractors will be made public on DGS's website, said Troy Thompson, the DGS's press secretary.

The deadline for bids on contracts for general contractor, HVAC, plumbing and electrical construction work on the courthouse site at 15th and Arch streets was Dec. 20.

The courthouse's planners have been viewing time as of the essence because Governor-elect Tom Corbett is not bound by Rendell's decision to release $200 million in state capital funds for the courthouse until construction contracts are in place.