By: Matthew H. Fry, Esquire On July 1, 2009, the Home Improvement Consumer Protection Act (the “Act”) took effect in Pennsylvania. This law requires most home improvement contractors to register with the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Office. Additionally, these contractors must maintain minimum insurance coverage and utilize contracts that comply with a number of consumer […]
By: Lisanne L Mikula, Esquire Back in March 2016, I discussed a decision by a federal trial court in Philadelphia which held that a private citizen bystander does not have a First Amendment right to photograph or film police officers while those officers are engaged in law enforcement activities. That decision was appealed to the United States […]
By: Pamela A. Lee, Esquire In a unanimous decision on July 5, 2017, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that it is unconstitutional for a taxing authority to appeal the real property tax assessments of only one sub-classification of properties where that sub-classification is by property type, such as a commercial property or apartment complex. In Valley Forge […]
By: Lisanne L. Mikula, Esquire Under the Pennsylvania Inspection of Employment Records Law (the “Act”), an employer must permit an employee or the employee’s agent to inspect the employee’s own personnel files. The Act defines “employee” as a person who is currently employed, laid off with reemployment rights, or on a leave of absence. Because […]
By: Robert B. George, Esquire When parental rights are terminated for a child, it is as though the child were never born to that parent. There are two types of termination of parental rights: voluntary and involuntary.
By: Pamela A. Lee, Esquire Our taxpayers unjustly pay more than their fair share of the cost of government when other property owners “game” the system and pay less than their fair share in real estate taxes. In Pennsylvania, our law provides for the “principle that a taxpayer should pay no more or no less […]
By: Robert B. George, Esquire rgeorge@dioriosereni.com When first enacted in 1980, Pennsylvania’s Divorce Code required a three-year separation period before a divorce could be obtained on no-fault grounds without consent. In 1988, the law was amended to reduce the waiting period to two years. Legislation to further reduce the waiting period, known as House […]
By: Lisanne L. Mikula April 6, 2017 On April 4, 2017, the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit became the first federal appeals court to hold that a person who alleges that she experienced employment discrimination on the basis of her sexual orientation has stated a claim of sex discrimination under Title VII. […]
By: Pamela A. Lee, Esquire plee@dioriosereni.com In matter of first impression, the Commonwealth Court recently held that a local government agency – which includes school districts – can be liable to an employee for workplace exposure to asbestos dust if the condition causing exposure falls within one of the exceptions to governmental immunity. The case is Geier […]
By: Pamela A. Lee, Esquire plee@dioriosereni.com In September, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”)-a federal agency that controls Medicare and Medicaid funding-announced comprehensive revisions to the federal nursing home regulations, including a ban on pre-dispute arbitration agreements. The new rule banning pre-dispute arbitration agreements-along with most of the new rules-was scheduled to take […]
