Understanding Pennsylvania’s Common Interest Privilege Most people know that conversations with their attorney are generally confidential. That protection is called the attorney-client privilege. However, what happens when two different people or companies, each with their own lawyers, need to work together on the same legal problem? Examples include: Plaintiff falls…
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PA Superior Court Revives WUCP Claim: Carmen Enterprises v. Goldin
The Pennsylvania Superior Court’s recent decision in Carmen Enterprises, Inc. v. Ely Goldin, Esq. and Fox Rothschild, LLP is a important reminder about PA’s Wrongful Use of Civil Proceedings Act (“WUCP”), 42 Pa.C.S. §§ 8351–8354 (often called the “Dragonetti Act“). The Superior Court confirmed that a WUCPA claim can be…
Electronic Signature in PA: Validity, Authentication & Need For a Hearing
Introduction Electronic signatures now dominate modern commerce, employment relationships, consumer transactions, and litigation. Yet Pennsylvania courts continue to confront a recurring question: when a party denies signing an electronic agreement, what evidence sufficiently authenticates the electronic signature and proves assent? The Pennsylvania Superior Court’s recent decision in Levin v. Prime…
Piercing the Corporate Veil in PA After In re: Dravo LLC—Derivative Claims Against Carmeuse Lime, Inc.
Pennsylvania’s General Veil-Piercing Standard Pennsylvania strongly presumes that corporations and LLCs are separate legal entities, meaning, the entity generally protects the owners of the entity from personal liability. Courts “pierce the corporate veil” only in limited circumstances and only “whenever justice or public policy demand.” The doctrine is equitable in…
Update: Gist of the Action & Motion For Summary Judgment Based on Hearsay
Pennsylvania Superior Court Clarifies In a recent non-precedential decision, the Pennsylvania Superior Court revisited two issues that often arise in civil litigation in Pennsylvania: first, when hearsay evidence may nonetheless be considered in opposition to summary judgment, and second, when a plaintiff’s tort claim is barred because the alleged wrongdoing…
The Superior Court’s Reminder About Punitive Damages, Judicial Bias & Waiver
In Richardson v. Parks, No. 414 EDA 2025 (Pa. Super. May 12, 2026) (non-precedential), the Pennsylvania Superior Court delivered a decision that should serve as a cautionary reminder to trial lawyers and litigants alike: preserve issues for appeal, know that the trial judge can act hostile, unfair, or…
PA Law: No Writing Needed to Cancel Home Improvement Contract
Change Your Mind After Signing a Home Improvement Contract? It happens more often than people think. A contractor shows up at your home in Allegheny County. There is a problem—maybe a sewer backup, a cracked pipe, or a roofing issue. You feel pressure to act quickly. So, you sign a contract. …
PA’s Statute of Repose (42 Pa.C.S. § 5536) Claims Another Victim
PA’s statute of repose creates a hard deadline to sue; it’s like an avalanche that destroys just about everything in its path. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s decision in Clearfield Cnty. v. Transystems Corp., No. 10 WAP 2025, ___ A.3d ___ (Pa. Apr. 30, 2026) created yet another powerful example, this…
Binding a Partnership to a Deal: PA Law Update
I. Agreement Formation With a Partnership Under Pennsylvania law, binding a partnership to a contract requires proof of three things: (1) mutual assent, (2) sufficiently definite terms, and (3) consideration. Courts apply an objective theory of contracts, focusing on what the parties said and did—not their later characterizations of…
Anticipatory Repudiation in PA (and CASPA Update)
When One Side Walks Away Early Contracts don’t always fall apart at the end. Sometimes, one party makes it clear—before the work is finished—that they won’t follow through. Pennsylvania law has a doctrine for that situation called anticipatory repudiation. Anticipatory repudiation allows a party to treat a contract as…
