Category: Winter 2012/2013 Pennsylvania Legal Update

Workers can generally begin receiving monthly Social Security retirement benefits once they reach the age of 62, but the full benefit amount is permanently reduced for each month benefits are received before full retirement age (“FRA”). On the other hand, the full benefit increases if an individual delays receiving benefits until after the FRA. A […]

Pennsylvania Tax Claim Bureaus offer two-year delinquent properties to tax sales in September and October every year. The properties that go unsold are usually put up for a final sale in the following year. All tax sales are full of risks for unwary buyers. Before bidding on a property at tax sale, you should be […]

The Pennsylvania Unemployment Compensation Law provides that employees fired for “willful misconduct” are not eligible for unemployment benefits. Pennsylvania’s appellate courts have publishedopinions that provide guidance to both employers and employees on what constitutes willful misconduct, Will ful misconduct can come from a single incident and can occur even when apparently minor rules are broken […]

An industrial plant worker who fell while walking near a dumpster outside the plant where he worked won the right to take his claims against the plant’s cafeteria food service operators to trial. While most work-related injuries are compensable only through workers’ compensation benefits, injured workers do have the additional right to sue third parties […]

When you contact your lawyer’s office seeking advice and speak to a receptionist, Secretary, or paralegal, are your words protected by the attorney-client privilege? The Pennsylvania courts and the Rules that govern lawyer ethics say firmly that they are. To be privileged, your statements to your lawyer’s employee must have been made to initiate an […]

Posting comments online whether on news websites or blogs-may not be as anonymous as you might hope or expect. Recently a Pennsylvania appeals court explained when a judge can order disclosure of the identities of individuals who posted anonymous comments on a news website. The case started when the website owner sited a former city council […]