Ben Present

November 22, 2011 | The Legal Intelligencer

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that the state does not need to present expert testimony in DUI cases where the defendant was under the influence of a prescription drug.

By Ben Present

6 minute read

January 02, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

A handful of cases sure to have lasting effects on Pennsylvanians, including how their legislative districts will look for the next decade and how Marcellus Shale natural gas drilling will be regulated, remained undecided by the state Supreme Court in the waning days of 2012.

By Ben Present

8 minute read

December 27, 2011 | Daily Report Online

By Ben Present

9 minute read

February 21, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

An Allegheny County ordinance taxing the sale of alcoholic beverages has withstood Pennsylvania appellate court scrutiny, after a Commonwealth Court panel rejected challenges to the law filed on behalf of bar and restaurant owners in Allegheny County.

By Ben Present

4 minute read

March 26, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

Even in instances where the underlying litigation is premised on a federal law, it is state procedural rules that govern a court's award of post-judgment interest when the underlying action is in state court, the state Superior Court has ruled.

By Ben Present

4 minute read

April 26, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

For former Lackawanna County prosecutor Kathleen Kane, what appears to be her biggest hurdle — that Pennsylvanians have never elected a woman nor a Democrat to the Office of the Attorney General — could end up being the linchpin of her general election push.

By Ben Present

7 minute read

November 08, 2011 | The Legal Intelligencer

A Butler County judge has ruled that when a party in a divorce dies before trial, a court should look at the circumstances, rather than proceeding as if the death had not happened.

By Ben Present

7 minute read

November 06, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

A Philadelphia grocer and a Delaware Valley bottler of Canada Dry products have avoided a federal slip-and-fall trial in a case where an injured shopper said the defendants had actual and constructive notice of the puddle of clear liquid in which she claims she slipped.

By Ben Present

5 minute read

May 28, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

In two of the uglier moments in recent history for the state of Pennsylvania, the Luzerne County judicial scandal and the Penn State child sex-abuse scandal, there has been a common theme: The failure to protect children rises to the level of institutional crisis and Senior Judge John M. Cleland is called in to preside.

By Ben Present

4 minute read

December 11, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

A Pennsylvania man may pursue an uninsured motorist claim against his employer's insurer, the state Superior Court has ruled, deciding that a "jetter" attached to the claimant's work van was an attached trailer and therefore a "motor vehicle."

By Ben Present

5 minute read