Ben Present

May 18, 2012 | Daily Business Review

In what could be a landmark criminal case regarding the admissibility of electronic communications, an appeal over whether ?unauthenticated? text messages may be admitted as evidence during trial will be heard.

By Ben Present

8 minute read

September 25, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

A bipolar man who voluntarily checked himself into a mental institution does not have to turn over related mental health records to his ex-wife in their custody case, the state Superior Court has ruled.

By Ben Present

5 minute read

June 11, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

Finding a Pennsylvania man's offer letter of employment to be nonbinding, the state Supreme Court has validated a non-compete agreement he signed even though the non-compete was not expressly referenced in the offer letter.

By Ben Present

6 minute read

August 13, 2013 | The Legal Intelligencer

A Pennsylvania employer did not relinquish its rights to subrogate its injured worker's future third-party recoveries simply by signing a settlement agreement with the notation "'full satisfaction of its subrogation lien'" related to a third party, the Commonwealth Court has ruled.

By Ben Present

4 minute read

November 15, 2011 | The Legal Intelligencer

Amid the explosive criminal allegations facing former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, seemingly inevitable civil action — which could possibly name the university as a defendant — and the dismissal of the winningest coach on college football's top level, several university general counsel have said they are taking strides to ensure something like this never hits their respective campuses.

By Ben Present

5 minute read

May 10, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

If the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decides that the board overseeing Philadelphia's Girard College is subject to real estate taxes, the result could impose upon it costs in excess of $100 million and threaten the existence of other charities it oversees, its lawyer told the justices on Wednesday.

By Ben Present

6 minute read

June 22, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

Former Penn State assistant football coach Jerry Sandusky, on trial for allegedly sexually abusing several boys, sat and smiled as a state prosecutor made his final impression on the jury tasked with deciding his fate.

By Ben Present

6 minute read

November 02, 2012 | Law.com

Former Penn State President Graham Spanier engaged in a "conspiracy of silence" with two other university administrators to conceal allegations against Jerry Sandusky, state Attorney General Linda Kelly announced Thursday, bringing the first charges against Spanier and adding more charges, some felonies, to the administrators' existing dockets.

By Ben Present

9 minute read

July 10, 2012 | The Legal Intelligencer

A report from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts said it found "no evidence" that the Lackawanna County guardian ad litem had been billing hundreds of thousands of dollars to litigants and that she "rarely" sent parties bills beyond a $300 retainer fee to each party that automatically comes with a guardian appointment.

By Zack Needles and Ben Present

9 minute read

May 21, 2013 | Law.com

Granting limited discovery in a social media dispute, a Lancaster County judge has ordered the parties in a personal injury case to hire a "neutral forensic computer expert" to review the plaintiff's private Facebook page during a 17-day window in which the defendants claim the woman alleging injuries was photographed playing in the snow.

By Ben Present

7 minute read