Coalition Updates

House Appropriations budget hearings are normally staid affairs featuring mind numbing inquiries on programs supported by legislative appropriations, the crunching of budget figures, and the justification for requested increases or cuts to a department. It is unglamorous and tedious, but a necessary prerequisite to passage of the Commonwealth’s annual spending plan. For the first sixty minutes of…

In their quest to increase the number of individuals in various class action or malpractice suits, plaintiffs’ attorneys around Philadelphia have taken over ad space on the airwaves, social media, and especially highway billboards. Philly area drivers might have become used to this sort of in your face, continuous advertisements. But a recent opinion column…

During his annual budget address earlier this week, Gov. Josh Shapiro proposed an approximate 7 percent increase in state spending as part of his budget plan for the upcoming 2024-25 fiscal year. The $48.3 billion plan focuses on investments in a number of areas, including: public education, transportation and economic development. The proposal does not include…

Pennsylvania’s reputation as one of the worst judicial hellholes was further bolstered by a recent thermonuclear verdict handed down by the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. In a case against Monsanto, the plaintiff was awarded an astounding $2.25 billion – the largest single-plaintiff Roundup® verdict to date. The Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas was the focus of…

The Wall Street Journal recently reported on a tactic employed by plaintiffs’ attorneys to increase the number of clients in various mass litigation suits: targeted campaigns featuring television commercials, social media ads and digital advertising seeking litigants in personal-injury and product-liability cases against corporations and the federal government. The WSJ article notes that these types of advertisements have increased…

The New Year is off to a slow legislative start for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. This lack of activity is largely due to an extended session break by the state House of Representatives. Prior to the holiday break, House Speaker Joanna McClinton, D-Philadelphia, notified members that there would not be any voting days scheduled until the…