Sometimes litigation appears to be the only way to resolve a conflict. And whether filing a suit or defending against one, clients want to be confident that their attorneys can lead them to the best possible outcome. Our diverse client base has called upon our litigation attorneys to represent them in a broad range of legal matters involving corporate and shareholder disputes, commercial transactions, recoveries, contract disputes, securities, and bankruptcy litigation. A long history of representing financial institutions gives Tucker Arensberg an edge concerning emerging legal issues such as lender liability, letter of credit issues, and the ever-changing impact of bankruptcy laws and environmental legislation on day-to-day operations. The diverse legal background shared by the firm’s commercial finance and litigation departments gives Tucker Arensberg a decided advantage in the effective handling of commercial disputes.

Tucker Arensberg is eager and aggressive in protecting our clients’ rights. Our clients represent many industry segments allowing us to work on diverse litigation matters involving:

• Class action defense
• Commercial litigation
• Contract disputes
• Construction disputes
• Corporate and shareholder disputes
• Debt recovery
• Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA) Issues
• Environmental issues
• Fraud cases
• Insurance disputes
• Labor & employment litigation
• Lender liability claims
• Letters of credit issues
• Mergers & acquisitions
• Pension claims
• Personal injury cases
• Product liability defense
• PUC complaints, motor carrier certification, infraction responses & formal complaints
• Real estate cases
• Securities
• Toxic tort defense
• Trade secrets and Non-Competes
• Workers’ compensation

Litigation Representative Experience:

• Handled large, complex litigation matters in state and federal court, as well as various administrative tribunals, involving complex commercial issues including contract and license agreement disputes; real estate transactions; and business disputes.
• Large-scale e-discovery matters.
• Litigated declaratory judgement actions and bad faith actions, including the representation of carriers and the owners of property in litigation arising from fire or explosion and other losses.
• Lead Counsel in Kleinknecht v. Gettysburg College, in which the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit established the duty of care owed to student athletes involved in collegiate sports.
• Represented clients in vaccine injury cases in the United States Court of Federal Claims.
• Defense of Telephone Consumer Privacy Class Action cases in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
• Pursuit of breach of contract on behalf of private aviation lenders against defaulting parties pursuant to a lease and guaranty.
• Wrongful death action on behalf of motorcyclist needlessly killed in tragic car accident in Central Pennsylvania involving multiple insurance policies.
• Represented private company in trade secret litigation obtaining an injunction, damages and punitive damages.
• Succeeded in terminating oil and gas leases on behalf of lessors/landowners based upon well non-production and the lessee/oil and gas company’s failure to pay rental fees.
• Struck a default judgment that had been on record for almost twenty-four years and then obtained a dismissal of the underlying quiet title action because no valid adverse possession claim was stated, which decisions were affirmed on appeal in the first published decision by a Pennsylvania appellate court on the need for production and removal in order to adversely possess subsurface oil and gas interests.
• Obtained an arbitration award on delay and extra cost claims brought by a WV County development authority against a civil engineering firm.
• Following a hearing, obtained permanent injunctive relief on behalf of a product development company preventing the adversary’s further breaches of a release and confidentiality agreement.
• Represented national home improvement retailer in store-related premises liability claims.
• Prosecuted and defended claims against persons or entities which cause significant property damages.
• Handled civil trials in all courts in western Pennsylvania involving personal injury and death matters.
• Involved in litigation of several multi-million-dollar complex commercial cases for private sector clients, in the areas of construction, banking and energy.
• Successfully argued a labor arbitration appeal before the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, obtaining the replacement of an arbitrator who refused to clarify her arbitration award.
• Resolved and dismissed various fraud and contract related claims in federal court pertaining to a client’s offer of securities to investors in the automotive industry.
• First chair counsel in civil rights litigation and related injunctive proceedings regarding COVID-19.
• Lobbied on clients’ behalf before Pennsylvania Legislature and Allegheny County Council regarding minority employment practices.
• Investigated casualty at large office space development following fire and municipal condemnation.
• Served as first chair litigation counsel in claim by competitor for Microsoft contract business.
• Successfully litigated the cases of Kingdom Vapor et al v. Pennsylvania Dept. of Revenue et al and East Coast Vapor, LLC v. Pennsylvania Dept. of Revenue et al, resulting in a published decision in favor of clients by the Commonwealth Court that significantly altered application of state tax law for e-cigarette wholesalers and retailers.
• Part of the successful litigation team representing a local utility in complex litigation over the ownership of underground vaults before the trial court and on appeal to the Superior Court.
• Resolved a business licensing dispute and helped to secure client’s business licenses so that client could remain open while litigating a tax appeal.
• Part of a successful litigation team representing a local business before the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.
• Successfully sought permission from the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to file a successive federal habeas petition.
• First-chair trial attorney in a delinquency matter in excess of $1.4 million at issue.
• Asbestos litigation defense.
• In civil forfeiture action relating to an option backdating scheme, recovered nearly $50 million which was ultimately returned to the victim.
• Oil and gas lease injunction in which landlord argued that gas company’s lease had expired for failure to conduct drilling activities.
• Negotiated contracts and commercial agreements.
• Assisted clients responding to subpoenas for testimony and documentary evidence.
• Represented disabled veterans against the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
• Collections litigation and collection of money judgements for both individuals and commercial clients.
• Successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court. The Court agreed with our client’s position that a federal district court must apply the state law of the state where the lawsuit was filed even after the lawsuit had been transferred to a federal court in another state at the plaintiff’s request. As a result, an injured farmer was granted recourse using the longer statute of limitations of the state in which the lawsuit was filed and in which the defendant company did business. The statute of limitations in the farmer’s home state had expired.
• Obtained summary judgement on behalf of an oil and gas exploration company dismissing the claims of thirteen plaintiffs who alleged that the operations created excessive noise, traffic, dust, light, air pollution and polluted their water supplies.  See Russell, et. al. v. Chesapeake Appalachia, L.L.C., 305 F.R.D. 78 (M.D. Pa. March 2, 2015).
• Successfully represented an oil and gas exploration company in an action arising from a fatal injury at a well pad, resulting in the court issuing an opinion affirming the client’s right to protect investigative material ordered at the direction of counsel.  See Serrano v. Chesapeake Appalachia, et. al., W.D. PA 2:12cv1678 (W.D. PA).
• Obtained a defense verdict following a multi-day jury trial in favor of a landowner against claims of negligence, nuisance and conversion.
• Representation of numerous industrial premises defendants in national toxic tort litigation, securing favorable settlement in hundreds of cases. 

We have also litigated and settled cases for a variety of clients, including:

• Obtained a successful settlement on $25 million breach of contract claim for national defense contractor involving potential counterclaims in excess of $100 million.
• Favorably settled UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings for a Norwegian/Mexican joint venture subcontractor in connection with a $200 million steel mill project in Venezuela and claims asserted against the client in excess of $62 million.
• Obtained a $1.8 million settlement for surface landowners in litigation involving claims that the release of hydraulic fracturing fluids caused soil and groundwater contamination.
• Favorably settled claims against a plastic processing equipment supplier in an action involving alleged breaches of an exclusive sales representative agreement for the territory of Canada.
• Negotiated a $1 million settlement for a designer and manufacturer of barge haul systems in connection with breach of contract and trade secret claims it asserted against a general contractor/crane designer and related to material handling systems constructed at five United States power plant project sites.
• Represented large, suburban school district against contractor in claim for breach of energy performance contract resulting in seven figure settlement for district.
• Settlement for a commercial client that had been uncollectable for a significant period of time and obtained cash in a lump sum.