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Tag: law firm

Barley Snyder names new COO

Long-time Barley Snyder employee Dorothy Rund has been promoted to chief operating officer of the Lancaster-based firm. 

Rund has been with the firm for close to 30 years, serving previously as chief administrative officer. She will continue to work with the firm’s management committee and execute additional initiatives to help shape the firm’s overall operations. 

“Dorothy has been performing the traditional duties of a COO for years and has been a critical force in our strategic growth over the last decade,” Barley Snyder Managing Partner Jeff Lobach said in a statement. “Her promotion is well deserved. The firm’s leadership looks forward to continued partnership with Dorothy in extending our organization’s positive trajectory to which she has already contributed so much.” 

Barley Snyder serves businesses, individuals, and organizations in civil law and has more than 120 attorneys practicing from offices located in Lancaster, York, Reading, Harrisburg, Hanover, Gettysburg, Wyomissing, Schuylkill Haven, and Malvern. The firm also has offices In Maryland. 

“It has been my honor to serve at Barley Snyder and watch our firm evolve throughout our footprint for the past three decades,” Rund said. “Furthermore, it has been a pleasure working alongside brilliant, talented professionals who continue to make a positive impact on our clients and the community while setting the bar high and exceeding expectations for our team.” 

A member of the Association of Legal Administration for more than 30 years, Rund previously served as a mentor for the Lancaster Chamber’s Mentorship program.

Local attorney named public arbitrator

Dennis E. Boyle. PHOTO/PROVIDED

Camp Hill resident Dennis E. Boyle, of the law firm Boyle & Jasari, was chosen by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority to serve as a public arbitrator. The authority provides the largest forum for the settlement of securities disputes in the U.S.

A release noted that FINRA arbitrators “listen to both sides of a securities-related dispute, weigh the facts and render a final and binding decision.”

Boyle & Jasari is a boutique national and international law firm with offices in Washington, D.C., Baltimore, Philadelphia, Harrisburg and Anchorage, Alaska.

It represents investors who have been the victims of fraud or other misconduct by investment advisers, stockbrokers, brokerage firms or others involved in financial services, and represents investment advisers in disputes with their brokers. In addition to cases before FINRA, Boyle & Jasari represents fraud victims in state and federal courts, as well as in other arbitrational forums.

“After appearing before FINRA arbitration panels for decades,” Boyle said in the release, “I am honored to have been chosen by FINRA for this position.”

Saxton & Stump launches regulatory and government affairs practice

Lancaster-based law firm Saxton & Stump hired two new employees to lead the firm’s new regulatory and government affairs practice.

Attorney and lobbyist Kathleen Duffy Bruder, deputy chief of staff under former Gov. Tom Corbett, joined the law firm to lead the practice with Amanda McClellan, the practice’s new government relations adviser.

Bruder and McClellan are joining the firm from Harrisburg-based law firm McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC. The two will work with former judges Lawrence Stengel and Robert Graci to help clients navigate challenges involving all levels of government, according to a press release.

“Kathy and Amanda bring a tremendous wealth of knowledge and relationships to provide guidance to our clients as many face the long-lasting impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic,” said James Saxton, CEO of Saxton & Stump. “Kathy has truly established herself as an asset with the capability to connect them with government decision-makers and her practice has become even more critical as business leaders seek creative ways to survive and thrive.”

While at McNees Wallace & Nurick, Bruder represented clients in industries including energy and environment, oil and natural gas and food and beverage involving public finance, state and local tax, employment and corporate governance.

McClellan is expected to support the regulatory and government affairs team by helping in the development of legislative lobbying plans for clients and coordinating legislative outreach.

A government relations practice is always a benefit to clients, but the need for businesses to have access to rule-makers in state government is more important than ever thanks to the current crisis, said Saxton.

“We’ve been helping clients understand the practical implications of the new regulations and how it applies to their business operations,” he said. “Adding Kathy to our team provides a direct line of communication to key government officials. Adding this service offering has been part of our firm’s strategic plan.”

A Conversation With: Tawny Mummah

(Photo: Submitted)

Tawny Mummah, 50, is the former chief counsel of the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) and has joined Post and Schell, PC’s health care practice group as principal. She brings 20 years of experience in Pennsylvania’s Office of General Counsel and was with DDAP since its inception in 2012. She previously worked with the state’s Department of Insurance for almost 10 years.

Mummah earned her juris doctorate from Widener University School of Law, and prior to that, her bachelor’s degree in political science from Marshall University in Huntingdon, W.Va.

She and her husband, Ken, and their three children – a twin son and daughter, 13, and a 9-year-old daughter – live in Milford Township, Juniata County.

: How will your previous experience in state regulatory agencies benefit your new health care provider clients?

A: My understanding of how government works and the relationships that I have established during the past 20 years are assets that few others have – and assets that help providers navigate the regulatory challenges that they confront on a constant basis. It just felt like the right time for me (to make the switch) and the right law firm. I had been chief counsel for the Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs (DDAP) for a number of years and I was just ready for something different.

What is the biggest challenge facing health care providers in Pennsylvania?

The biggest challenges facing providers in Pennsylvania is insufficient funding and lack of staffing – which had the net effect of making it difficult to contend with consistent regulatory scrutiny. I think that, particularly referencing nursing homes, the Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement has been cut. I just think there’s insufficient funding to meet the demands of compliance and providing care. I think (providers) have a struggle in having enough staff at a sufficient level to meet those demands.

What changes have you seen in the health care industry over the course of your career?

The dramatic rise of opioid addiction stands out as one of the obvious changes. Not only has the healthcare industry had to adjust from a patient perspective, they now must be equipped to handle this issue from a personnel perspective, as well. Certainly from the drug and alcohol provider perspective, when I was at DDAP, there was just not enough funding. And it took awhile, I think, for the federal government to finally catch up on the issue and when they did they really started to respond and provide the states with a lot of grant funding that could try to address the issue. When DDAP first was incepted, it was really a shoestring budget on which to try to address the issue. And then as I departed from DDAP, the amount of federal funding coming into the commonwealth was significant and it allowed a lot of funding to stream to the providers and new initiatives in attempt to address the issue.

What is your favorite way to stay healthy?

My favorite way to stay healthy is spending time with my family and trying to keep up with my three very active children. Scouts, sports, dance – all of them are in different things. Right now it’s football season and basketball season, and my youngest is playing soccer for the town recreational league.

A Conversation With: Erik Hume

(Photo: Submitted) –

Q: What legislative and professional development initiatives will you be directing during your term as vice chair of the real property division for the PBA real property, probate and trust law section?

A: The real property division is part of a larger section of the PBA. That group is composed of lawyers who practice primarily in real estate law. I’m vice chair of the real property division, and that’s part of a larger leadership team for the section. I work with the section leadership on initiatives that come out through the year, but my focus is going to be more on the real estate side. This includes everything from monitoring and reviewing legislation that would affect real estate law, as well as educational and professional development opportunities for our members.

Q: With Saxton and Stump, you often lead complex real estate development projects. What are the keys to balancing all the pieces and making these projects successful?

A: A great team that puts forth a collaborative effort is needed for any complex transaction. When you get into something that’s difficult and complex, no one person can do everything. Throughout my career, I’ve been blessed with great colleagues. One of the things at Saxton and Stump is everyone brings a client-focused, can-do attitude; everyone rows in the same direction and we work hard to get deals over the finish line.

Q: Most of the areas in which you practice are closely tied together, but how did you get into corporate health care and life sciences and hospitality as well?

A: Saxton and Stump is a full-service law firm and one of the nice things about having a real estate law practice is pretty much every business, in one way or another, has a real estate need. Even in our digital economy, somebody, somewhere has to address real estate as part of their business. As we’ve expanded over the years, we’ve gone into practice areas that complement each other. As a result, in many of our corporate health care and life sciences transactions there could be a real estate component, where they need somebody to look at zoning or the transfer of a property, and the same goes for hospitality. Based on my experience practicing real estate law, I’m able to work with my colleagues in those areas, and at the same time learn what some of the issues and concerns are that regularly come up in those transactions.

Q: What’s your favorite kind of convenience-store fireworks?

A: Sparklers. Some of my happiest memories, be it from my childhood or with my children growing up, is twirling around with a sparkler on a warm summer night.

About Erik Hume

Erik Hume, 44, was recently elected vice chair of the real property division of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s real property, probate and trust law section, where he will serve for the next year. He is a shareholder and chair of the real estate group at Saxton and Stump, and has more than 20 years of experience in law.

Hume earned a bachelor’s degree in government from Lehigh University and a law degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. 

He lives in Hampden Township with his wife, Karen, and their children, 13-year-old Alex and 12-year-old Katie.

Law firm that penned popular workers’ compensation handbook moves into the midstate

Martin Law Firm, a well-known firm across Pennsylvania that advocates for injured workers, has advanced into the midstate with the opening of a new office in East Pennsboro Township.

The Philadelphia-based law firm was started 40 years ago by George Martin, who founded it as a niche, boutique firm.

“Our principal practice is Pennsylvania workers’ compensation,” he said.

The firm also represents clients making short-term disability, federal Social Security and veterans’ Social Security claims, he said.

“If it’s a disability, we do that,” he said.

It has expanded over the years to include 17 attorneys across the state working in offices in Philadelphia, Reading, Malvern, Bristol, Allentown, and now, East Pennsboro Township.

The new office, located at 205 House Ave., Suite 3, opened in January and is staffed by Harrisburg-area attorney Steve Ryan.

“We have always covered hearings that were basically in the eastern third of the state. We found that our attorneys were traveling more and more to Lancaster, York, Harrisburg and the Susquehanna Valley,” Martin said.

Sending attorneys from the Philadelphia region was becoming time-consuming, he said.

“It made sense to hire a Harrisburg-centered attorney,” Martin said.

Ryan, who graduated from The City University of New York in Brooklyn in 2002 and the Susquehanna Township-based Widener University School of Law in 2007, began his legal career by defending employers against workers’ compensation claims as an attorney at Harrisburg-based Post & Schell.

However, by 2014, he was growing increasingly uncomfortable with his role in defending employers and found himself identifying more with employees.

“I came from a working-class background. My mom was a waitress and my dad was a sailor for a commercial company,” he said.

In 2014, he made the switch to defending claimants when he joined Susquehanna Township-based Frommer D’Amico law firm.

When the opportunity arose to join Martin Law Firm and remain in the midstate, Ryan said it didn’t take long to make a decision.

“They basically wrote the ‘bible’ on workers comp,” he said.

The legal ‘bible’ Ryan refers to it is the handbook on PA Workers’ Compensation Practice and Procedure, which Martin Law attorneys have co-authored and updated since the late 1980s, Martin said. The book is often required reading for law students, Ryan said.

Martin said that if the new law office is a success, there is a possibility that more attorneys will be added. However, the firm isn’t interested in expanding farther west than State College. Martin said he’d rather send those cases to firms they have well-established relationships with on the western side of the state.

“We certainly have more than enough work to keep one attorney busy in Harrisburg now. We’d like to add more attorneys to that office,” he said.
Despite the new locations, Martin said that he’s never had a desire for the firm to branch beyond its niche scope of workers’ compensation.

“We wanted to do one thing better than anybody else. Rather than trying to do a lot of things well, we wanted to do one area of the law exceptionally well. We pride ourselves on the quality of service we give in the disability field,” he said.