Appellate Advocacy
Post Conviction Relief in Pennsylvania
February 10, 20237 Reasons You May Qualify For Post Conviction Relief
Post conviction relief laws in Pennsylvania, provide multiple opportunities for someone to attempt to overturn their crime conviction. But post-conviction practice is replete with pitfalls and packed with nuance. If a defendant can prove his claim for post-conviction relief, the court could throw out his case, order a new trial, or issue an order to remedy the issue. Even if a jury has previously convicted or the defendant had entered a guilty plea. Get a second set of eyes to review your case for potential post-conviction litigation. You need a careful, experienced, and detail-driven attorney for your best chance at relief.
When can negative prior acts evidence be used against a defendant in a criminal case?
May 20, 2022(And why you need diligent counsel to represent you)
The district attorney’s office has several advantages in any criminal case. They have immense discretion, vast resources, and the benefit of several evidentiary rules. Among those rules is Pennsylvania Rule of Evidence 404(b), which allows the limited use of “prior bad acts” evidence against defendants in criminal cases. In some cases, that rule allows the prosecutor to tell the jury about other bad things the defendant supposedly did—even if they were never charged or convicted.
When can prosecutors use prior bad acts evidence?
The Effect of a Prior ARD DUI On Subsequent DUIs
October 12, 2021The recent legal turmoil around the legal effect of a prior driving-under-the-influence (DUI) charge for which a driver completed the accelerated rehabilitative disposition (ARD) program continues. In this latest turn, the prosecutors’ attempted workaround catches the criticism of the Superior Court in Commonwealth v. Richards, 1673 EDA 2020 (memorandum decision).
An IRE in Workers’ Compensation
January 22, 2019A hot issue for injured workers in Pennsylvania and under the Workers’ Compensation Act has been the “IRE.” The IRE has been in place in PA since 1996. But the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania declared the entire IRE section of the Act (Section 306(a.2)) unconstitutional on June 20, 2017* and THEN… on October 24, 2018… WAIT. WAIT.
Before we talk about that, let’s talk about what is an IRE anyway?
IRE stands for Impairment Rating Evaluation.
Under the IRE concept, once an injured worker receives 104 weeks of temporary total disability benefits, and has reached MMI (Maximum Medical Improvement), the workers’ comp insurance company has the right to send the injured worker for an IRE by a doctor. The IRE doctor is selected either by agreement between the parties or by the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation. The doctor examines the injured worker and reviews medical records. Once the doctor does both, he or she then refers to the 6th Edition of the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Guides to the Evaluation of Permanent Impairment. The doctor then comes up with a “Whole Body Impairment” (WBI) rating related to the work injury only. If the IRE results in a WBI rating is less than 35% (this had previously been at 50%), the status of workers’ compensation benefits can be changed from “total” disability to “partial” disability. This change does not affect the weekly compensation rate, but it does affect how long the injured worker can receive the benefits.
In Pennsylvania:
1) There is no limit to how long an injured worker can receive “total” disability benefits; and obviously, this explains why an IRE process and the results are important.
2) But an injured worker can only receive a maximum of 500 weeks of “partial” disability benefits. Therefore, once the status of benefits is changed from “total” to “partial” wage loss (aka indemnity) benefits may be capped at 500 weeks. There is no limit to the length of time an injured worker can receive medical benefits.
If the IRE is requested within 60 days of the expiration of 104 weeks of total disability benefits, the change in status is automatic (the PA workers’ comp insurance carrier only has to file a form called “Notice of Change of Status”). If the request is not made within this 60-day window, the PA workers’ comp insurance company must file, and litigate, a Petition for Modification to have the status changed.
Current Law:
But, as I mentioned earlier, what was ruled unconstitutional on June 20, 2017 became a short-lived victory as of October 24, 2018. On October 24, 2018, the PA legislature enacted into law Act 111 of 2018, which reestablished the IRE process, now Section 306 (a.3). But, at least for the injured worker in PA, the previous 50% threshold for continuing on total disability was reduced to 35%. Other than that, it would appear the IRE process is back in PA. There is an established presumption of total disability at 35% whole body impairment.
Questions do remain how this new law will impact existing cases. This will require decisions from the appellate courts. If you have IRE situation, or a Petition for Modification has been filed in your case, come see us as soon as possible to discuss your situation. See Gabriella Hashem Farhat, Esquire, or Linda F. Gerencser, Esquire, for legal questions or representation. Attorney Farhat has been handling and litigating workers’ compensation cases, on behalf of the injured worker/employee for over 30 years, call us at 717.299.7342. And, stay tune for our part 2 blog about this hot topic.
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Linda F. Gerencser, Esquire, joins Pyfer Reese Straub Gray & Farhat PC
August 10, 2018Ms. Gerencser has joined Pyfer Reese Straub Gray & Farhat PC and brings with her an excess of 30 years of legal experience. She will practice in the following areas: Social Security Disability, Unemployment Compensation, Workers’ Compensation, Wills and Estates, and Family Law.
Linda F. Gerencser graduated from Boston College, Magna Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English. Following completion of her undergraduate degree she obtained a position working with disabled children at St. Agatha Home in New York. After working there for two years, Ms. Gerencser attended Villanova University School of Law.
After she completed her law degree, she served as a Judicial Law Clerk to the Honorable Richard A. Powers, III, who was a Judge Magistrate for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, at the Federal Courthouse in Philadelphia. After completing her Clerkship, she married her husband John and moved to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. She and her husband went on to have three children together: Steven, Susan and Nicholas.
After moving to Lancaster County, Ms. Gerencser initially worked for a small general practice law firm. She subsequently joined the Lancaster County Public Defender’s Office. While serving as an Assistant Public Defender, she represented clients at preliminary hearings before District Justices and in court hearings before Judges in the Lancaster Court of Common Pleas. Ms. Gerencser also represented clients in appellate proceedings before the Pennsylvania Superior Court and Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Ms. Gerencser later served as a court appointed attorney in child dependency proceedings.
Ms. Gerencser worked at another area law office for twelve years where she practiced administrative law, primarily Social Security Disability, Unemployment Compensation, Workers’ Compensation, and Estate Planning. She has also served as a court appointed Guardian Ad Litem. In addition, she taught Business Law classes at the Penn State, Lancaster Campus and Harrisburg Area Community College.
Ms. Gerencser is active in her community, and enjoys serving as a volunteer in various capacities. She has served on the Board for the Arc of Lancaster County. She was Vice President of the Warwick Track and Field Parents’ Association for six years. She volunteers regularly at her church, and is on the planning committee for the annual 5K running event that the church sponsors.
In her spare time, Ms. Gerencser enjoys spending time with her husband, children, and dogs, as well as extended family and friends. Her hobbies are jogging, biking, reading, gardening, and journaling.
Heather’s Legal Insights No. 2
February 15, 2018Did you know that Pennsylvania has an online docket system accessible to the public? The Unified Judicial System of Pennsylvania (UJS) is an online website https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/ which allows the public to search and view individual court case information in any of the sixty- seven Pennsylvania counties. There is no charge to search the UJS website. Information that can be obtained includes:
Criminal cases – including summary offenses
Traffic cases
Civil cases
Landlord/tenant cases
Appellate cases
All public information is available by searching a person’s criminal docket, such as: criminal charges, court dates, plea and sentence information. Don’t know the person’s docket number? You can search by name and a combination of county or docket type: meaning civil, criminal etc. This website proves useful whether you need information about your own case, or simply want to find out more about that neighbor down the street.
Have a traffic ticket or costs of court to pay?
You can also use UJS to pay fines, costs and restitution to the Magisterial District courts and the Court of Common Pleas. Use this link https://ujsportal.pacourts.us/bail/Default.aspx to pay the aforementioned costs by Visa, Mastercard, Discover, American Express or ATM card. A $2.75 service charge is added per transaction. You can search by citation number, payment plan number, docket number, name of person or organization.
What this means for you: If you have questions about your record or a pending criminal matter, we can help you. Make Pyfer Reese your choice – visit www.pyferreese.com or call 717.299.7342 to schedule a consultation with Attorney Heather Adams.
~Heather L. Adams, Esquire