Philadelphia attorneys Dawn Doherty and Mary Labaree were successful in obtaining a Dismissal under F.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of PA. Plaintiff claimed deprivation of her rights under the U.S. Constitution by a county governmental agency charged with ensuring the safety of children and named employees of the agency.

The opinion adopted the report and recommendations of the Magistrate Judge, which was “appealed” by Plaintiff. The Court drafted a lengthy memorandum describing the bases for the opinion overruling Plaintiff’s objections to the Magistrate’s opinion, touching on issues of immunity of individuals, agencies and intentional infliction of emotional distress.

Marks O’Neill’s Philadelphia and New Jersey offices hosted a Professional Clothing drive to benefit Career Wardrobe, a local Philadelphia organization which provides a continuous system of employability support as women and men transition into the workforce. Career Wardrobe’s programs start by assisting with the interview process and continue by helping develop the skills needed to become valuable employees and retain employment.

Marks O’Neill’s New Jersey attorney Sean Kelly obtained a victory before the New Jersey Appellate Division. The Court affirmed the dismissal of a Class Action filed against the owner of multiple health clubs. Plaintiffs claimed that the membership agreements violated numerous statutes, including the Retail Installment Sales Act, New Jersey Consumer Fraud Act, the Health Club Services Act and the Truth In Consumer Contract Warranty Notice Act. At the trial court level, we prevailed in defeating Plaintiffs’ Motion for Class Certification and successfully cross-moved in dismissing Plaintiffs underlying individual claims. The Appellate Division affirmed. In doing so, the Appellate Division issued an important win for New Jersey Health Clubs by holding that Health Club Membership Agreements are not subject to the restrictions of RISA. Plaintiffs sought potentially millions of dollars in statutory damages and attorney’s fees.

J. Mark Pecci, II was successful in obtaining Summary Judgment in Philadelphia County. Plaintiffs, wife and husband, alleged loss of consortium claims as a result of an assault to the wife which occurred in their apartment building. At the time the Motion for Summary Judgment was filed, the loss of consortium claims were the only claims left against Defendant. During the course of the litigation, the Plaintiff husband died. Our Motion for Summary Judgment argued that the loss of consortium claims were no longer viable as the Plaintiff husband was no longer living and such claims could not survive. The Philadelphia trial Court granted the loss of consortium claims as to Defendant which resulted in the ultimate dismissal from the case.