Siana Law Welcomes James B. Halligan III

Siana Law is proud to welcome James B. Halligan III to our team of Associate Attorneys. Mr. Halligan is a native of Havertown and currently resides in Upper Providence, PA. He is a graduate of Penn State University and Widener University School of Law. Mr. Halligan also completed a Master of Law (LLM) in Cyber…

The Landscape of Community Colleges’ Funding Might Soon Change, For Better or Worse By Michael J. Salek, Esquire

Pennsylvania ranks 49th in the country in funding its state institutions of higher learning and 48th in affordability. In an effort to improve these statistics, Governor Shapiro has recently proposed a 15% funding increase for Pennsylvania’s state institutions of higher learning, including all fifteen (15) of the state’s community colleges. The interesting component of this…

School District Funding Change is Underway with More Ahead in Light of Commonwealth Court Ruling By Michael J. Salek, Esquire

The Education Clause of our Commonwealth’s Constitution imposes a requirement which, given current economic climate consisting of inflation and increase in wages, any school official would call onerous. Under the Education Clause, the Commonwealth must “provide for the maintenance and support of a thorough and efficient system of public education to serve the needs of…

Courts Start to Interpret the Newest Exception to Governmental Immunity – the Sexual Abuse Exception by Michael J. Salek, Esquire

In November 2019, Governor Wolf signed into legislation the ninth exception to governmental immunity, titled the Sexual Abuse exception, which imposes liability on local agencies for the following sexual crimes against victims under age 18: trafficking individuals, sexual involuntary servitude, rape, statutory sexual assaults, involuntary deviate sexual assault, institutional sexual assault, aggravated indecent assault, and…

Robert T. Sing

The “Economic Reality” of What Constitutes “Public Work” Under the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act By Robert T. Sing, Esquire

Where a public body essentially acts as a pass-through of funds used on a construction project, the “economic reality” of the transaction is that the work is not “public work” under the Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Act. In Ursinus College v. Prevailing Wage Appeals Bd., Ursinus challenged a Pennsylvania Prevailing Wage Appeals Board’s decision that a…

Andrew Rongaus to Present Best Practices for Municipal Employers to PIRMA Members

On Thursday, January 20th, 2022, Siana Law attorney Andrew Rongaus will present, Best Practices for Municipal Employers, as part of an ongoing webinar series and collaboration with PIRMA. This online training will provide essential information for both experienced and new local elected officials. As originally described on the webinar registration page, it will cover “fundamental employment…