I am an attorney with a general litigation background who specializes in real estate and property tax matters.

My passion for litigation was ignited at the Temple University Beasley School of Law when I participated in Temple’s acclaimed Trial Advocacy program and later joined Temple’s Trial Team. I put the passion into practice first in the Montgomery County DA’s Office and later in the City of Philadelphia’s Office of the City Solicitor. When I entered the private sector, I litigated a variety of matters, including general contract disputes, neighbors’ property line issues, condominium and HOA assessment challenges, construction cases, and collections actions in state and federal courts, municipal courts, and at local and AAA arbitrations. However, I have a special place in my nerd heart for Philadelphia real estate tax issues.

At the City Solicitor’s Office, I represented the City and School District of Philadelphia in real estate tax assessment appeals from 2012 through 2014, during both the 2011/2012 STEB ratio crisis, and then, as a direct consequence of the former, the transition to a more updated and modern real estate tax system that the City referred to as AVI (the Actual Value Initiative). During this time, I tried a $75 million tax assessment appeal case covering 153 condominium units to a successful verdict, which I then helped defend before the Commonwealth Court. I also represented the School District of Philadelphia in property tax appeals before the School District circulated an RFP to obtain outside counsel to begin taking appeals offensively, not just as a defense to appeals initiated by taxpayers.

Once I left the City, I began representing individual taxpayers. I filed the first complaint in the multi-plaintiff Duffield House case, also known as the 2018 Commercial Reassessment case, in which commercial taxpayers successfully challenged the City of Philadelphia’s 2018 commercial property reassessment as in violation of the state constitution’s Article VIII uniformity in taxation mandate. The Philadelphia Board of Judges then appointed me to serve on the Board of Revision of Taxes (BRT), where I heard and decided thousands of tax assessment appeals on the basis of value and uniformity, as well as petitions to appeal nunc pro tunc, and appeals of the OPA’s decision on applications for charitable exemptions and new construction/rehab abatements.

Accordingly, I have been involved in Philadelphia property tax cases at every level, other than sitting as a trial court or appellate judge, and am the only practicing attorney to have done so. In court I have observed numerous times that practitioners in this area often have limited (or no) trial court experience; accordingly, because appeals from the BRT to the trial court are de novo, as opposed to appeal from, say, the Zoning Board of Adjustment, many attorneys are forced to either (i) settle for less than what they could obtain at trial or (ii) hand off the case to a trial attorney, which makes the process more expensive and/or puts the client at a disadvantage, because the case is in the hands of someone inexperienced in this field. That doesn’t happen with me.

During my time with the City’s Tax Unit I handled, in addition to tax appeals, hundreds of Sheriff Sale motions and petitions, building upon my trial experience at the DA’s office but in the context of real estate matters. I also practiced in the City’s Tort Litigation Unit, where I conducted countless depositions and arbitrations, further building my litigation chops. In private practice at a mid-sized suburban and then Philadelphia firm, I led jury and bench trials, for example, in neighbors’ property line disputes and actions challenging condominium assessments.

Should you need an attorney with experience in Philadelphia’s municipal and trial courts, or before its administrative bodies, I can help you. Should you need an attorney who is an expert in Philadelphia property tax appeals who can take the case through trial, there is nobody with more experience.

Feel free to contact me here or via the phone number or email address below. You can also see my law firm bio here.