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    One of the most prominent personal injury law firms in the tri-state region, the Locks Law Firm is steadfastly committed to protecting the rights of seriously injured victims.

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    Medical malpractice is any act by a health care provider that deviates from accepted standards of medical care and results in the personal injury, disability, or wrongful death of a patient. Nursing home abuse or negligence can take many forms. It can include physical, sexual, and emotional abuse, neglect, negligent care, and even financial exploitation.

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    Exposure to toxic chemicals in the workplace or environment can cause serious, sometimes fatal health problems, including cancer.

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    Catastrophic personal injuries include brain and spinal cord injuries, severe burns, carbon monoxide poisoning and, most seriously, death.

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    At the Locks Law Firm, our pharmaceutical litigation and defective drug lawyers are committed to serving personal injury victims and are well versed in the product liability laws that protect consumers.

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Locks Law Firm

Philadelphia, PA

(215) 893-0100

Cherry Hill, NJ

(856) 663-8200

New York, NY

(212) 838-3333

Roseland, NJ

(973) 671-1940

Locks Law Firm

Philadelphia, PA

The Curtis Center
Suite 720 East
601 Walnut Street

Cherry Hill, NJ

801 North Kings Highway

New York, NY

800 Third Ave 11th Floor

Roseland, NJ

3 Becker Farm Road
Suite 105

Locks Law Firm

Philadelphia, PA

[email protected]

Cherry Hill, NJ

[email protected]

New York, NY

[email protected]

Roseland, NJ

[email protected]

Blog

The Pennsylvania Right to Know Law is a Great Tool

Police stop a person. A dispute ensues. The person is injured by the police. As recent tragedies in our country have shown, the police dash cam video can be a more trustworthy account of what happened then subsequently-written police reports. Counsel for the person stopped wants to obtain the video as well as written police records.

A city or a town raises the valuation of a home or business immensely, which results in a significant tax increase. The owner wants to challenge the increase. Counsel for the owner wants to obtain the government’s file justifying the increase in valuation.

Under both of these widely different scenarios, the Pennsylvania Right to Know Law allows the requested records to be discovered. This is a detailed law, set forth at 65 P.S. §§ 67.101-67.3104. Under this law, a public record and other documents are accessible for duplication. Any record in the possession of a Commonwealth agency or local agency is presumed to be a public record, unless it fits within specific exceptions. The burden of proving that the record fits within an exception is on the agency.

Once a request for the record is made, the agency must respond within five business days or the request is deemed denied. The general practice is that the agency requests a 30 day extension. If the agency denies the request, or if the deadline passes with no agency response so it is deemed denied, an appeal may be taken to the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records in Harrisburg. The only tricky part about the appeal is that it must be taken within 15 days of the denial or deemed denial, so counsel must keep a close watch on the agency’s deadlines for response. In one case, the agency did not bother to respond within the initial five days, so the 15 day appeal deadline started right away. If the Office of Open Records denies the appeal, the next step for an appeal from a decision of a local agency, such as a Police department or City, is to appeal to the local court of common pleas.

A section of the law worth remembering is that if the court reverses the final determination of the appeal officer, the court may award reasonable attorney fees and costs if the court finds the original local agency acted willfully, wantonly or in bad faith. On the other hand, the court may award reasonable attorney fees and costs if the court finds the legal challenge was frivolous.

The Right to Know Law is a very useful tool for parties wishing to challenge a wide array of governmental actions. Locks Law Firm has experience pursuing relief under this law, and we stand ready to help you.

Jonathan W. Miller

Jonathan W. Miller

Partner
Philadelphia Office
Jonathan has specialized in complex cases, legal issues and appeals for over 40 years. Recent cases include medical malpractice and civil rights violations.
August 24, 2016 Jonathan W. Miller

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Locks Law Firm only provides legal advice after having entered into an attorney client relationship, which our website specifically does not create. Conversations that originate from website messaging, chat or other two way web based engagement  do not create an attorney client relationship. It is imperative that any action taken be done on the advice of counsel. Because every case is different, the description of awards and cases previously handled do not guarantee a similar outcome in current or future cases. The firm practices law in Pennsylvania, New Jersey & New York as Locks Law Firm. Super Lawyers, Best Lawyers in America and other organizations that rate attorneys are not designations that have been approved by the State Supreme Courts or the American Bar Association.