LAVERY LAW - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Partner

Andrew W. Maffett focuses his practice on the representation of employers and insurers in Workers Compensation disputes. Andrew has represented Employers and Insurers before Workers' Compensation Judges throughout the state, the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Appeal Board (WCAB) and the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Maffett worked for a law firm in Harrisburg, Pa., on matters dealing with Workers' Compensation, Personal Injury, Criminal Defense, and Social Security Disability law. During law school, he was an extern with Robert Morris University, doing NCAA Compliance work with the athletic department. Mr Maffett graduated from Virginia Tech with a History major and minor in Political Science and Business. He received his Juris Doctor from West Virginia University College of Law. Mr. Maffett is from East Berlin, Pa.

Job Titles:

• Managing Partner
• Managing Shareholder

Frank J. Lavery, Jr. is the managing shareholder of the firm. His primary area of practice involves the representation of public entities and their officials and employees in litigation matters and municipal employers in labor law matters. In addition, he defends malpractice claims on behalf of attorneys, accountants and other professionals as well as handling coverage in bad faith matters for insurers. He manages the firm's appellate practice. Mr. Lavery has been engaged in civil defense litigation since 1984 and has considerable jury trial experience in both state and federal courts in cases with exposures in excess of $1 million. He has lectured on the subjects of labor and employment law, governmental liability, and the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act to various business groups, insurance companies, local government officials, and law enforcement officials. He serves on the Pennsylvania Law Enforcement Accreditation Commission. He is solicitor for the Pennsylvnia Chiefs of Police Association and to the Dauphin County Board of Prison Inspectors. He has been selected by the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania to serve as a certified mediator in the court annexed mediation program.

Job Titles:

• Shareholder

Job Titles:

• Attorney

is a civil litigator licensed in Pennsylvania. His practice encompasses the defense of public entities and municipal clients in employment and civil rights cases. Mr. Sanyour has also previously defended individual clients in civil litigation, including breach of contract claims. In this capacity, he successfully overturned an improper arbitration award. Before joining Lavery Law, Mr. Sanyour practiced in intellectual property (IP) and business organizations for six years. As a consultant, he advised corporate clients in regulatory guidance, federal contracting, intellectual property protection, IP licensing, trademark practice and registration, and trade secret law, with a particular focus on biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. His work included IP interest arising in the electronics industry and the publishing industry as well. To that end, Mr. Sanyour collaborated with licensed patent attorneys in patent law practice, including assisting in the preparation of provisional patent applications. Mr. Sanyour has a history of pro bono work on behalf of individuals in civil litigation defense and pro-se applicants in IP law. He volunteered as an electoral official and was subsequently elected and served four years as an Inspector of Elections in Chester County, Pennsylvania. Mr. Sanyour graduated from Princeton University with a BA in politics and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law with a concentration in Intellectual Property and Innovative Law. During law school and immediately thereafter, he also completed a postbaccalaureate course of study in biology at the University of Pittsburgh including computational biology, genetics, endocrinology and neuroscience. He is currently eligible for the US patent exam.

Job Titles:

• Attorney
• Member of Both the Pennsylvania
• Member of the Bars

Murray J. Weed is a member of both the Pennsylvania and Georgia Bars. He practices in the areas of civil litigation in both state and federal courts as well as in local government law. He defends government agencies and entities as well as their employees. Mr. Weed also holds a Master's degree in Public Administration. During his career he has served as the President of the City Attorney's section of the Georgia Municipal Association, and as the Mayor pro tem of Peachtree City as an elected official. For some years he taught at the University of Georgia in the Carl Vinson Institute of Local Government and served as the manager of the local government division. He has authored numerous papers on various local government and liability issues ranging from police moonlighting to massage parlor ordinances. He is recognized as an authority on open meetings laws by the National Association of County Commissioners. Regularly, he speaks at conferences on subjects in the area of local government. He is a registered mediator. After receiving his law degree from the University of Georgia he sought further education and graduated with a Master's from Valdosta State University. He is also a police academy graduate where he was elected by his classmates as President and was awarded honors in marksmanship and academics. He served as an officer in the Judge Advocate General's Corps in both the U.S. Army Reserve and the Georgia Army National Guard until his honorable discharge. Mr. Weed is a member of the Bars in Pennsylvania including the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and the federal court's Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Job Titles:

• Shareholder
• Secretary of the Workers' Compensation Section of the Dauphin ( Harrisburg ) County Bar Association

Perry Merlo is a shareholder with the firm. He focuses his practice on the representation of employers and insurers in Workers Compensation disputes. He has represented employers and insurance companies throughout Pennsylvania over the past 23 years. Throughout his career his clients have included large and small, insured and self-insured, unionized and non-unionized employers from myriad industries, including manufacturers, retailers, national restaurant chains, colleges and universities, and health care companies. He practiced at the Lancaster branch of a Philadelphia law firm for 20 years before taking his current job as a Shareholder at Lavery Law in Harrisburg in 2014. The past 23 years of his practice have been devoted entirely to the representation of employers and insurance companies in the defense of Workers Compensation claims. Mr. Merlo has published 8 articles in the Pennsylvania Bar Quarterly from 2004 to 2013 dealing with Workers Compensation Mental stress claims, Supersedeas Fund Reimbursement, Specific loss claims and Fatal Claims. He also lectured on the topic of Workers Compensation on numerous occasions for employers and insurance companies and most recently presented legal updates at the Pennsylvania Career Links in Franklin, Adams and Lebanon Counties. He has represented his clients before Workers' Compensation Judges, The Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Appeal Board, The Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, and The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. He has also participated in Oral Argument before each of these judicial bodies. Mr. Merlo has served as Secretary of the Workers' Compensation section of the Dauphin (Harrisburg) County Bar Association as well as lecturing extensively on Workers' Compensation defense issues.

Job Titles:

• Attorney
• Member of the Pennsylvania Bar

Prior to joining Lavery Law, Ms. McCullough received significant municipal law experience as an Assistant Solicitor in Dauphin County. She assisted in the representation of Dauphin County on issues including election law, administrative law, labor and employment law, right to know law and open meetings, procurement and public bidding, and zoning and land use. She served as a law clerk for the Solicitor's Office for almost three years before receiving her license. Ms. McCullough was an Associate Editor of the Widener Commonwealth Law Review. She was also an active member of both the Moot Court Honor Society and the Trial Advocacy Honor Society. She graduated with a certificate in Advocacy and received the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Student Advocacy Award. Ms. McCullough was named to the Order of Barristers for outstanding oral and written advocacy. She currently has two publications in the Widener Commonwealth Law Review. Ms. McCullough graduated from Saint Vincent College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Politics and a second major in Criminology, Law & Society. She received her Juris Doctor from Widener University Commonwealth Law School and graduated cum laude. Ms. McCullough is a Harrisburg, Pennsylvania native and serves on her local school board. Rebecca A. McCullough is a licensed member of the Pennsylvania Bar. She focuses her practice on the representation of public entities, their officials and employees in a variety of litigation matters.

Job Titles:

• Shareholder
• Member of the CLM Alliance

Thomas Ollason is a shareholder of the firm. He focuses his practice on the representation of employers and insurers in Workers Compensation disputes. His practice involves representing insurance companies and self-insured employers in the area of workers' compensation and general insurance defense litigation. In addition to litigating workers' compensation cases in many venues of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, Mr. Ollason has lectured at numerous seminars for employers and insurance adjusters and he has prepared and presented continuing legal education seminars and presentations. He has argued cases before the Workers' Compensation Appeal Board and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. Mr. Ollason is a member of The CLM Alliance, a national organization that is comprised of industry leaders, claims professionals and, by invitation only, attorneys committed to joining forces to create cost-effective strategies designed to defend against claims asserted and develop proactive risk management techniques to reduce costly litigation. Mr. Ollason is a graduate of the University of Arizona and The Gonzaga University School of Law, cum laude.