Houston Harbaugh, P.C.

Attorney Gregory A. Harbaugh

A founding member of Houston Harbaugh, Greg concentrates his practice on estate planning and wealth preservation, as well as in the areas of business law, health care law, and general corporate matters.

Greg has significant experience working with clients on the creation of family limited partnerships and qualified personal residence trusts, as well as succession planning for businesses and healthcare groups.

In 2013, Greg was elected to serve as Chairman of the Board at Jefferson Regional Medical Center as a result of his many years as counsel and board member.

Attorney John Houston II

John is a founding member of Houston Harbaugh. His practice is focused on healthcare, general corporate matters, and estate planning and wealth preservation.

Attorney Brendan O’donnell

An attorney in the Oil and Gas Law practice, Brendan represents landowners and royalty owners in a wide variety of matters, including the preparation and negotiation of:

• Leases
• Pipeline right of way agreements
• Surface use agreements
• Oil, gas and mineral conveyances

Brendan also has experience with the evaluation of deeds for oil and gas ownership, analyzing royalty payments and preparing documents to cure title deficiencies.

Along with his representation of private landowners, Brendan has counseled municipal and school officials regarding a broad spectrum of oil and gas related issues that include leasing, surface disturbance, zoning and land use.

Complementing his oil and gas transactional work, Brendan has actively represented clients in oil and gas related litigation matters before trial and appellate courts in Pennsylvania in proceedings that involve Actions to Quiet Title, Declaratory Judgment Actions, Breach of Contract claims, and other suits involving trespass, conversion and property damage. Brendan also has experience representing and appearing before municipal bodies, such as Zoning Hearing Boards and Boards of Supervisors.

Attorney Jake S. Oresick

As a litigation attorney, Jake has a diverse legal background in civil litigation including commercial contracts, construction, insurance and environmental law. He has represented businesses, government entities, and individuals in both state and federal court.

During law school, Jake served as a teaching assistant in Legal Analysis and Writing and also completed internships with the Honorable Joy Flowers Conti of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the Honorable John T. Bender of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Jake clerked for two Judges on the Court of Common Pleas of Washington county before entering private practice.

Attorney Anthony P. Picadio

A business litigator and environmental lawyer, Anthony has represented business clients in significant cases presenting issues involving unfair competition, corporate governance, Sherman and Clayton Act violations, breach of fiduciary duty, fraudulent conveyance, securities fraud, trademark protection, insurance coverage, construction litigation, legal malpractice, commercial real estate, and contract matters.

He also has acted as outside general counsel to a publicly-held real estate development company, a construction company, and an international manufacturer of commercial lighting fixtures. His environmental law practice has involved contribution and cost recovery actions under CERCLA and related state statutes, air pollution regulatory enforcement and private damages actions, and water pollution issues.

Anthony is a former Pennsylvania Assistant Attorney General specializing in environmental enforcement matters and former chairman of an administrative tribunal charged with administering air pollution control regulations in the Pittsburgh region. He has served as an adjunct Professor of Law at Duquesne University School of Law and as a speaker at seminars on various litigation and environmental law topics. He has served on the boards of a number of non-profit corporations engaged in conservation and information technology projects.

Attorney Robert Ralston

Robert’s practice cuts across several of Houston Harbaugh’s practice groups. A focused writer, Robert specializes in the drafting of complex legal documents for appellate practice, commercial and business litigation, business law, and health law. Robert authors motions, briefs, and other pleadings for Houston Harbaugh’s clients in state and federal court and has argued and served as the principal author of briefs for numerous appeals before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court. He has successfully petitioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to grant discretionary review. Robert’s experience includes litigation related to:

• Construction and design defects
• Design-professional liability
• Public bidding and contracting
• Estates and estate disputes
• Civil rights
• Employment, restrictive covenants, and trade secrets
• Breach of contracts
• Planning and zoning
• Payment and surety bonds
• Corporate and shareholder disputes
• Collections and creditors’ rights

In addition to litigation, Robert employs his writing skills to author contracts, leases, employment agreements, and other commercial and corporate documents. Robert is experienced in health law and holds a Certificate in Health Law from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He has drafted compliance manuals and written articles on HIPAA and Medicare compliance and served as a presenter for seminars and CLE programs on medical-records law and the HIPAA privacy and security rules.

Attorney Charles Scholz

An attorney in the Business Law Group, Chuck’s practice focuses on providing clients with general corporate and business counseling, as well as assisting them with business planning, mergers and acquisitions, technology licensing, and corporate finance. Having spent a number of years working as in-house counsel for closely-held businesses, Chuck has a keen understanding of the day-to-day commercial matters that companies deal with which enables him to provide practical and pragmatic advise to clients.

While attending Duquesne University School of Law, Chuck worked as a tax accountant assisting individuals and small businesses with tax preparation and planning.

Attorney Erik M. Bergenthal

As a litigation attorney, Erik has a diverse legal background covering complex civil litigation, non-compete disputes, construction litigation, petitions for guardianship, zoning appeals and collection cases. He has additional experience researching chain of title and drafting Certified Title Opinions.

Erik has a keen interest in technology, and has worked on cases involving software design and development. His understanding of the technology behind e-discovery has helped clients realize cost savings when responding to discovery requests and subpoenas. Erik also serves on Houston Harbaugh’s Technology Committee.

Erik attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Law where he received a J.D. degree and a certificate in health law. While at law school, his legal commentary was published in the New York Times and Washington Post.

In his down time, Erik enjoys photography and traveling with his wife. His charitable activities have included serving as a board member of a private foundation and involvement with legal aid.

Attorney Michael J. Dempster

Concentrating his practice on corporate and commercial transactions, including real estate development, Mike represents closely-held businesses across many industries such as manufacturing, advertising and public relations, product distribution, software applications, and health care providers. He assists clients in purchasing, financing, and selling all types of businesses, regularly providing advice on the tax ramifications for various corporate, partnership, and individual business transactions. He also frequently represents clients before the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue.

A natural extension of his work with private business owners, and leveraging his experience as a former tax accountant with an international CPA firm, Mike also works with clients on estate planning and wealth management.

Mike has hands on experience with commercial and residential real estate development. In fact, he was one of the developers of Nevillewood Golf and Residential Community and was responsible for all legal aspects of its development, including the organization of The Club at Nevillewood – a Jack Nicklaus signature golf course, of which he is a founding developer member.

Attorney Jaclyn E. Faulds

An attorney in the firm’s Business Law Group, Jaclyn concentrates her practice in the areas of general business law, corporate governance, commercial and banking transactions, and business planning.

Jaclyn serves as outside general counsel to businesses in various stages of their lifecycles ranging from single owner arts organizations to fitness center start-ups, from mid-level real estate developers to multi-national third generation family manufacturing businesses. Jaclyn also serves as a business mentor and counselor for local non-profits in Western Pennsylvania.

Jaclyn’s experience includes entity selection and formation and restructuring, and dissolution, along with reviewing and drafting various other corporate documents including operating agreements, purchase and sale agreements, non-disclosure agreements, employment agreements, settlement and release agreements, promissory notes and security agreements. Jaclyn also works with businesses on daily operational issues such as formulating terms and conditions included on purchase orders, negotiating repayment agreements, and drafting internal corporate internet and social media privacy policies.

Prior to receiving her J.D. and M.B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, Jaclyn was an artist and worked as a therapist with children coping with developmental disabilities. Jaclyn’s undergraduate education in sculpture and subsequent experience as a “starving artist” continues to help her assist her creative clients by navigating the legal side of the arts as a counselor and business mentor.

Attorney Bridget Gillespie

Bridget is Of Counsel with the firm and is currently the full-time Director of Western Pennsylvania Services for the Pennsylvania Bar Association. She remains available for consultation with the firm and its attorneys.

She is principal author of Norton on Insurance Coverage in Pennsylvania, Third Edition, published by PBI Press. Her practice was concentrated in representation of insurance carriers in insurance coverage and bad faith matters and representation of clients in commercial and tort litigation.

She is a former Captain in the Army Judge Advocate General’s Corps and served as a Special Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Northern District of New York.

Attorney Carissa T. Howard

An intellectual property attorney with over 16 years of experience, Carissa’s practice is focused in federal court intellectual property litigation, patent prosecution, trademark prosecution, intellectual property counseling, and contract drafting. She also has experience in intellectual property licensing and preparing due diligence, infringement and validity opinions.

Carissa spent several years with the Sidley Austin LLP law firm in their Los Angeles intellectual property group, wherein she represented Fortune 500 and international companies in complex, multi-party patent infringement litigation. Her experience includes all phases of litigation, including pleadings, discovery and deposition practice, motion practice, dispositive and discovery related motions, claim construction phase, expert phase, trial and pre-trial.

After Sidley, Carissa maintained her own patent and trademark prosecution clients, growing her practice to include working for tech start-ups as their outside general counsel.

Being licensed to practice before the US Patent and Trademark Office since 2002, Carissa has written many patent applications for a diverse set of clients and technology, which includes consumer products, household products, chemicals, semiconductors, abrasives, refractory materials and applications, financial services and payments technology, networking and encryption technologies, e-commerce applications, financial transactions processing, information technology, inventory management systems, as well as medical devices, home medical equipment, pharmaceuticals and applications, including pulmonary therapies and antibody preparations.

Attorney  Catherine Loeffler

A litigation attorney focusing her practice in employment law, Catherine has experience representing employers in a wide array of employment matters, such as providing advice and counseling on employee and HR issues, conducting training for managers and supervisors to minimize risk, performing internal investigations of employee claims, drafting employee handbooks and other company policies, negotiating severance agreements and employee separations, and handling non-compete and other restrictive covenant issues. Catherine works closely with management to provide innovative solutions to improve the efficiency of their workforce and help businesses achieve their goals. Catherine is a frequent presenter for the National Business Institute (NBI) and other local and national programs on various employment law matters.

Catherine also assists management in pursuing or defending claims in state and federal courts in Pennsylvania and West Virginia and before government agencies, such as the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Department of Labor, and OSHA, on matters including:

• Wrongful discharge
• Family and Medical Leave Act
• Employment discrimination claims under Title VII, ADA, ADEA (age, disability, sex, race, national origin)
• Unemployment compensation claims
• Wage and hour matters
• Non-compete agreements and restrictive covenants

Catherine is a member of Houston Harbaugh’s COVID-19 Law Response Group and has developed a practice of understanding the new laws and regulations regarding COVID-19, such as the FFCRA, EPSLA, EFMLA, and ARPA, and guiding employers on best practices for responding to novel issues raised by these new laws and circumstances in the pandemic and post-pandemic era.

Catherine also practices in numerous other areas of complex civil litigation, including construction, products liability, , collection and creditor rights, eminent domain, shareholder disputes, and business disputes. She represents businesses and professionals throughout Western Pennsylvania and West Virginia.