Hayes, Joe W.

Stuart J. Schatz has been associated with the firm for over twenty-five years.  He specializes in serious personal injury litigation and family and domestic law in Montgomery County and the entire five county area.  He is a member of the Pennsylvania and Montgomery County Bar Associations (Medico-legal Committee, Speaker's Bureau and Family Law Committee); Pennsylvania and Montgomery County Trial Lawyer's Association.

Mr. Schatz has significant experience in litigating jury trials and hundreds of arbitrations. As a former public defender, he still devotes part of his practice to criminal defense.

He successfully argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2001 setting precedent in the case of American Red Cross vs. W.C.A.B. (Romano), 745 A.2d 78 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2000) aff'd 766 A.2d 328 (Pa. 2001).  The Court held that when an employee sustains a work-related injury as a result of the negligence of an uninsured or underinsured motorist and recovers UM or UIM benefits from his or her own policy, an employer has no right of subrogation against that recovery, because the benefits were not from a third-party but from the employee's own motor vehicle policy for which the employee paid the premiums.

Mr. Schatz again successfully argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2003 and made new law in the case of Hoffman vs. Troncelliti, (839 A.2d 1013, Pa. Super. 2003).  The plaintiff, Sherry Hoffman, owned a car and had selected limited tort coverage.  Her mother had full tort coverage.  The Court held that in cases where two or more conflicting policies, the tort option covering the vehicle in which the party was injured should apply, so long as the injured party is an insured under that policy.

Representative Cases:

Hoffman vs. Troncelliti, 839 A.2d 1013 (Pa. Super. 2003)