Hickey, Patrick J.

DAVID A. SEARLES, partner, is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the Sixth Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, as well as the state courts of Pennsylvania.

He is a 1972 graduate of Kalamazoo College, Kalamazoo, Michigan (B.A. in English) and a 1975 graduate of the American University Law College, Washington, D.C., where he served on law review.  Following graduation from law school, Mr. Searles was an attorney for Community Legal Services of Philadelphia for over seventeen years, specializing in consumer and bankruptcy law.

In 1990, he successfully argued the first consumer reorganization bankruptcy case considered by the U.S. Supreme Court, Pennsylvania v. Davenport, 495 U.S. 552 (1990), and has served as lead counsel and presented argument in numerous bankruptcy and consumer law cases before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, including Harris v. Green Tree Financial Corporation, 183 F.3d 173 (3d Cir. 1999); In re Colon, 941 F.2d 242 (3d Cir. 1991); Smith v. Fidelity Consumer Discount Company, 898 F.2d 896 (3d. Cir. 1990); In re Szostek, 886 F. 2d 1405 (3d Cir. 1989); Whittaker v. Philadelphia Electric Company, 882 F.2d 791 (3d Cir. 1989); Watts v. Pennsylvania Housing Finance Agency, 876 F.2d 1090 (3d Cir. 1989); Crossley v. Lieberman, 868 F. 2d 566 (3d Cir. 1989); Abele v. Mid-Penn Consumer Discount Company, 77 B.R. 460 (E.D. Pa. 1987), aff’d 845 F.2d 1009 (3d. Cir. 1988); Washington v. Heckler, 756 F.2d 959 (3d. Cir. 1985).  From 1992 through 1997, Mr. Searles was associated with the Philadelphia law firm of Drinker, Biddle & Reath, LLP, where his practice focused on Chapter 11 bankruptcy and creditor's rights.

In June 2005, Mr. Searles was awarded the Equal Justice Award at the Community Legal Services Breakfast of Champions for his role in directing funding for legal assistance for low-income residents of Philadelphia.

Mr. Searles is the Managing Editor of the Survey of State Class Action Law (ABA Section on Litigation), 2006; Contributing Author of Pennsylvania Consumer Law (Banks Baldwin Law Publishing Company), 2006; co-author of Preserving Judicial Recourse for Consumers: How to Combat Overreaching Arbitration Clauses, 10 Loyola Consumer L. Rev. 269 (1998) and author of Tips In Handling Individual Bankruptcy Cases, Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly, January 1997. He is a member of the Board of Directors of the Consumer Bankruptcy Assistance Project, a non-profit organization providing pro bono bankruptcy services to low-income Philadelphia residents, where he received an award for outstanding volunteer service in 1997. He has taught advanced bankruptcy law at Rutgers University School of Law - Camden, business law at Widener University and bankruptcy law at Pierce Junior College, Philadelphia. He is a past co-chairperson of the Education Committee of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference.