On-Demand Video
CC

Utility Basics for GPs, Housing, Consumer, Bankruptcy, and Family Lawyers


  • City:
  • Start Date:2022-08-16 20:00:00
  • End Date:2024-08-16 20:00:00
  • Length:
  • Level:Various
  • Topics:Real Property

$149.00 ProPass

[{"jurisdiction":"Supreme Court of Delaware Commission on Continuing Legal Education","status":"Self Apply","state":"Delaware","credits":"","expiration_date":"August 16, 2023","speciality_credit":[{"category":"General","state_category":"General","credit":"1.5"}]},{"jurisdiction":"Virginia State Bar","status":"Self Apply","state":"Virginia","credits":"","expiration_date":"October 31, 2022","speciality_credit":[{"category":"General","state_category":"General","credit":"1.5"}]},{"jurisdiction":"Supreme Court of New Jersey Board on Continuing Legal Education","status":"Reciprocity ","state":"New Jersey","credits":"","expiration_date":"August 16, 2025","speciality_credit":[{"category":"General","state_category":"General","credit":"1.8"}]},{"jurisdiction":"The Florida Bar","status":"Self Apply","state":"Florida","credits":"","expiration_date":"February 16, 2024","speciality_credit":[{"category":"General","state_category":"General","credit":"2.0"}]},{"jurisdiction":"New York CLE Board","status":"Approved","state":"New York","credits":"","expiration_date":"August 16, 2025","speciality_credit":[{"category":"General","state_category":"Areas of Professional Practice","credit":"1.5"}]},{"jurisdiction":"Supreme Court of Ohio","status":"Credit not available","state":"Ohio","credits":"","expiration_date":"December 31, 2022","speciality_credit":[{"category":"General","state_category":"General","credit":"0.0"}]},{"jurisdiction":"West Virginia State Bar Continuing Legal Education Commission","status":"Approved","state":"West Virginia","credits":"","expiration_date":"August 16, 2025","speciality_credit":[{"category":"General","state_category":"General","credit":"1.8"}]},{"jurisdiction":"Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board","status":"Approved","state":"Pennsylvania","credits":"","expiration_date":"August 16, 2027","speciality_credit":[{"category":"General","state_category":"General","credit":"1.5"}]}]
Credit States Status Credits Earn credit until

Overview

Each year, tens of thousands of Pennsylvanians face the loss of essential utility services because they can’t afford to keep up with their bill.  This can trigger a host of legal consequences, including eviction, foreclosure, lien attachment, custody disputes, and family dependency proceedings.  These harsh consequences can often be avoided – eliminating the need for more costly litigation, eviction proceedings, or bankruptcy by matching clients with the right assistance program(s) – or by helping the client to navigate the utility dispute process.

This session will provide a deep dive into the laws governing utility terminations and reconnections; the availability of utility assistance programs, including how to navigate program rules and remove artificial barriers to enrollment; and the utility dispute process.  Presenters will also touch on other common utility issues, including special utility laws applicable to landlords and tenants, common billing and collections issues, submetering configurations, and utility resale/rebilling.  
Ultimately, participants will leave this session equipped to effectively and efficiently resolve the most common utility-related disputes for residential utility consumers.

All attendees will receive the course book as a digital download. Course materials are not available for separate purchase but a printed copy is available to attendees for $40. If you wish to purchase the printed version of the course book, please call PBI Customer Service at 800-932-4637.

Recorded in August 2022.

Faculty

Elizabeth Marx Esq.

Ms. Marx is the Executive Director of the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project (PULP). PULP is a statewide specialty legal services within Regional Housing Legal Services and a member program within the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network. In this role, Ms. Marx leads PULP’s policy, litigation, training, technical assistance, and specialized projects in furtherance of its mission to secure just and equitable access to safe and affordable utility services for Pennsylvanians experiencing poverty. She currently serves as Chairperson of the Department of Human Services’ Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Advisory Committee and the Department of Community and Economic Development’s Weatherization Assistance Program Policy Advisory Council.  She also serves as a member of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission’s Consumer Advisory Council and the Department of Environmental Protection’s Climate Change Advisory Committee. Before joining PULP in 2014, Ms. Marx worked as an attorney for the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She holds a BS in Political Science, cum laude, from Temple University, and a JD, magna cum laude, from Widener University School of Law, where she served as the Managing Editor of the Widener Law Journal.

Joline Price Esq.

Ms. Price is a Supervising Attorney in the Energy Unit at Community Legal Services in Philadelphia. She represents low-income residential utility customers struggling with their gas, electric and water service – working to restore and maintain access to those utilities. Prior to working at CLS, Ms. Price worked as a staff attorney at the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project, focusing on bill affordability and access to water, gas and electric service for low-income Pennsylvanians. From 2013 to 2015, she worked at the Pennsylvania Health Law Project, focusing on the intersection of family law and access to health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. At the Health Law Project, Ms. Price also advised low-income, elderly and disabled clients in eligibility for publicly funded health insurance and represented Medical Assistance recipients in obtaining coverage for medical services. Ms. Price also served as a Law Clerk to Judge Mary C. Jacobson in New Jersey Superior Court. Ms. Price is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar and received her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2012.

Ria M. Pereira, Esq.

Ria Pereira, Esq. is the Supervising Attorney at the Pennsylvania Utility Law Project (PULP) located in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. As an Attorney at PULP, Ria provides legal representation, advocacy, training, consultation, and support services to assist Pennsylvania’s low-income residential utility and energy consumers connect to and maintain affordable utility and energy services in their homes. Prior to joining PULP, Ria worked as an attorney for a domestic violence agency representing survivors of domestic violence on a range of legal issues. Ria received her B.S. and B.A. in Psychology and Policial Science from the University of Florida, and her J.D. from the Pennsylvania State University, Dickinson School of Law.


You have a lot on your plate. We’ll help you stay on top of your compliance — in PA and beyond.