Pennsylvania Appellate Court: Tips, Tricks & Insights from the Bench and Bar 2025

Judge Wojcik was elected to Commonwealth Court on November 3, 2015 and was commissioned and took the oath of office on January 4, 2016. Prior to his election, Judge Wojcik was engaged in the private practice of law for over 26 years with several law firms, including Kirkpatrick & Lockhart; Weinberg & Stein; LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae; and Thorp Reed & Armstrong. He also served as Solicitor to the Allegheny County Controller, as Allegheny County Solicitor, and as Solicitor to the Allegheny County Airport Authority. In the course of his private and public practice, Judge Wojcik gained experience in myriad areas of the law, including municipal law, tax and assessment law, election law, civil rights, and personal injury, to name a few, and managed the second largest municipal law department in the Commonwealth. Judge Wojcik earned a B.A. at Juniata College and a J.D., cum laude, at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he was a member of the University of Pittsburgh Law Review, serving as Symposium Editor for volume 50. A native of the Borough of Central City, Somerset County, Judge Wojcik earned the rank of Eagle Scout and remains active in the Boy Scouts of America, serving as an Assistant Scoutmaster and Committee Chair of Troop 646, located at St. Bede Church in the Point Breeze neighborhood of Pittsburgh. He also is chair of the Lackawanna District of the Laurel Highlands Council, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Laurel Highlands Council. He has served as a youth basketball coach, as general manager of the East End Boys Lacrosse Club and as vice president of the parents’ committee of the Oakland Catholic Rowing Club. Judge Wojcik’s home chambers are in Pittsburgh.

Judge Dubow was sworn in as a judge on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania on January 4, 2016. Prior to her election to Superior Court, she served as a judge on the Court of Common Pleas of Philadelphia County for eight years. Before becoming a judge, Judge Dubow practiced law for 23 years in a variety of areas. She served as Deputy General Counsel of Drexel University as well as Divisional Deputy City Solicitor. She also worked at Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen and Fineman and Bach. When she first graduated from law school, she clerked for the Honorable Edward G. Biester. Judge Dubow graduated from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 1984 and the University of Pennsylvania, Faculty of Arts and Sciences, cum laude, in 1981. The Brandeis Society awarded her the “Justice, Justice, You Shall Pursue Award,” the University of Pennsylvania Law School awarded her the Howard Lesnick Pro Bono Award, and the Lawyers’ Club of Philadelphia has recognized her dedicated service. Judge Dubow is a member of the American Law Institute and serves on the Judicial Conduct Board. She is former Chair of the Juvenile Court Procedural Rules Committee and former Vice Chair of the Continuing Judical Education Committee. Judge Dubow is serving or has served on numerous non-profit Boards of Trustees, including the Stoneleigh Foundation, Carson Valley Children’s Aid, the Beck Institute, the Opera Company of Philadelphia, and Congregation Or Ami. 

Stefanie Pitcavage Mekilo is a civil litigator who draws on more than a decade of trial-court experience in the federal judiciary to guide clients through all aspects of the litigation process. Ms. Mekilo focuses her practice on complex commercial litigation, environmental litigation, and energy litigation, regularly representing businesses in high-stakes disputes in state and federal courts throughout the country. She also represents clients before state and federal agencies and in proceedings seeking judicial review of agency action in state and federal courts. In addition, Ms. Mekilo has extensive experience with disputes involving breach of restrictive covenants; breach of fiduciary duties, tortious interference, and related business tort claims; employment discrimination; civil and constitutional rights; and emergency injunction litigation, as well as in the areas of antitrust, securities, trademark infringement, product liability, class action, and multidistrict litigation.

Casey is a member of the Appellate Advocacy & Post-Trial Practice Group, where he focuses his practice on appellate advocacy, post-trial motions, and appeals. A highly accomplished appellate attorney, Casey has extensive experience before Pennsylvania’s highest court. Over the course of his career, he has represented parties and amici curiae in more than 15 appeals before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and has successfully secured discretionary review, widely known as “allocatur,” on six occasions. He has also presented oral argument before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, and the Pennsylvania Superior Court. Casey is a frequent commentator on appellate matters, contributing insights to The Legal Intelligencer and Law360 on cases pending before Pennsylvania’s appellate courts. In addition to his robust appellate practice, Casey maintains an active commercial litigation practice and brings significant first-chair trial experience. He regularly represents businesses in high-stakes, “bet-the-company” litigation in state and federal courts nationwide. His experience spans a wide array of matters, including breach of contract, breach of fiduciary duty, civil conspiracy, constitutional challenges, emergency injunctive relief, environmental disputes, restrictive covenant litigation, shareholder disputes, and trade secrets claims. He also represents clients in matters within the original jurisdiction of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. Casey serves as Chair of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Civil Procedural Rules Committee, where he assists the Court in the development and administration of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure. He is also a Board Member of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court Historical Society; Co-Chair of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute’s Amicus Curiae Committee; a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Appellate Advocacy Committee; and a member of the James S. Bowman American Inn of Court. He is a past President of the Middle District of Pennsylvania Chapter of the Federal Bar Association and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Chapter’s CLE Committee. He has also contributed to the federal bench and bar through his service on the Planning Committee for the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania’s 2024 Bench/Bar Conference and as a former member of the Third Circuit Lawyers Advisory Committee. Casey has earned widespread recognition for his exceptional legal acumen and leadership, including selection to the 2026 edition of The Best Lawyers in America® for Appellate Practice and Administrative/Regulatory Law. He was also honored as one of The Legal Intelligencer’s “2024 Lawyers on the Fast Track (Small/Midsize)”, a highly selective distinction recognizing just 13 attorneys statewide under age 40. In 2023, Casey was named a Fellow of the Foundation of the Federal Bar Association, an elite honor awarded to fewer than 300 attorneys nationwide. Earlier in his career, he was consistently recognized on the Pennsylvania Rising Stars list (Thomson Reuters) for Business Litigation for ten consecutive years (2015-2024), reflecting his sustained excellence and growing influence in the field. Prior to entering private practice, Casey served as a law clerk for then-Justice, now Chief Justice Emeritus, Thomas G. Saylor of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for two and a half years. Casey received his juris doctor from Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Temple Journal of Science, Technology & Environmental Law. He received his Bachelor of Arts with distinction, in Journalism from The Pennsylvania State University. While at Penn State, Casey was inducted into the Phi Beta Kappa Honor Society and spent a semester in Washington, D.C., interning for CNN’s Capital Gang.

Jonathan D. Koltash serves as deputy general counsel for healthcare in the Governor’s Office of General Counsel (OGC). In this position, Mr. Koltash provides counsel to the Governor’s Office regarding health-related matters, serves as a liaison to the health and human services-related agencies, and litigates cases on behalf of the agencies under the Governor’s jurisdiction. He is also an adjunct professor at Widener University Commonwealth Law School and Central Penn College. Prior to serving as deputy general counsel, Mr. Koltash served as the inaugural chief counsel for the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority, known as Pennie®. He previously served as assistant chief counsel for the Pennsylvania Department of Health, deputy attorney general with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, and as assistant counsel for the Department of Labor and Industry. Mr. Koltash is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA). He is currently the PBA’s treasurer, member of the Board of Governors, chair of the PBA’s National and State High School Mock Trial Executive Teams, and vice-chair of the PBA’s bylaws and membership development committees. He previously served as chair of the PBA’s House of Delegates; is a past member and parliamentarian of the Board of Governors, a past chair of the Young Lawyers’ Division, Government Lawyers’ Committee, Career Transitions Committee, and Administrative Law Section; and former co-chair of the Bar Leadership Institute. Mr. Koltash is a past president of the Dauphin County Bar Association; chair of the Events Committee and Life Fellow of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation; treasurer of the New Birth of Freedom Scout Council; vice-president of the James S. Bowman American Inn of Court; a past board member of the YMCA Youth and Government program; a member of the Commonwealth Court Historical Society Board of Directors; and chair of Widener Commonwealth Law School’s Dean’s Board of Advisors. He was the inaugural president of Widener Law Commonwealth’s Alumni Association. Mr. Koltash is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and the United States District Courts of the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Pennsylvania. He currently serves as a mediator for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania; a hearing officer Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Disciplinary Board; a member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s IOLTA Board; and a site coordinator at Widener Commonwealth’s Volunteer Income Tax Association clinic. Mr. Koltash received a B.S. in Finance and a B.S. in Economics from the Pennsylvania State University and his J.D., cum laude, from Widener Commonwealth Law School.

Justice Daniel D. McCaffery is the proud son of Irish immigrant parents Seamus and Margaret McCaffery, from Belfast, Northern Ireland. McCaffery was born and raised in Philadelphia, and graduated from Father Judge High School. Upon graduation, he joined the United States Army, and served with the First Cavalry Division in Fort Hood, Texas as a cavalry scout. McCaffery was selected to attend the prestigious United States Mili­tary Academy at West Point Preparatory School. He received an Honorable Discharge and served three years with the Army Reserve, 304th Civil Affairs Unit. McCaffery attended Temple University, receiving his B.A in 1988 and Temple School of Law, receiving his JD. in 1991. Justice McCaffery served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Major Tri­als Unit of the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office from 1991 to 1997. He joined Freidman, Schuman, P.C. in Montgomery County, PA in 1997. He became a partner in 2000 and eventually chaired the firm’s commercial litigation department and served on its management committee. McCaffery was elected to the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas in 2013 and assigned to the Major Trials Unit of the Criminal Division, presiding over several hundred jury trials, thousands of bench trials, and pre- and post -trial motions. He was elected to the Pennsylvania Superior Court in 2019 and elected to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in 2023. Justice McCaffery remains actively involved in civic and community affairs including serving as board member to Self Help Drug and Alcohol Rehabili­tation, Inc. and volunteer to the Father Judge Board of Advisors and Coach of the Father Judge High School Rugby team. He is the proud father of two daughters: Madison Jenkins, a Philadelphia public school teacher and Maire­ad McCaffery, a recent Temple University graduate currently residing in New York working as a travel consultant.

Corrie Woods focuses his practice on post-trial and appellate litigation and provides support for Kline & Specter’s attorneys on a full range of legal issues. Woods joined the firm in 2025 after founding and practicing for seven years at a small appellate boutique firm in Allegheny County. Prior to that, Woods served as a judicial staff attorney to then Justice, now Chief Justice Debra Todd of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and to Justice Arthur M. Recht of the First Judicial Circuit of West Virginia. Woods has frequently represented clients before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Superior Court, and Commonwealth Court, and trial courts throughout Pennsylvania. He has appeared before the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, Third Circuit, United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and the Superior Court of New Jersey, Appellate Division. He has litigated complex legal issues ranging from constitutional restrictions on redistricting, impeachments of public officials, and punitive damage awards to the proper interpretation of consumer protection, mental health, and various criminal and regulatory statutes. He has developed expertise in procedural and evidentiary issues in civil and criminal cases alike. Woods is an active member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, where he has served as the Chair of its Appellate Practice Committee since 2020, and he has also served on its Amicus Curiae Brief Committee, Judiciary Committee, Nominating Committee, and its Publications Committee. He routinely organizes and speaks at continuing legal education and continuing judicial education seminars on appellate practice issues. He regularly covers the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s docket on his personal blog, SCOPABlog, and his personal podcast, The Standard of Review. Woods earned his undergraduate degree, summa cum laude, from West Liberty University in West Liberty, West Virginia. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he served as a Research Editor for the University of Pittsburgh Law Review and received awards for excellence in the areas of constitutional law and appellate practice.