On-Demand Video
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Right to Know Law 2024


  • City:
  • Start Date:2024-03-27 05:00:00
  • End Date:
  • Length:
  • Level:Various
  • Topics:Government

$329.00 ProPass

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Credit States Status Credits Earn credit until

This program is eligible for 3 hours of CLE credit in 60-minute states. In 50-minute states, this program is eligible for 3.6 hours of CLE credit. Credit hours are estimated and are subject to each state’s approval and credit rounding rules.

Overview

Don't miss this opportunity to join our panel of experts and learn the nuances about Pennsylvania's Right-to-Know Law!

Exploring What Is a Record and How to Access Records Under the RTKL

  • What is and what is not a record – what you can (and cannot) get & from whom
  • Specificity Issues - tips for writing a successful request
  • Responding to a Request 
  • What is an agency
  • Agency fees
  • Government contractors—how to obtain records from 3rd party contractors
  • Word searches in requests
  • Records of judicial agencies
  • Social media
  • What does it mean to be closed and open – include COVID disaster language
  • Methods of getting records outside of RTK law
  • Predecisional Deliberative Exemption (Chester Water Authority)

Raising and Defending against Reasons for Denying Access to Records

  • Review of the most common grounds for denying access to records
  • Recent case law update
  • Right to Privacy Issues
  • Attorney Client Privilege
  • Common Statutory Exemptions

Appeals and Post-Appeal Issues before the OOR and Courts

  • Filing the appeal - Tips for success
  • Third party participation /intervention – due process issues
  • Crafting a winning Affidavit of Support
  • In-camera review
  • Bad Faith and Attorney’s Fees
  • Post appeal issues – You won the appeal, so now what?

Recorded in March 2024.

Faculty

Craig Staudenmaier Esq.

Mr. Staudenmaier is a partner in the Harrisburg law firm of Nauman, Smith, Shissler & Hall, LLP. His practice is concentrated in the areas of state and federal litigation and Right to Know/Media law. Mr. Staudenmaier routinely represents print and broadcast media, businesses and private individuals in public records and open meetings matters and subpoena of reporters, privacy and defamation claims. He has presented lectures on Right to Know and Sunshine Law issues across the Commonwealth to judges, lawyers, government agencies and citizen groups. Mr. Staudenmaier has appeared before numerous trial courts and administrative agencies on these issues and has successfully argued public records issues before the Commonwealth and Supreme Courts of Pennsylvania, including as counsel for the media entities in the Penn State University/Paterno salary, PHEAA, and PUC/Seder/Kraus open records cases. As an experienced trial lawyer, he has tried numerous cases to verdict in favor of his clients in both the state and federal courts. Mr. Staudenmaier is also general counsel to the Pennsylvania Freedom of Information Coalition. He is admitted to practice in all of the U.S. District Courts of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court. Mr. Staudenmaier is a former Co-Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Bar Press Committee and a member of the Civil Litigation Section. He is a member of the National Association of Railroad Trial Counsel and an affiliate member of the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. Mr. Staudenmaier is a past President of the William W. Lipsitt American Inn of Court, which has a litigation focus. He is a past recipient of the Benjamin FranklinAward for Excellence from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association. In October 2021, Craig was inducted into the National Freedom of Information Coalition Open Government Hall of Fame. He has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America 2013-2023 and as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer in 2010-2023. He is a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College and the Dickinson School of Law.

J. Chadwick Schnee, Esq.

Mr. Schnee is the principal of Schnee Legal Services, LLC. His practice extends throughout the Commonwealth, and he regularly litigates complicated Right-to-Know Law and Sunshine Act matters on behalf of government agencies, members of the public, and others. Prior to founding Schnee Legal Services, LLC, Mr. Schnee served as the First Assistant County Solicitor for the Berks County and represented the county in labor and employment law, election law, data security matters, elder law, and bail forfeiture matters, among other practice areas. Formerly, Mr. Schnee served as the Assistant Chief Counsel of the Pennsylvania Office of Open Records. As the OOR’s Assistant Chief Counsel, he argued and briefed numerous matters concerning open records and government transparency in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Commonwealth Court, and courts of common pleas, and testified before the General Assembly. In addition to providing training and guidance regarding open records laws, Mr. Schnee tracked and analyzed pending legislation affecting open government. He regularly writes regarding open-records matters, most recently in an article titled “What Every Lawyer Needs To Know About The Right-To-Know Law” appearing in Pennsylvania Bar Association Quarterly in July 2012. Prior to joining the OOR, he served as an associate with Campbell Durrant Beatty Palombo & Miller, P.C., and represented public sector clients in matters involving open-records law, employment law, and municipal law. Mr. Schnee previously served as a judicial extern for the Hon. Chief Judge Donetta Ambrose of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. He is a cum laude graduate of the University of Rochester and received his JD from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.


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