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AREAS OF PRACTICE
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Approximately 50 percent of Attorney Brierton's work at present involves
the litigation of workers' compensation cases before administrative judges
in Johnstown, Altoona, Somerset, Greensburg and Clearfield, Pennsylvania.
Between 1986 and the present, a substantial part of that litigation
involved the representation of numerous individual employees in workers'
compensation claims against a large number of insurance carriers and
self-insured employers whom the Attorney does not represent. However, much
of that workers' compensation litigation between 1986 and 2004 also
involved the defense of claims filed against various self-insured
employers. Attorney Brierton represented BethEnergy Mines and Bethlehem
Steel in such matters as well as in over 100 federal black lung claims from
1986 until 1998, when their need for such services in Western Pennsylvania
had been greatly reduced. From 1989 until November, 1993, and again from
January 1, 1996 until January 4, 2004, Attorney Brierton served as the
primary counsel for workers' compensation defense for Cambria County and
its nursing home, Laurel Crest Manor. From 1996 until 2004, Attorney
Brierton provided Bestform Foundations and its successor, VF Intimates,
almost all of their workers' compensation defense in Cambria, Somerset and
Blair Counties.
About 50 percent of Attorney Brierton's time since 1996 has been spent in
the labor field. From 1980 until the present, he defended approximately
115 small and moderate sized businesses, school districts, public
authorities, municipal and county governments in National Labor Relations
Board, Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity
Commission, Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, Office of Federal
Contract Compliance Programs, U.S. Department of Labor and Pennsylvania
Unemployment Compensation proceedings, in arbitrations and in federal and
state court. His work in federal court has included the participation in
and oversight of the defense of a county government against a civil rights
suit brought by a terminated employee, the defense of a transit authority
against an injunction sought by a labor union to prevent drug testing of
bus drivers as well as the defense of a mine owner against a wage payment
collection action brought against him by the employees of his bankrupt coal
company. He also has represented plaintiffs in 4 separate civil rights
actions against their employers.
Since l980, Attorney Brierton also has negotiated 55 collective bargaining
agreements and advised businesses, municipal and county governments as well
as other attorneys during the negotiation of an additional 44 collective
bargaining agreements. Six unions were decertified during or shortly after
those negotiations. In addition, only one strike or work stoppage occurred
during the 55 union negotiations which he conducted as a management
spokesman or negotiator. All in all, Attorney Brierton has entered his
appearance in over 17 representation elections before the NLRB or the PLRB
since 1980. He further served as the sole labor counsel for Cambria County
and its nursing home, Laurel Crest, in their relations with over 1,400
employees between 1996 and 2002.
A growing portion of the Attorney's practice is devoted to advising and
assisting individual clients in the preparation of their Last Wills, Living
Wills and General Powers of Attorney as well as in the administration and
probate of their estates.
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