Gabriel Fera:
Legal Counsel for Local Governments and Small Businesses.

OUR APPROACH

Your First Choice for Solicitor, Labor Counsel, and Employment Law.

Intentionally Different.
Designed for You.

Our firm stands out because we focus on what matters to you. We hire lawyers who understand local governments and small businesses in Pennsylvania and we deliver big-firm results through expertise, responsiveness, and relentless pursuit of your goals. Our personal dedication to your needs turns first-time clients into decades-long partners. It is why we are the one most recommended by your neighbors and friends.

OUR PRACTICE AREAS

MUNICIPAL LAW

Gabriel Fera serves as solicitor to more Pennsylvania Counties than any other firm, and we also serve as solicitor to other municipal entities, big and small, all across the State. We would be proud to work with your local government so that we can help your policymakers achieve their goals.

Gabriel Fera has developed a solicitor practice by focusing on a developing problem facing counties and municipalities across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania: The era of the in-town solicitor is waning for two reasons. First, in much of the state, there are fewer lawyers practicing, with some local bar associations having just a few members. Those with experience are retiring or did not return home after law school. Second, the last 30 years has seen an explosion of new laws and regulations applying to local government, rendering the legal landscape far more complex than it once was.
What is needed is a firm with small town roots that can provide representation in a class with the big firms. Gabriel Fera has focused on these problems specifically, and we have built the capacity and the team to provide that representation—all at a better price than other Pittsburgh-based firms. Our lawyers understand your local government’s issues because we are you.
We grew up in small counties and towns all around Pennsylvania. We provide a high level of service to your local government from our homebase on Pittsburgh’s Northside—a small town firm with big-city expertise.
We can help with election law issues, public meetings and free speech, Sunshine Law and Right-to-Know, mayors and police departments, bidding and procurement, contracts, row officers and president judges, coroners, jails, land use, zoning, SALDOs, comprehensive plans, airport authorities, merit systems and civil service, collective bargaining and union issues, and many, many other issues facing local governments.

EMPLOYMENT LAW

The most important, expensive, and complex resource for any local government or business is the employees. We provide day-to-day advice to help managers make the right choices to keep things on track, and we have experience in both State and Federal Court for when things go off track.

Gabriel Fera emphasizes a close relationship with management-level employees in order to provide day-to-day, quick answers to common employment issues so that they can keep their offices moving. We also provide comprehensive training on sex harassment, discipline, and many other subjects so that managers can be effective in their lead roles.
For elected officials and company owners, we provide experienced employment law advice and counseling to navigate matters in a way that avoids or de-escalates conflict. And when conflict is unavoidable, we provide comprehensive and cost effective representation for all types of employment claims at every level of State and Federal Court, including practice before the administrative agencies like the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) and others.

LABOR LAW

Most lawyers do not have experience with unions, but this is where we got our start. We are proud of our reputation for effective advocacy for employers with unions, and we can assist local governments and small business with any aspect of union representation, collective bargaining, or grievance or interest arbitration.

Gabriel Fera has an excellent reputation for representing management in every aspect of union representation proceedings, collective bargaining, and interest and grievance arbitration. We have experience representing all kinds of Pennsylvania local governments and small businesses dealing with unions.
Our lawyers regularly speak, teach, and provide trainings across Pennsylvania for discipline, Weingarten and Loudermill issues, union organizing and elections, collective bargaining and bargaining unit issues, unfair labor practice charges, grievances, interest arbitrations under Act 111 and Act 195, and many other areas. Gabriel Fera has been a featured speaker by entities like the County Commissioners Association, the Pennsylvania Boroughs Association, the Pennsylvania Bureau of Mediation and the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board.

LITIGATION

All of the areas in which we practice can lead to court. In those cases, we have the experience and the capacity to represent our clients and to win at every level. We practice in State and Federal Court, before the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, and the other relevant administrative agencies.

Our lawyers handle matters in court every day. We practice in every county and in all the Federal Courts in Pennsylvania, including the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In the recent past, we have handled land use matters, insurance disputes, tax and assessment appeals, defamation and First Amendment cases, Right-to-Know appeals, employment discrimination and civil rights cases, declaratory judgment matters, landlord and tenant cases (for businesses and local governments), and cases on many other subjects.
Gabriel Fera provides comprehensive representation from day-to-day counseling and advice on legal matters, to in-person meetings with clients, employees, citizens, customers, constituents, other elected officials including judges, and with opposing counsel, as well as representation at every stage of litigation. Our lawyers have the expertise, the depth and the resources to see a case through from beginning to end, and we are proud of the results we achieve on behalf of our clients.

ADMINISTRATIVE LAW

Both local government and small businesses have frequent dealings with State and Federal Administrative agencies. The rules can be complex, but we have experience navigating our clients through them and have achieved extremely favorable results in many different types of cases.

Local governments and small businesses often find themselves regulated or questioned by higher government administrative agencies. Our lawyers are involved in active litigation on behalf of our clients with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC), the Pennsylvania Department of Human Services, Office of Children Youth and Families (OCYF), the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board, the Unemployment Compensation Board, and we have handled cases in front of other administrative agencies including the Department of Labor and the Auditor General’s Office.
Four of these administrative agencies strike particular fear into our clients and those are:
- The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
- The Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission (PHRC)
- The State Office of Children, Youth, and Families (OCYF)
- The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB)
Gabriel Fera has extensive experience representing clients in front of each of these, and we have achieved extremely favorable results. The State OCYF and the PLRB are especially worthy of note because many Pennsylvania Counties and other local governments seem to have a view that there is no way to successfully pursue challenges or appeals before them. This is not true, and we have done so successfully enough times that we have a good working relationship based on mutual respect with the staff professionals at each. If your entity has matters that come before them, please call us.