A 1972 graduate of the University Of Pennsylvania School Of Law, Pat  has represented major corporations on both a national and a regional basis as a litigation manager and as a trial lawyer.  He worked in a general practice and in an insurance defense law firm prior to starting his own firm in 1987, a predecessor of Riley, Hewitt, Witte & Romano, P.C.

 

Pat is admitted in Pennsylvania and West Virginia. He has tried cases in Alabama, California, Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia and Wyoming. He is an active member of the Defense Research Institute, the American Bar Association, and local bar associations. He is a member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and a Senior Life Fellow in the American Board of Trial Advocates. He has served as a mediator for the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, for the United States District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia, and for the state of West Virginia.

 

Pat has handled general commercial litigation cases, medical malpractice cases, litigation involving environmental claims, and cases of a toxic nature, including arsenic exposure at a glass-making facility, poisoning from inadvertent injection with an animal tranquilizer, leukemia due to radiation exposure at a nuclear repair facility, silicosis attributed to sand exposure, silicosis attributed to faulty sandblasting equipment, silicosis due to relining of steel facilities with refractory material, and asbestos-related disease attributed to insulation, gaskets, etc.

 

Pat started working on asbestos-related cases in 1976, both in insurance coverage issues and third party defense. He tried one of the first asbestos cases to verdict in Pennsylvania, Martin v. Owens Corning, which ultimately went to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court twice. As a result of Martin, plaintiffs do not get punitive damages in asbestos cases in Pennsylvania. When the Asbestos Claims Facility was formed in 1984, he was selected to be one of its counsel, and in 1985 became its national coordinating counsel on FELA-related asbestos litigation.

 

Pat is married with six children and lives in Pittsburgh where he is actively involved with various organizations in the community.

 

Education

• Siena College, 1969, cum laude

• University of Pennsylvania School of Law, 1972

 

Admitted to Practice

• Pennsylvania

• West Virginia

• United States District Court of Pennsylvania (Eastern, Middle, West)

• United States District Court of West Virginia (Northern, Southern)

• United States Supreme Court

 

EMAIL: priley@rhwrlaw.com