Meet Darth

Darth is a skilled trial attorney and a certified mediator with more than a decade of litigation experience in complex commercial and plaintiff’s side whistleblower cases. He has tried shareholder disputes, fraud, insider dealing, and fiduciary duty matters worth millions of dollars. He has also represented whistleblowers from across the country helping to shed light on all manner of fraud against the government from dangerous healthcare systems, devices, and doctors to government contracting and loan fraud.

Darth's trial experience includes a federal jury trial, a Delaware Chancery Court trial, and a range of other state court trials and arbitrations. He has briefed and argued motions and appeals in various federal and state courts and helped secure an en banc Federal Circuit decision striking down a portion of the Lanham Act as unconstitutional; that decision was later unanimously affirmed by the United States Supreme Court. Examples of written decisions he has obtained appear below. Darth is also a skilled negotiator with a lengthy record of resolving otherwise intractable disputes short of trial.

Darth has been recognized by his peers and clients as an exceptionally capable and ethical lawyer. He has earned the highest possible peer rating of AV Preeminent from Martindale-Hubble and the Client Champion Gold rating. He is also among only 2.5% of Pennsylvania lawyers selected as a "Rising Star" by SuperLawyers and was selected to the National Trial Lawyers list of the top 100 lawyers in Pennsylvania.

Darth serves as a Hearing Committee Member serving the Disciplinary Board of the supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

An active member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, Darth is the past Chair of the Professional Ethics Committee and an elected officer of the Council of the Federal Court Section. He is also a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Professional Ethics and Federal Practice Committees. Darth is a member of the Mediation Council of Western Pennsylvania and is also listed as a Federally approved mediator by the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Nationally, he is a member of Taxpayers Against Fraud, a public interest non-profit organization dedicated to fighting fraud against the government. Darth was a soccer referee long before he was a lawyer. He has officiated around the country, is still a referee and referee coach/mentor, and previously served as the Western Pennsylvania State Youth Referee Administrator and an ex-officio member of the Pennsylvania West Soccer Association Youth Board.

Before opening his own firm, Darth worked at national and regional firms and helped start two litigation boutiques.

Selected Decisions and Other Publications

• In re Tam, 808 F.3d 1321 (Fed. Cir. 2015), as corrected (Feb. 11, 2016) (en banc), aff'd sub nom. Matal v. Tam, 137 S. Ct. 1744 (2017).
• Jo A. Yochum v. FJW Inv., Inc., 715 F. App'x 174 (3d Cir. 2017).
• Ross Holding & Mgmt. Co. v. Advance Realty Grp., LLC, No. CIV.A. 4113-VCN, 2014 WL 4374261 (Del. Ch. Sept. 4, 2014).
• FCA remains an important tool for deterring and remedying fraud against the government, Journal of the Allegheny County Bar Association, Jan. 1, 2021, at 9.

Education

University of Pennsylvania Law School
(JD, 2008)

University of Michigan
(BA, With Distinction, 2004)

Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• New York
• New Jersey
• Third Circuit
• Sixth Circuit
• Federal Circuit
• Western District of Pennsylvania
• Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• Middle District of Pennsylvania
• District of New Jersey
• Northern District of New York
• Western District of New York
• Eastern District of Michigan