G. Jay Habas

Significant Representative Matters

• Successfully resolved high-damage medical malpractice lawsuit involving the death of a three-month-old child where damages exposure was seven figures, with clear liability and potential punitive exposure for low six figures prior to trial on the basis of supportive expert testimony.

• Won appeal of toxic chemical exposure workers' compensation case where the judge found an employee died of cancer due to exposure from Benzene in workplace and awarded substantial, lifetime widow's benefits in excess of $500,000. Award reversed on appeal to Commonwealth Court on basis of the argument that widow's claim was barred by application of statute of limitations.

• Successfully appealed denial of hearing loss claim in workers' compensation case through extensive use of after-acquired evidence to demonstrate workplace exposure to noise did not rise to level of OSHA threshold limit.

• Use of medical experts from seven different disciplines to mitigate exposure in medical malpractice claim involving three-­month-old child.

• Developed expert testimony from occupational medicine, toxicology, neurology, neuropsychology, industrial hygiene and psychiatry to defend alleged toxic chemical exposure in the workplace.

• Obtained dismissal of a federal civil rights action on behalf of the County of Erie in which a grandmother asserted a constitutional right to the care and custody of a grandchild against the interests of an adoptive family with whom the child was placed by the court. Successfully argued that no court has recognized such a right on behalf of a grandparent.

• Successfully obtained summary judgment in the U.S. District Court, and upheld on appeal, of a federal civil rights claim by a father alleging that a local children and youth agency negligently filed a report of suspected child abuse against him. The court agreed that the local agency acted consistent with the Child Protective Services Law and did not cause a deprivation of the parent’s rights.

• Persuaded plaintiffs to voluntarily withdraw a complaint, which alleged that a county agency intentionally sabotaged the plaintiffs from adopting children placed in their custody, on the basis of absolute immunity under the Pennsylvania Subdivision Political Tort Claims Act.

Published Works

• "Natural Gas 'Gold Rush:' Injury and Occupational Exposure in Pennsylvania From the Marcellus Shale Gas Explosion," Energy Law Supplement, The Legal Intelligencer, July 2011

• "Job Availability in Current Economic Crisis: Is It Time to Reconsider Funded Employment?," Workers' Compensation (PSIA Newsletter), March 2009

• "Using Causation As A Defense To Negligence," Defense Digest, 2003

• "Calculation of Average Weekly Wage for Employees on Leave of Absence or Unpaid Illness," Pennsylvania Self-Insurers' Association Newsletter, May 1998

Classes/Seminars Taught

• Employment Liability in the Cyber Age, Marshall Dennehey / AIG Employment Seminar, Pittsburgh, PA, May 2, 2013

• Labor and Employment, Adjunct Faculty, Gannon University

• Act 57 Amendments to the Workers' Compensation Act

• Impairment Rating Evaluations to Reduce Exposure to Total Disability Benefits

• Maximizing an Insurance Carrier's Right to Subrogation

• Employer Liability for Workplace Violence

• Americans With Disabilities Act and its Interplay with Workers' Compensation

• Family and Medical Leave Act

• Employment, Workers' Compensation, Medical Malpractice, Insurance Agent E&O

Past Employment Positions

• Thomson, Rhodes & Cowie, P.C., Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

• Williams & Montgomery, Chicago, Illinois

Education

• Notre Dame Law School, Notre Dame, Indiana, 1985 J.D.

  Law Journal: Journal of Legislation

• University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, 1991 Trial Advocacy Program

• Gannon University, Erie, Pennsylvania 1982 B.A.

  Honors: Cum Laude
  Honors: Medal of Honor