Teresa Ficken Sachs Argues Before the Supreme Court of the United States

Teresa Ficken Sachs, Co-Chair of the Appellate Advocacy & Post-Trial Practice Group at Marshall Dennehey Warner Coleman & Goggin, presented her first oral argument before the Supreme Court of the United States on October 3, 2018, in the case of Knick v. Township of Scott, Pa., No. 17-647. The case involves a dispute over a local cemetery ordinance that the landowner, Knick, considers an unconstitutional taking of her property. Inherent to the matter is a 1985 Supreme Court precedent that controls where many property rights battles are litigated. Representing Scott Township, Ms. Sachs argued that eliminating the precedent would trigger federal jurisdiction over local land-use regulations across the country.

With 34 years of experience as a civil litigator, including over 20 years as a trial attorney, Ms. Sachs has significant experience representing all manner of insureds, self-insureds and insurance carriers in complex litigation matters in both the state and federal appellate courts. Her appellate track record includes the successful representation of universities, corporations and insurance carriers in multi-million dollar matters involving catastrophic personal injury, coverage disputes and other professional liability matters.

*Update: The Court requested additional briefing and listed the case for plenary reargument, and Ms. Sachs returned to the Supreme Court to present her second oral argument on January 16, 2019. Marshall Dennehey will provide further updates on the outcome of this case as they are available.