Neil A. Morris, Principal

Chair of Philadelphia Labor and Employment Practice

Email:	nmorris@offitkurman.com
Office Phone:	267.338.1383
Fax:	267.338.1335
Mailing Address:	Ten Penn Center 1801 Market Street Suite 2300 Philadelphia, PA 19103
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Practice Areas

Awards

Practice Focus

Neil Morris has passionately represented employers for the last 25 years. Mr. Morris specializes in the areas of labor and employment, municipal labor law, employment discrimination, defamation and business litigation. Mr. Morris has served as Special/Labor Counsel for more than 35 Pennsylvania Townships and Boroughs, the County of Bucks and many private employers. He is often brought into municipalities to handle "crisis" situations involving employees and/or management.

Mr. Morris handles cases throughout the country including Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Colorado, Hawaii, Maryland, Mississippi, South Carolina and West Virginia. In 1999, Neil achieved one of the highest defamation jury awards ever in Pennsylvania for a business client. He also has extensive appellate experience arguing appellate cases before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, Superior Court and Commonwealth Court as well as various Federal District Courts and before the U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third, Fourth and Tenth Circuits. Mr. Morris has also argued successfully before the Mississippi Supreme Court.

Mr. Morris practices before many federal and state administrative agencies, including the National Labor Relations Board; the United States Department of Labor; the United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.

Bar and Court Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• U. S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
• U. S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• U. S. Supreme Court
• U. S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
• U. S. District Court for the District of Colorado

Education

• J.D., Temple University School of Law, 1979
• B.A. (cum laude), Temple University, 1975

Representative Experience

• Representing management in collective bargaining negotiations including binding arbitration, non-binding mediation and in all aspects of union contract negotiations, grievances involving contract interpretation, suspension and discharge.
• Defending employers from unfair labor practice charges, civil rights and other claims, including Title VII, Section 1983, Constitutional claims, ADA, FMLA, ADEA, etc.
• Counsel and draft employment policies, practices and handbooks.
• Counsel management on opposing union elections successfully.
• Defending employers and officials in court.
• All elements of trial and appellate work
• Drafting and applying Civil Service Regulations and interpretations
• Litigating Civil Service Issues

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

• Judge Pro Tempore and Settlement Master by the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania from 1997 to the present
• Master at the Temple American Inn of Court
• Designated as one of Pennsylvania's Super Lawyers in labor and employment law by Philadelphia Magazine
• Appreciation Award from New Britain Township, 2004, "For Accomplishing Feats of Biblical Proportions."
• Smart CEO Elite Top Lawyers in Philadelphia, 2011 to present.
• Lawyers.com/Martindale Hubbell, Highest Peer Rating 2013 (AV)
• Best Lawyers in America, U. S. News & World Reports, 2013

Neil Morris has been featured in many news articles and TV stories, including:

• Mayor's Scheme Hits Roadblock – An Honest Lawyer – Bucks County Courier Times, November 15, 1998;
• $15 Million Jury Award for Business Defamation, March, 1999; and
• Township Wins Back $10 Million in Pension Funds – Bucks County Courier Times. The $15 Million and $10 Million dollar awards were the 11th and 15th largest reported awards in the State of Pennsylvania in 1999, according to The Philadelphia Legal Intelligencer.
• Radnor Ex-Manager in Court, Delaware County Times, Dec. 17, 2009
• Loan to Radnor Official Disputed, Philadelphia Inquirer, March 9, 2009
• "Hard Hitting" attorney tapped to negotiate with security guards, Bucks County Courier Times, June 21, 2012
• In a Labor Dispute? Then Threaten Away!  Philadelphia Daily News, February 27, 2014
• Attorney denies officials Invoked 5th Amendment, Bucks County Courier Times, March 9, 2014
• Full out Septa Strike is Possible - Philadelphia Inquirer, March 21, 2014

Key Appellate Decisions

• Robb v. City of Philadelphia, 733 F.3d. 286 (3d Cir. 1984) (A seminal case
  on Federal Constitutional Law involving the 1st and 14th Amendments)
• Sidkoff, Pincus, Greenberg & Green, P.C. v. Pennsylvania National Mutual Casualty Insurance Company, 555 A.2d 1284 (Pa. 1989)
• Moore v. Bensalem Township, 620 A.2d 76 (Pa. 1989)
• Bensalem Township v. International Surplus Lines Insurance Company, 38
  F.3d 1303 (3d Cir. 1994) rehearing den. 1994. (A seminal case on
  insurance law)
• Salmons v. Dollar General Corporation, No. 96-2837, Slip. Op., (4th Cir. 1998)
• Gamble v. Dollar General Corporation, 852 So.2d 5 (Miss.2003)
• Keck v. Bensalem Township, 862 A.2d675 (pa. Cmwlth. 2003)
• Ernest E. Mize v. Borough of Kennett Square, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 4386 (E.D. Pa., 1997); reconsideration denied opinion, 1997 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 8214 (E.D. Pa., 1997) Affirmed, 142 F.3d 428; 1998 U.S. App. LEXIS 5145 (3d. Cir., 1998)
• Project Management Institute, Inc. v. Ireland, 144 Fed. App. 935 (3d Cir. 2005) cert den. 546 U.S. 1167 (2006)
• Smith v. ABC Insert Co. Inc., No. 26 E.D.A. 2011 Slip, Op., March 30, 2012 (PA.Super.) den. No. 342 MAL 2012 (Pa. 2012)

 Articles and Presentations

• Speaker, Chester County Chiefs of Police Association, the Police Tenure Act, due process, Loudermill/Weingarten Rights, 1995
• Co-authored the article "Steering Clear of Employment Lawsuits" in Pennsylvania Borough News Magazine, March 2004 issue.
• Speaker, Bucks County Bar Association, municipal labor law issues, 2004
• Speaker, Pennsylvania State Association of Township Solicitors (“PSATS”), Solicitor’s conference – Municipal liability employee issues – the Police Tenure Act, Hershey, Pennsylvania, 2008
• Speaker, PBI (Pennsylvania Bar Institute), federal court employment evidentiary issues, 2008.
• Speaker, Pennsylvania State Association of Township Solicitors (“PSATS”) conference, municipal liability issues, Enola, Pennsylvania, 2009.
• Speaker, Bucks County Bar Association, municipal labor law issues, 2004.
• Speaker, Bucks County Chiefs of Police Association on Police Chief Employment Contracts and the Pennsylvania Heart & Lung Act, 2011.
• Speaker, Lancaster County Chiefs of Police Association on the Pennsylvania Heart & Lung Act, 2011.
• Speaker and Lead Narrator, Archer & Greiner, P.C. Labor Law Seminar, Bensalem, Pennsylvania (140 attendees) municipal labor law issues, 2011.
• Speaker/Presenter, July 11, 2012 at the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) and National Academy of Arbitrators (“NAA”) program to educate new arbitrators in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
• Sole Presenter, October 13, 2012, Montgomery County Chiefs of Police Association.
• Sole Presenter, March 20, 2013, Lancaster County Chiefs of Police Association, Chiefs’ Contracts and Imposition of Discipline.
• Speaker/Presenter, April 23, 2013, PSATS conference, Hershey, Pennsylvania, “Making Discipline Stick”.
• Speaker/Presenter, October 1, 2013, PSAT’s Solicitor’s Conference, Municipal Liability Issues.
• Speaker/Presenter, Novemeber 1, 2013, PSATS Solicitor's Conference on "A Discussion Of Important Legal Issues And Tactics Facing Townships Today" at PSATS Enola/Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
• Speaker/Presenter, December 5, 2013, Bucks County Bar Association CLE, Federal Court’s Section, A Discussion of Vance V. Ball State for purposes of a discrimination claim.
• Chair/Presenter, March 13, 2014, Government Financial Officers Association of Pennsylvania ("GFOA") on Act 111 issues, Uwchlan Township, Pennsylvania.
• Speaker Presenter, April 2014, PSATS, Hershey PA, “Act III Arbitration, Can You Afford Not To Go”.
• Speaker/Presenter, July, 2014 (Scheduled), Pennsylvania Chief’s Association Annual Conference, Recent Labor Issues, Valley Forge, PA.

Representative Municipal Clients

• Bensalem Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania (25 years)
• Bedminster Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• Bristol Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• City of Coatesville, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania
• County of Bucks, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• East Brandywine Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Kennett Square Borough, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Lower Southampton Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• Middletown Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• New Britain Borough, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• New Britain Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• New Garden Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• New Holland Borough, Lancaster County, Pennsylvania
• Northampton Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• Northampton Township Municipal Authority, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• Oxford Borough, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Pennridge Regional Police, East/West Rockhill, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• Plumstead Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• Pocono Mountain Regional Police Department, Monroe County Pennsylvania
• Radnor Fire Company, Radnor, Pennsylvania
• Radnor Township, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
• Ridley Park Borough, Delaware County, Pennsylvania
• Sadsbury Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Solebury Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• Towamencin Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
• Tredyffrin Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Tullytown Borough, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• Valley Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Warminster Municipal Authority, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• Warminster Township, Bucks County, Pennsylvania
• West Pikeland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• West Whiteland Township, Chester County, Pennsylvania
• Yeadon Borough, Delaware County, Pennsylvania

Professional Association - Member

• American Bar Association
• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Philadelphia Bar Associations
• Bucks County Bar Association
• Temple American Inn of Court
• American Arbitration Association
• Temple Law Alumni Association.
• Million Dollar Advocates Forum