PIERCING THE CORPORATE VEIL-CORPORATE LAW- Swink v. Springman and Epic Construction Specialties, Pa. Civil No. CV-22-00086 (C.P. Lycoming August 11, 2022) (Linhardt, J.) This is a claim under Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practices and Consumer Protection Law. Plaintiffs say that Mark Springman used a corporate forum to perpetrate fraud, allowing for the disregarding of the corporate forum. The court ruled on preliminary objections that enough was sufficiently pled under Mortimer v. McCool, 255 A.3d 261 (Pa. 2021). What plaintiff had alleged, without much in the way of facts, is the intermingling of corporate affairs with personal affairs. There was also an allegation that Mark Springman and Epic Construction did not adhere to corporate formalities. Again, there were general allegations of perpetration of a fraud. The, court found that sufficient. Plaintiff noted that they pled multiple specific facts, which the court really did not discuss in any great detail. Again, there are a lot of allegations of dishonesty, using payment for personal benefit and failing to ensure that enough capital remained in Epic to allow it to conduct business.
Attorney Cliff Rieders
Cliff Rieders is a Nationally Board Certified Trial Lawyer practicing personal injury law. A large part of his practice involves multi-district litigation, including cases related to pharmaceuticals, vitamin supplements and medical devices. He is admitted in several state and federal courts, as well as the Supreme Court of the United States. Rieders is the past regional president of the Federal Bar Association and is a life member of the distinguished American Law Institute, which promulgates proposed rules adopted by many state courts. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, formerly Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. As a founder of the Pennsylvania Patient Safety Authority, he served on the Board for 15 years.
Not only has Rieders held many highly esteemed, leadership positions, he authored legislation related to the Patient Safety Authority and the Mcare Act, which governs medical and hospital liability actions in Pennsylvania. He authored texts upon which both practitioners and judges rely, including Pennsylvania Malpractice Laws and Forms, and Financial Responsibility Law Issues in Pennsylvania, the latter governing auto and truck collisions in Pennsylvania. In addition, he wrote several books on the practice of law in Pennsylvania regarding wrongful death and survivor actions, insurance bad faith, legal malpractice claims and worker rights, among others. Rieders also serves as a resource to practitioners as a regular speaker for Celesq, an arm of the world’s largest legal publisher, Thomson Reuters West Publishing.
As recognition of his wide range of contribution to his profession and of his dedication to protecting the rights of his clients, he received numerous awards, among them the George F. Douglas Amicus Curiae Award, the Milton D. Rosenberg Award, the B’nai B’rith Justice Award, and awards of recognition from the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers. [ Attorney Bio ]