During the past several years, we have grown to become one of Central Pennsylvania's leading law firms. Our Harrisburg offices represents a record number of new clients in hundreds of new matters in the Midstate. Our growth in Harrisburg mirrors the firm's major expansion nationally and internationally, with Buchanan ranked as one of the nation's largest law firms.

Our Harrisburg Law Center provides a comprehensive range of legal services for businesses, individuals, nonprofit organizations and government entities. These services include commercial litigation, corporate finance, environmental, financial institutions, government relations, health care, housing and community development, insurance, labor and employment, and tax and estate planning.

Practice Areas

Our Harrisburg lawyers understand the mix of legal and business issues that our clients face in the following areas:

Commercial Litigation. Our litigators have the full capability to handle any form of business or financial dispute in Central Pennsylvania, throughout the state or nationally. Our litigators have helped protect the interests of many of the Midstate's most prominent businesses, including health care providers, financial institutions, publishing companies, software enterprises and technology firms, as well as various governmental entities. We have handled some of the largest and most complex litigation in Central Pennsylvania, including the commonwealth's $11 billion suit against the tobacco industry. We offer experienced litigators in commercial, technology, administrative, libel, contract, fraud, intellectual property and other areas of litigation.

Corporate Finance. We advise clients in a broad spectrum of issues covering a broad range of industries and services. These include manufacturing, distribution, banking, biotechnology, technology, health care, retail, wholesale, media and communication, as well as professional and nonprofit organizations. Our clients include both closely held and publicly traded entities. Our attorneys are experienced in mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate partnering, venture capital, IPOs, trade secrets, covenants not to compete, software and technology licensing and distribution, executive incentives and taxation. We assist our clients in business and strategic planning.

Energy and Utility Law. Our Energy & Utility Law Section strives to provide innovative solutions to current regulatory and legislative issues facing the energy and utility industry. We focus on strategic planning and regulatory consultative services for energy and utility companies on a national and international basis. By analyzing issues from legal, legislative, regulatory and business viewpoints, we are able to provide our clients with dynamic approaches to improve and expand their operations.

The group includes a former chairman and staff of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, enabling us to provide clients with solutions that encompass an understanding of the challenges and concerns facing regulators in the energy and utility industry.

Environmental Law. Our group has had extensive practice in Pennsylvania supporting brownfields, land recycling and Pennsylvania Act 2 liability protection. We also provide business counseling and guide clients through governmental investigations relating to potential serious environmental violations and on how to avoid potentially debilitating penalties. We help clients in landfill acquisitions, metals recovery technology and permitting appeals.

Financial Institutions. Our attorneys represent clients in all areas of banking and finance, including traditional "bank" financing and other credit lines, public finance and tax-exempt structures. Since 1996, our Harrisburg lawyers have handled hundreds of millions of dollars in bank financing and tax-exempt transactions. Clients include banks and other financial institutions as well as bond issuers and borrowers.

Government Relations. We provide clients with advocacy services before the General Assembly and Executive Branch agencies of state government so that clients have the strongest possible voice in the development of policy, legislation and regulations that affect their operations. During the past several years, a number of clients have benefited from the hard work of the Rendell administration, the General Assembly, legislative staff and the members of our Government Relations Section in shaping the state budget.

Health Care. We counsel and advocate for health care providers in their relationships with regulators and third-party payors. We also represent for-profit and nonprofit providers in a variety of regulatory matters, including reimbursement disputes, obtaining licensure or certification, defending against criminal, civil and administrative sanction actions as well as advising on tax questions, zoning issues and an array of issues arising in health care merger and acquisition matters.

Housing and Community Development. Our attorneys advise developers and investors in structuring syndications and joint ventures for housing and commercial real estate projects. We counsel developers seeking debt and/or equity financing for proposed commercial projects and for housing projects involving federal and state low-income housing tax credits as well as historic tax credits.

Labor and Employment. Our lawyers provide practical and cost-effective solutions to clients facing these new challenges. During the past several years we have counseled employers and handled a wide range of workplace cases for a diverse group of clients on a range of issues such as preventing sexual harassment, how to hire the best and brightest, how to hire right and fire right, and wage and hour matters.

Insurance Regulation. We counsel insurance industry clients on regulatory initiatives, issues and problems. We provide clients with a thorough foundation in state administrative law, with a focus on Pennsylvania administrative practice and procedure. Our clients include numerous insurers and our services extend far beyond commercial insurance companies to HMOs, PPOs, long-term care facilities, bail bondsmen, public adjusters, third-party administrators, and insurance agents and brokers who represent insurers.

Tax and Estate Planning. Our lawyers focus on a range of business succession, estate planning, estate administration and probate litigation, including marital deduction planning, life insurance trusts, charitable lead trusts, charitable remainder trusts, private foundations, GRATS and GRUTS. We also focus on qualified personal residence trusts, family limited partnerships, generation skipping trusts, qualified retirement plans, asset protection trusts and premarital agreements.