Litigation Associate, Fran Notarianni, presented oral argument before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, arguing that former Lancaster County District Attorney Craig Stedman had the authority to use non-appropriated money from two of his office’s special program funds to pay Kleinbard’s legal fees. Kleinbard represented Steadman in a 2019 dispute against the Lancaster County Commissioners and, following the lawsuit, sought to recover approximately $74,000 in legal fees from the district attorney’s office. Stedman submitted a voucher to pay Kleinbard’s bill that identified the following funds to be used to pay Kleinbard: (1) his legal account as appropriated from the commissioners and (2) the two program accounts. The commissioners blocked payment of Kleinbard’s bill, leading Kleinbard to sue, alleging, among other claims, mandamus and breach of contract. Both the trial court and the Commonwealth Court sided with the commissioners and now the Supreme Court will decide if the D.A. had the authority to spend from special program funds and enter into a legal contract that promised to pay more than what the D.A. was appropriated for legal fees.
Notarianni argued that the county code “applies only to appropriated money … and involves moving appropriated monies within accounts and among row offices. Here The district attorney’s use of non-appropriated money will not cause the sums appropriated in his budget to be exceeded.”
Additional coverage on the argument can be found in The Legal Intelligencer, Lancaster Online, and Law 360.
