Practice Areas: Civil Litigation, Civil Rights, General Litigation view more
Licensed in Pennsylvania since: 1988
Education: University of Pennsylvania Law School
Selected to Super Lawyers: 2005 
Virtual Appointments Kolman Law P.C.
414 Hulmeville AvenuePenndel, PA 19047 Phone: 215-750-3134 Email: Timothy M. Kolman Visit website
Details
Practicing defamation, pharmaceutical employment discrimination, civil rights, sexual harassment and complex litigation, Timothy M. Kolman is managing partner at Kolman Law, P.C. He represents litigants throughout Pennsylvania and is one of the few lawyers specializing in defamation.
Approaching each case with a compassion for the client, Mr. Kolman recognizes the emotional toll these cases may take. He provides people with peace of mind through crafting an effective strategy to secure a favorable legal remedy. As an experienced litigator and negotiator, he has found success both in and out of the courtroom.
Mr. Kolman was selected as the top employment lawyer in 2019 by the International Association of Top Professionals(IATOP). Further, as a testament to his accomplishments, Mr. Kolman holds an Avvo “Superb” rating with over sixty excellent endorsements; he is a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum and the Multi-Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and the National Employment Lawyers Association honored him with its Distinguished Service Award. He has filed briefs in the United States Supreme Court and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. In two cases, his firm has changed Pennsylvania Law.
Mr. Kolman holds two law degrees. In 1976, he received a Bachelor of Laws with double honors from the University of Glasgow School of Law in Scotland. He then earned a Juris Doctor from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, where he was an editor of the school’s law review.
A native of London, England, Mr. Kolman has practiced in Pennsylvania for over 30 years. He is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 3rd Circuit and the US. Court of Appeal for the Second Circuit. He has practiced before the United States Southern District of New York, the Federal Courts of Massachusetts, Maryland ,New Jersey and Colorado.
Practice areas
Civil Litigation: Plaintiff, Civil Rights, General Litigation, Employment & Labor: Employee, Intellectual Property Litigation, Personal Injury - Medical Malpractice: PlaintiffFirst Admitted: 1988, Pennsylvania
Professional Webpage: http://www.kolmanelypc.com/attorneys/
Verdicts/Settlements:
- Mr. Kolman's Firm changed the law in Sharpe v. St.Luke's in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court held that an independent testing lab could be held liable for a false drug test. Mr. Kolman's Firm changed the law again in In Brown v. J. Kaz Inc., d/b/a Craftmatic of Pittsburgh, — F.3d —, 2009 WL 2903348 (C.A. 3 (Pa.) 2009), Plaintiff Kimberly Brown brought an action against Defendant Craftmatic, charging violations of Section 1981, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act, alleging discrimination based upon her race, including claims of disparate treatment, hostile work environment and relation. The United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania dismissed all claims, finding that Plaintiff was an independent contractor at the time of the alleged discrimination and retaliation, and was therefore not protected by those Acts. The Third Circuit, in this case of first impression, ruled that Plaintiff could bring a claim for discrimination under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act, finding that the protections there under extend beyond employees to independent contractors. Mr. Kolman has acted as lead counsel in numerous contested discrimination cases with successful results. See e.g. Smith v. City of Phila., 285 F. Supp. 3d 846 (E.D. Pa. 2018) (denying summary judgment in a discrimination case where one Catholic alleged he was discriminated against by a more stringent Catholic supervisor on the basis of religion); Seeney v. Pennsylvania, 31 F. Supp. 3d 677 (E.D. Pa. 2014) (denying in part a state prison's motion for summary judgment when a typist with rheumatoid arthritis alleged she was subjected to discrimination); Rorke v. Toyota, 399 F. Supp. 3d 258 (M.D. Pa. 2019) (denying summary judgment in a case where an employee alleged she was subjected to discrimination and sexual harassment at a car dealership); Chase v. Frontier Communs. Corp., 361 F. Supp. 3d 423 (M.D. Pa. 2019) (denying in part a motion for summary judgment when an employee alleged she was retaliated against for complaining about age discrimination); Claybourne v. HM Ins. Grp., 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 157910 (W.D. Pa. Oct. 22, 2015) (denying summary judgment on complex issue of law relating to an employee's right to bring a standalone retaliation claim under Section 1981); Kintz v. SMNRC, L.P., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 182280 (M.D. Pa. Oct. 24, 2018) (denying in part summary judgment on employee's discrimination and retaliation claims stemming from her alleged need to take an FMLA qualified leave from work); Suero v. Motorworld Auto. Grp, Inc., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 13286 (M.D. Pa. Jan. 31, 2017) (denying in large part a motion to dismiss discrimination and retaliation claims brought against a well-known car dealership); Rodrigues v. Motorworld Auto. Grp., Inc., 2017 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 38960 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 17, 2017) (same); Hannis-Miskar v. N. Schuylkill Sch. Dist., 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 96118 (M.D. Pa. July 22, 2016) (denying in large part a motion to dismiss pregnancy discrimination claims against a public school district); Green v. Pike Cty., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 54029 (M.D. Pa. Mar. 29, 2018) (denying summary judgment in a disability / FMLA discrimination case against a Pennsylvania county prison); Kephart v. Newell Fuel Serv., 2018 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 138322 (M.D. Pa. Aug. 14, 2018) (denying summary judgment in a gender discrimination case against a fuel company); Hascall v. Duquesne Univ. of the Holy Spirit, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 83666 (W.D. Pa. June 28, 2016) (denying in part a law school and dean's motion for summary judgment against professor's gender discrimination and retaliation claims). He was also lead counsel in the matter of Charntiski v. Motorworld Group wherein a jury awarded the plaintiff $750,000.00 following a week long trial in the Middle District of Pennsylvania alleging discrimination--the 2nd highest civil rights verdict reported for Pennsylvania in 2013 according to the Legal Intelligencer. In 2015, he was counsel in the matter of Hosler v. Fulkroad, 2015 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 80801 (M.D. Pa. June 23, 2015), which ultimately resulted in an award of $121,439.55 following a jury trial for a client who was unlawfully fired after taking FMLA leave for a hysterectomy. The award followed after motions practice requesting enhanced damages available under the FMLA. In the civil rights arena, Mr. Kolman also served as counsel in the matter of Black v. Allegheny County, et al., wherein the estate of a deceased man who was incarcerated in the Allegheny County jail reached a public settlement for $2,000,090.00. The family alleged Eighth Amendment deliberate indifference based on the failure of the county's medical provider to provide constitutionally adequate medical care that ultimately led to the man's needless death. The Legal Intelligencer reported this as the highest civil rights settlement in Pennsylvania for the year 2015.
Honors/Awards:
- Super Lawyer, Super Lawyer
- , Legal Intelligencer Award for Top Verdict, Legal Intelligencer, 2013
- , University of Glasgow LL.B (Hons), Graduated with double honors, majors in jurisprudence and politics, University of Glasgow, 1976
- , An Editor of Penn Law Review, University of Pennsylvania, 1984
- Million-Dollar and Multi-Million-Dollar Forum, Million-Dollar and Multi-Million-Dollar Forum
- Avvo (10 out of 10) Superb rating from over sixty clients, Avvo
- Selected by Who’s Who worldwide as a top lawyer, Who's who
- Top 10% of employment lawyers in the United States, by Lawyers of Distinction, Lawyers of Distinction
- Lead Counsel Designation in Labor & and Employment Law from Thompson Reuters, Thompson Reuters
- In 2017, Mr. Kolman received the award for the top employment and labor lawyer in the United States by the International Association of Top Professionals. This caps a prior series of significant awards including but not limited to top lawyer in Who's Who, lawyers of distinction, lead counsel, top attorney for Avvo, Avvo client's choice award, the million and multimillion dollar club and lawyers of distinction (top 10%)., Top employment lawyer in the United States, International Association of Top Professionals, 2017
Pro bono/Community Service:
- Mr. Kolman regularly represents clients for no fee and takes cases other lawyers would not take or have refused to take.
- In 2019 Mr. Kolman lectured to lawyers pursuant to their continuing legal education on such topics as; Legally Required Retention Periods Records Inventory and Appraisal Determining a Manageable Retention Schedule Electronic Records Management Issues: Privacy, Security, Backups and the Challenges in Addressing New Technologies Being Prepared to Efficiently Respond to Document Requests Best Practices for Creating Records Destruction Policies and Procedures
Representative Clients:
- Mr. Kolman is a lawyer's lawyer. He has represented attorneys, doctors, teachers, pharmaceutical representatives, research scientists athletes, clergy, professors, including professors of law, teachers, police officers, academics, nurses, firefighters, police officers, managers, directors and CEOs.
Educational Background:
- LL.B(Hons) University of Glasgow Bachelor of Law in Scots Law with double honors, 1976
- J.D. University of Pennsylvania Law School, an Editor of Law Review, 1988
Other Outstanding Achievements:
- Mr. Kolman's play, 'The Roses in June' was performed at Place and Players Theater in Philadelphia for a run of over three weeks., 2017
Scholarly Lectures/Writings:
- Mr. Kolman writes that failures during the research for a new product have economic value and are 'negative trade secrets.' , Author, Negative Trade Secrets—What Doesn't Work Actually Has Value, Legal Intelligencer, Intellectual Property Attorneys, 2019
- In 1988, Mr. Kolman wrote an article for the Scots Law Times on Jurisdiction for the Plaintiffs in the Piper Alpha Rig Disaster In 2001 in the North Sea off the coast of Scotland., Author, The Piper Alpha Rig Disaster In 2001,, Scots Law Times
- The Rules of Civil Procedure assume that lawyers will be ethical and honest in providing discovery to their opponents. Unfortunately, the reality is that lawyers get away with discovery abuses every day. These abuses continue because they are extremely difficult to pin down and even harder to cobble into a motion to compel. Mr. Kolman highlighted the top 10 dirty pool discovery abuses., Author, Ten Discovery Abuses to Look Out for During Litigation, Legal Intelligencer, The Bar, 2012
- Mr. Kolman wrote about ten abuses perpetuated by counsel during discovery. , Author, Ten More Discovery Abuses to Look Out for During Litigation, Pennsylvania Law Weekly, The Bar, 2012
Bar/Professional Activity:
- Second Circuit Court of Appeal United States Federal Court for the Southern District of New York, 2019
- Member of Penn Law Inns of Court
- Lifetime Member of the Middle Temple, Inns of Court, London, UK, 1976
- Pro Hac Admissions to Federal Courts of Massachusetts, New Jesey, New York and Maryland
- The United States Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- United States Supreme Court
- United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania
- United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit
- United States District Court for Colorado
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court
- United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Industry Groups:
- Defamation
- Highly Compensated Employees
- Libel
- Pharmaceutical Employees
- Slander
Office location for Timothy M. Kolman
414 Hulmeville Avenue
Penndel, PA 19047
Selections
1 Year Super Lawyers
- Super Lawyers: 2005