Top Rated Workers' Compensation Attorney in Wilkes-Barre, PA

Honors/Awards:

• The George F. Douglas Amicus Curiae Award, created in 1995, recognizes outstanding and industrious appellate advocacy.  The honoree this year is Amicus Curiae Committee Member, John A. Bednarz, Jr., of Wilkes-Barre. An active member of the Amicus Committee for over 15 years, Mr. Bednarz has served as the Committee’s Allocatur Clerk and Brief Writer on numerous cases that have impacted Pennsylvania’s injured workers and victims.  Regarded by his peers as eminently skilled in Workers’ Compensation law, having earned the designation of Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for eleven years since 2007, as well as the broader areas of general civil law and Social Security disability, Mr. Bednarz’s Committee involvement has been highly regarded. As Allocatur Clerk, Mr. Bednarz served as gatekeeper for the Committee in determining and making recommendations as to whether or not a case presents a legal issue significant enough to warrant the Association’s formal input to the appellate courts.  As Brief Writer, he has written briefs covering a broad spectrum of the law, including the case of Hutchison v. Luddy (1999), in which the Pennsylvania Supreme Court decided in favor of the young man who had suffered harm as the result of the actions of a priest, and the negligent actions of the Bishop and Diocese under which the priest served, finding that the Bishop and the Diocese had a duty to exercise reasonable care to control the priest, even if he was acting outside of the scope of his priestly duties in order to prevent him from harming others, since no matter where his actions took place, he was always acting as a priest.  Furthermore, the Court held that since both the Bishop and Diocese knew of the priest’s propensity for this kind of behavior, they had a duty to take whatever measures were necessary to prevent the priest from harming any more children, and found the inactions of the Bishop and Diocese to be not only negligent, but also reckless and abhorrent. Mr. Bednarz has also written briefs in the cases of Felton v. Spratley, a Pennsylvania Supreme Court case involving lead paint poisoning; Matukonis v. Trainer, a Superior Court case; Steglik v. WCAB (Delta Gulf Group); Stevens v. WCAB (Consolidated Coal Co.); Farance v. WCAB (Marino Bros. Inc.); Soltez v. WCAB (U.S. Airways); Forbes Road CTC v. WCAB (Consla); and Haddon Craftsmen, Inc. v. WCAB (Krouchick).  All of these workers’ compensation briefs were submitted to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania.  These Amicus Briefs were written over a period of time from 1995 to 2010.  In addition, Mr. Bednarz has written numerous Allocatur Clerk memos, even when he has not served as Brief Writer., George F. Douglas Jr. Amicus Curiae Award, Pennsylvania Association for Justice, 2011

Special Licenses/Certifications:

• Board Certified as a Civil Trial Advocate for 25 years by the National Board of Trial Advocacy in 1991. Recertified in 1996, 2001, 2006, 2011 and 2016

Bar/Professional Activity:

• Pennsylvania Association for Justice- Member Board of Governors 1988-2017; Luzerne County Bench-Bar Committee (Wilkes-Barre Law & Library Association); Executive Committee Luzerne County Bar Association (Wilkes-Barre Law & Library Association) 2008-2010

Pro bono/Community Service:

• Director Emeritus Osterhout Free Library Wilkes-Barre Pa. 2003-Present; Past President Board of Directors Osterhout Free Library 1998-2003

Scholarly Lectures/Writings:

• Frequent Lecturer for Pennsylvania Association for Justice (formerly Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association) and other legal organizations on topics in Workers Compensation, Auto Law and Ethics. 

Educational Background:

• King's College B.A. Government and Politics B.A. 1975; Wilkes University M.A. Creative Writing in Fiction 2006