Matthew Santoni
@msantoni.bsky.social
Journalist covering Pennsylvania courts for Law360. Incipient middle-aged Yinzer. Lover of dogs, books, and transportation stuff. Opinions are my own.
The Third Circuit ruled in favor of @pghguild.com and said the Post-Gazette bargained in bad faith by offering contracts that took away key reasons for being in the union. The union is declaring victory after 3 years on strike, as the court ordered the paper to roll back changes it made in 2020.
3rd Circ. Rules Post-Gazette Bargained In Bad Faith - Law360
The Third Circuit on Monday affirmed that the publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette had been bargaining with its unions in bad faith and should not have unilaterally imposed a new contract on newsr...
www.law360.com
November 10, 2025 at 8:31 PM
The Third Circuit ruled in favor of @pghguild.com and said the Post-Gazette bargained in bad faith by offering contracts that took away key reasons for being in the union. The union is declaring victory after 3 years on strike, as the court ordered the paper to roll back changes it made in 2020.
Pennsylvania Democrats swept all the statewide judicial seats tonight, including all three Supreme Court retention races after an unprecedented GOP effort to upend the court's 5-2 D majority. All the retention races ran better than 60-40 in favor: www.law360.com/articles/240...
Pa. Dem Justices Survive GOP Retention-Denial Campaign - Law360
Three Democratic Pennsylvania Supreme Court Justices will remain on the bench after surviving a Republican-led campaign to oust them via a retention vote, according to preliminary election results Tue...
www.law360.com
November 5, 2025 at 4:50 AM
Pennsylvania Democrats swept all the statewide judicial seats tonight, including all three Supreme Court retention races after an unprecedented GOP effort to upend the court's 5-2 D majority. All the retention races ran better than 60-40 in favor: www.law360.com/articles/240...
How many lawyers and journalists can hear this in Chief Justice Debra Todd's voice?
October 31, 2025 at 3:46 PM
How many lawyers and journalists can hear this in Chief Justice Debra Todd's voice?
Pennsylvanians have probably seen ads or signs about retaining 3 state Supreme Court justices, all Democrats whose seats are being targeted by Republican groups. But lawyers told @law360.bsky.social's James Boyle the 10-year retention system was meant to reduce the effect of politics on the court:
Retention Races For Pa. Justices Turn Into $8M Political Clash - Law360
Pennsylvania voters hoping for a quiet off-year election following last year's contentious presidential race have found themselves being targeted by millions of dollars worth of ads this fall over whe...
www.law360.com
October 31, 2025 at 1:19 PM
Pennsylvanians have probably seen ads or signs about retaining 3 state Supreme Court justices, all Democrats whose seats are being targeted by Republican groups. But lawyers told @law360.bsky.social's James Boyle the 10-year retention system was meant to reduce the effect of politics on the court:
Reposted by Matthew Santoni
The attorneys representing a class of residents in and around East Palestine, Ohio, have asked a federal court to let them move ahead with seeking penalties against the former administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million derailment settlement.
Attys Want Sanctions For Ex-Admin Of $600M Derailment Deal - Law360
The attorneys representing a class of residents in and around East Palestine, Ohio, have asked a federal court to let them move ahead with seeking penalties against the former administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million derailment settlement.
www.law360.com
October 7, 2025 at 1:15 AM
The attorneys representing a class of residents in and around East Palestine, Ohio, have asked a federal court to let them move ahead with seeking penalties against the former administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million derailment settlement.
Yesterday was a big one for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which released a BUNCH of opinions. Luckily, my @law360.bsky.social colleagues & I were all over it. The biggest news for Pittsburgh was a ruling that said its 3% income tax for nonresident athletes & performers was unfair under PA law:
Pa. Justices Affirm Pittsburgh's 'Jock Tax' Is Unconstitutional - Law360
Pittsburgh's 3% fee imposed on the income of nonresident professional athletes is unconstitutional and violates the state's uniformity clause, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court affirmed Thursday.
www.law360.com
September 26, 2025 at 1:28 PM
Yesterday was a big one for the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, which released a BUNCH of opinions. Luckily, my @law360.bsky.social colleagues & I were all over it. The biggest news for Pittsburgh was a ruling that said its 3% income tax for nonresident athletes & performers was unfair under PA law:
Richard Scaife's friend, attorney, trustee & media exec Yale Gutnick had conflicts of interest when Scaife signed agreements indemnifying him for OKing payments from a Mellon family trust, so Scaife's estate couldn't seek tax credit for a $200M settlement w/ his family over the drained account:
Atty-Trustee Conflicts Doom Scaife Estate's $26M Tax Refund - Law360
A Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky attorney was also acting as Mellon heir Richard Scaife's lawyer, trustee and media executive when he signed releases that kept Scaife's spending of his inhe...
www.law360.com
September 24, 2025 at 1:15 PM
Richard Scaife's friend, attorney, trustee & media exec Yale Gutnick had conflicts of interest when Scaife signed agreements indemnifying him for OKing payments from a Mellon family trust, so Scaife's estate couldn't seek tax credit for a $200M settlement w/ his family over the drained account:
Reposted by Matthew Santoni
Pittsburgh! I’ll be discussing my work next Monday, Sept. 29th at the Mt. Lebanon library at 7pm— signing to follow.
Please spread the word, and I really hope to see you there!
Please spread the word, and I really hope to see you there!
September 24, 2025 at 12:54 PM
Pittsburgh! I’ll be discussing my work next Monday, Sept. 29th at the Mt. Lebanon library at 7pm— signing to follow.
Please spread the word, and I really hope to see you there!
Please spread the word, and I really hope to see you there!
Two Clairton Coke Works employees filed the 1st steps for lawsuits days after the Aug. 11 explosion that killed 2 & hurt 10; now U.S. Steel has moved their cases to federal court, arguing that federal investigators are overseeing the evidence the lawsuits want to see: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
US Steel Wants Federal Court To Take Clairton Blast Suits - Law360
U.S. Steel claims that litigation by workers injured in an explosion at its Clairton Coke Works facility last month should be handled by a federal court, because federal investigators are overseeing t...
www.law360.com
September 4, 2025 at 12:46 PM
Two Clairton Coke Works employees filed the 1st steps for lawsuits days after the Aug. 11 explosion that killed 2 & hurt 10; now U.S. Steel has moved their cases to federal court, arguing that federal investigators are overseeing the evidence the lawsuits want to see: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
The Third Circuit upheld a ruling that Pennsylvania's rule for tossing undated/misdated mail-in ballots is unconstitutional, finding that the state's claimed reasons for doing so - efficiency, fraud prevention, solemnity - aren't real or aren't enough to justify nixing thousands of votes:
3rd Circ. Says Tossing Undated Mail Votes Is Unconstitutional - Law360
The Third Circuit ruled Tuesday that Pennsylvania discarding mail-in ballots with missing or incorrect dates violates voters' constitutional rights, reasoning that preventing the loss of votes outweig...
www.law360.com
August 26, 2025 at 9:08 PM
The Third Circuit upheld a ruling that Pennsylvania's rule for tossing undated/misdated mail-in ballots is unconstitutional, finding that the state's claimed reasons for doing so - efficiency, fraud prevention, solemnity - aren't real or aren't enough to justify nixing thousands of votes:
BREAKING for @law360.bsky.social: A federal judge has ruled that former Trump attorney Alina Habba does not have the legal authority to be the Acting US Attorney for New Jersey, and hasn't since July 1: www.law360.com/articles/237...
BREAKING: Judge Finds Habba Unlawfully Serving As NJ US Atty - Law360
Alina Habba, President Donald Trump's former personal attorney and his pick to remain the U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey, was unlawfully given an extension of her temporary post in the G...
www.law360.com
August 21, 2025 at 7:57 PM
BREAKING for @law360.bsky.social: A federal judge has ruled that former Trump attorney Alina Habba does not have the legal authority to be the Acting US Attorney for New Jersey, and hasn't since July 1: www.law360.com/articles/237...
A Walnut Capital affiliate has joined a real estate group's legal challenge to Pittsburgh's "inclusive zoning" rule - housing projects above a certain size must include affordable units - but the city challenged their standing, Law360's Isaac Monterose reports: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Pittsburgh Balks At Developer Joining Inclusive Zoning Fight - Law360
The city of Pittsburgh is urging a Pennsylvania federal court to reject a real estate trade association's bid to stop the city from enforcing an inclusionary zoning ordinance, arguing that the trade a...
www.law360.com
August 19, 2025 at 1:05 PM
A Walnut Capital affiliate has joined a real estate group's legal challenge to Pittsburgh's "inclusive zoning" rule - housing projects above a certain size must include affordable units - but the city challenged their standing, Law360's Isaac Monterose reports: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
At a hearing in PA Friday, a federal judge peppered lawyers for the Trump administration with questions about how Alina Habba’s “temporary” term as US Attorney for New Jersey got extended by appointment as a “special attorney” and replacing the 1st Assistant picked by the court to take over:
Judge Questions How New Jersey US Atty Ascended To Role - Law360
A federal judge tasked with deciding if acting U.S. Attorney Alina Habba was legitimately serving as New Jersey's top federal prosecutor was curious about how she ascended to the role in the first pla...
www.law360.com
August 18, 2025 at 1:14 PM
At a hearing in PA Friday, a federal judge peppered lawyers for the Trump administration with questions about how Alina Habba’s “temporary” term as US Attorney for New Jersey got extended by appointment as a “special attorney” and replacing the 1st Assistant picked by the court to take over:
The families of staff at Brighton Rehab who allegedly died from the COVID-19 outbreak that raged through the nursing home in 2020 are at a standstill with the owners over discovery, with a court-appointed special master likely needed to sort more than 133,000 pages of documents:
COVID Death Suits May Need Special Master For Discovery - Law360
A court-appointed "special master" will likely be necessary to sort out discovery disputes in a lawsuit over a Pittsburgh-area nursing home's pandemic policies, after a state judge's limits on documen...
www.law360.com
August 14, 2025 at 12:37 PM
The families of staff at Brighton Rehab who allegedly died from the COVID-19 outbreak that raged through the nursing home in 2020 are at a standstill with the owners over discovery, with a court-appointed special master likely needed to sort more than 133,000 pages of documents:
The owner of the McCrossin's Landing marina on the Monongahela River can't cite an 1849 law to make CSX reopen a railroad crossing that was his property's only access, since the grandfathered public road was "abandoned" in 1996, a federal court ruled (via Law360's Nate Beck):
Pa. Marina Can't Cite 1849 Law To Reopen Railroad Crossing - Law360
A Pennsylvania federal judge on Tuesday rejected an attempt by the owner of a bar and marina south of Pittsburgh to claim an 1849 law in seeking to force railroad company CSX Transportation to reopen ...
www.law360.com
August 14, 2025 at 12:35 PM
The owner of the McCrossin's Landing marina on the Monongahela River can't cite an 1849 law to make CSX reopen a railroad crossing that was his property's only access, since the grandfathered public road was "abandoned" in 1996, a federal court ruled (via Law360's Nate Beck):
Proposed class actions filed in Allegheny County claim soda bottlers used banned "brominated soybean oil" in drinks, including Faygo, @law360.bsky.social's Mike Curley reports. Won't somebody think of the Juggalos?
Soda Makers Sued Over Banned Brominated Soybean Oil - Law360
A pair of Pennsylvania men are suing the makers of Frostie and Faygo brand sodas in state court, saying the sodas contain brominated soybean oil, which has been banned by federal regulators because it...
www.law360.com
August 12, 2025 at 7:31 PM
Proposed class actions filed in Allegheny County claim soda bottlers used banned "brominated soybean oil" in drinks, including Faygo, @law360.bsky.social's Mike Curley reports. Won't somebody think of the Juggalos?
More suits related to the Rustic Ridge explosion are rolling in just as we reach the two-year anniversary, now from neighbors of the blast and their insurers who paid to repair damage and want to recoup their claims: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
August 12, 2025 at 7:28 PM
More suits related to the Rustic Ridge explosion are rolling in just as we reach the two-year anniversary, now from neighbors of the blast and their insurers who paid to repair damage and want to recoup their claims: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Jimmy Olsen types the climactic news story directly into the Content Management System? Movie ruined, suspension of disbelief shattered, etc.
This jumped out at me in “Superman.” The workflow and the “copy ready” /“web ready” buttons were adopted by NYT developers for the new CMS around 2010-11 after many meetings. Still in use there and elsewhere. In theory you could publish from a chopper. comicbookclublive.com/2025/07/12/s...
'Superman' Finally Gets CMS Right | Comic Book Club
One thing Superman, the new movie from James Gunn, got totally correct? The way it used the Daily Planet's CMS.
comicbookclublive.com
August 12, 2025 at 7:13 PM
Jimmy Olsen types the climactic news story directly into the Content Management System? Movie ruined, suspension of disbelief shattered, etc.
The families of people killed in a 2023 explosion in Plum, PA's Rustic Ridge have started filing suits, blaming a pipeline near the home for leaking gas into the home's basement that was ignited by a water heater: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Pa. Gas Cos. Sued Over Heater Explosion That Killed 6 - Law360 UK
Natural gas from a leaking pipeline allegedly filled the basement of a suburban Pittsburgh home, fueling an explosion that leveled three houses and killed six people in 2023, according to lawsuits fil...
www.law360.com
July 23, 2025 at 12:37 PM
The families of people killed in a 2023 explosion in Plum, PA's Rustic Ridge have started filing suits, blaming a pipeline near the home for leaking gas into the home's basement that was ignited by a water heater: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Erie Insurance filed a lawsuit against BMW, demanding the carmaker pay $2M over a Mini Cooper that caught fire & damaged a Pittsburgh dealership during a service visit. Erie blamed an electrical defect that later spurred a BMW recall, @law360.bsky.social's Ganesh Setty reports:
Erie Insurance Blames BMW For $2M Mini Cooper Fire Loss - Law360
An insurer for a Pittsburgh car dealership and car owner told a Pennsylvania state court that BMW's North American division owes nearly $2 million in coverage reimbursement for a Mini Cooper vehicle f...
www.law360.com
July 22, 2025 at 1:24 PM
Erie Insurance filed a lawsuit against BMW, demanding the carmaker pay $2M over a Mini Cooper that caught fire & damaged a Pittsburgh dealership during a service visit. Erie blamed an electrical defect that later spurred a BMW recall, @law360.bsky.social's Ganesh Setty reports:
Trump's new 3rd Circ. pick is most recently a "senior counsel to the President," though her academic career has included research advocating for limits on gov't regulators handling enforcement internally, and justifying making more gov't employees subject to appointment/removal by the executive:
3rd Circ. Pick 'Respected' By Trump, Mysterious To Senators - Law360
The senior White House lawyer nominated to represent Delaware on the Third Circuit is a constitutional scholar and presidential immunity defender touted as "highly respected" by President Donald Trump...
www.law360.com
July 21, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Trump's new 3rd Circ. pick is most recently a "senior counsel to the President," though her academic career has included research advocating for limits on gov't regulators handling enforcement internally, and justifying making more gov't employees subject to appointment/removal by the executive:
A $500K settlement will release the new NRA president from a cybersecurity firm's suit claiming it was stiffed after refusing to declare it found 2020 election fraud in PA, but does not end defamation claims against Mich. atty Stefanie Lambert, @law360.bsky.social's Danielle Ferguson reports:
Judge Says Election Audit Deal Doesn't Cover Michigan Atty - Law360
A $500,000 settlement reached between a Pennsylvania businessman and a cybersecurity firm suing over unpaid voting machine investigation bills does not cover a Michigan attorney and her firm, a Michig...
www.law360.com
July 16, 2025 at 1:05 PM
A $500K settlement will release the new NRA president from a cybersecurity firm's suit claiming it was stiffed after refusing to declare it found 2020 election fraud in PA, but does not end defamation claims against Mich. atty Stefanie Lambert, @law360.bsky.social's Danielle Ferguson reports:
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but did anyone else notice two companies on the list of big investors (Frontier & Homer City Redevelopment) were just in court fighting because the latter allegedly tried to kick the former off its project dismantling and salvaging from the old coal-fired power plant?
As is his wont, President Trump said a lot of things during an appearance in Pittsburgh that capped off a daylong discussion of AI & energy development. But his core message to those gathered, and to the state itself, was simple:
“You’re going to see some real action here,” he said. “So get ready.”
“You’re going to see some real action here,” he said. “So get ready.”
Trump rolls out AI and energy-related investments during Carnegie Mellon University summit
Trump joined U.S. Sen. Dave McCormick, who was the driving force behind the Pennsylvania Energy and Innovation Summit, as McCormick and other business executives rolled out tens of billions of dollars...
www.wesa.fm
July 16, 2025 at 12:00 AM
Not to be a Debbie Downer, but did anyone else notice two companies on the list of big investors (Frontier & Homer City Redevelopment) were just in court fighting because the latter allegedly tried to kick the former off its project dismantling and salvaging from the old coal-fired power plant?
A man accused of insider trading off his partner's tip about a pending merger can't claim the Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision ending "Chevron deference" nixed prior precedent that the SEC rules are constitutional, a Philadelphia federal judge ruled: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Court Says Insider Trading Rules Unscathed By Loper Bright - Law360
A U.S. Supreme Court ruling that curtailed deference to agency interpretations of law did not undermine the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission's rules against insider trading, a Pennsylvania fede...
www.law360.com
July 15, 2025 at 1:17 PM
A man accused of insider trading off his partner's tip about a pending merger can't claim the Supreme Court's Loper Bright decision ending "Chevron deference" nixed prior precedent that the SEC rules are constitutional, a Philadelphia federal judge ruled: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Airbnb has settled most of the litigation against it stemming from a 2022 shooting at a Pittsburgh house party, and wants to dismiss the last lawsuit because it says Pennsylvania courts lack jurisdiction over the company: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Airbnb Wants Out Of Pittsburgh House Party Shooting Suit - Law360
Airbnb said it has resolved all but one of a group of lawsuits brought against it after a 2022 mass shooting at a party at a Pittsburgh house rented through the app, and has renewed its objections to ...
www.law360.com
July 15, 2025 at 1:14 PM
Airbnb has settled most of the litigation against it stemming from a 2022 shooting at a Pittsburgh house party, and wants to dismiss the last lawsuit because it says Pennsylvania courts lack jurisdiction over the company: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...