March 17, 2025

The Winter 2025 edition of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Civil Litigation Section Newsletter featured two case summaries by McQuaide Blasko attorney, Hannah E. Dillard.  The first case, PennEnergy Resources, LLC v. MDS Energy Development, LLC, concerned the power and reach of arbitration clauses and rescission agreements, with the Superior Court finding arbitration clauses to be binding upon joining parties even if the joinder itself is later rescinded through a later agreement.  The second case, Michelle Previte v. Erie County Board of Elections, was argued before the Commonwealth Court, and concerned Right-to-Know Law (“RTKL”) requests for election ballots, establishing that unlike ballots cast in person, mail-in and absentee ballots, although still subject to rules of disclosure prohibiting identification of voters, constitute public records obtainable through a RTKL request.