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.
U.S. Steel got a federal judge to compel arbitration with Algoma Steel Inc. over the struggling Canadian steelmaker's bid to get out of buying U.S. iron ore - finding the contract applied Pennsylvania law so the Canadian courts didn't get first dibs: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
U.S. Steel Can Arbitrate $22M Canadian Contract Spat - Law360
Canadian steelmaker Algoma Steel Inc. must arbitrate its bid to break off its contract for buying iron ore from U.S. Steel Corp., since the contract contains a clause bringing all disputes to an arbit...
www.law360.com
December 15, 2025 at 1:26 PM
U.S. Steel got a federal judge to compel arbitration with Algoma Steel Inc. over the struggling Canadian steelmaker's bid to get out of buying U.S. iron ore - finding the contract applied Pennsylvania law so the Canadian courts didn't get first dibs: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
In a per curiam order - no opinion explaining the interpretation of the law - The @supremectofpa.bsky.social upheld a ruling that the state can "decertify" voting machines that had unauthorized inspections after the 2020 election, though it didn't add more sanctions against Fulton County, PA:
Pa. Justices Affirm County's Loss Over Election Inspections - Law360
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court on Tuesday upheld a ruling that the state's top election official could order voting machines to be yanked from service, closing one chapter on the tome of litigation that...
www.law360.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:15 PM
In a per curiam order - no opinion explaining the interpretation of the law - The @supremectofpa.bsky.social upheld a ruling that the state can "decertify" voting machines that had unauthorized inspections after the 2020 election, though it didn't add more sanctions against Fulton County, PA:
The Third Circuit still won't let the publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette out of an injunction requiring it to restore contract conditions - including a union-backed health plan - to pre-strike status, @law360.bsky.social's Emily Brill reports: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
3rd Circ. Won't Let Post-Gazette Duck Benefits Injunction - Law360
A Third Circuit panel is standing by its decision to let an injunction against the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette remain active while the newspaper appeals, saying it won't reconsider its Nov. 24 refusal to ...
www.law360.com
December 10, 2025 at 2:11 PM
The Third Circuit still won't let the publisher of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette out of an injunction requiring it to restore contract conditions - including a union-backed health plan - to pre-strike status, @law360.bsky.social's Emily Brill reports: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
"I guess I just have to keep appointing people for three months and then just appoint another one, another one," Trump said.
... Except the court that DQ'd Alina Habba from staying as NJ's U.S. Attorney explicitly ruled that out, finding only one 120-day "interim" term is allowed by law.
... Except the court that DQ'd Alina Habba from staying as NJ's U.S. Attorney explicitly ruled that out, finding only one 120-day "interim" term is allowed by law.
Habba Resigns As Acting US Atty After DQ Ruling At 3rd Circ. - Law360
Alina Habba stepped down Monday as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey following a Third Circuit ruling that she was unlawfully appointed to the position, with the U.S. Department of Justice unveiling...
www.law360.com
December 9, 2025 at 10:42 PM
"I guess I just have to keep appointing people for three months and then just appoint another one, another one," Trump said.
... Except the court that DQ'd Alina Habba from staying as NJ's U.S. Attorney explicitly ruled that out, finding only one 120-day "interim" term is allowed by law.
... Except the court that DQ'd Alina Habba from staying as NJ's U.S. Attorney explicitly ruled that out, finding only one 120-day "interim" term is allowed by law.
The ex-administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600M settlement over the East Palestine derailment tried to explain why it assumed everyone filing a personal injury claim started w/ $25K - including the class counsel's own alleged promises - but faced a tough judge: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Ex-Derailment Deal Admin Faces Irked Judge In Contempt Bid - Law360
The ex-administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million settlement over the East Palestine, Ohio, derailment met skepticism as it admitted to a federal judge Friday that it had made some mistakes in d...
www.law360.com
December 8, 2025 at 1:12 PM
The ex-administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600M settlement over the East Palestine derailment tried to explain why it assumed everyone filing a personal injury claim started w/ $25K - including the class counsel's own alleged promises - but faced a tough judge: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will review a lawsuit challenging a 2021 voter referendum that restricted the use of solitary confinement at the Allegheny County Jail, after the COs' union claimed such changes should have been subject to collective bargaining: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Pa. Justices To Review Vote Restricting Solitary Confinement - Law360
Pennsylvania's Supreme Court will consider whether a 2021 voter referendum restricting the use of solitary confinement and pepper spray at the Allegheny County Jail infringed on the jail employee unio...
www.law360.com
December 3, 2025 at 2:45 PM
The Pennsylvania Supreme Court will review a lawsuit challenging a 2021 voter referendum that restricted the use of solitary confinement at the Allegheny County Jail, after the COs' union claimed such changes should have been subject to collective bargaining: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
The state-appointed receiver for the bankrupt City of Chester, PA asked a court to dismantle & rebuild the Chester Water Authority, arguing that the city had established it & the legislature violated the constitution when it expanded the CWA board to include appointees from other counties:
Pa. City's Receiver Asks Court To Restructure Water Board - Law360
The state-appointed receiver for the city of Chester, Pennsylvania, asked the Commonwealth Court on Monday to dissolve and reconstruct the board of directors for its local water authority, arguing a l...
www.law360.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:53 PM
The state-appointed receiver for the bankrupt City of Chester, PA asked a court to dismantle & rebuild the Chester Water Authority, arguing that the city had established it & the legislature violated the constitution when it expanded the CWA board to include appointees from other counties:
ICYMI - The Third Circuit upheld a ruling that Trump lawyer Alina Habba was not legally appointed as the US Attorney for New Jersey, and added a finding that once she was nominated to the Senate for the job, she couldn't be Acting USAtty even after her nom was withdrawn (via Carla Baranauckas):
3rd Circ. Says Habba Barred From Serving As Acting US Atty - Law360
President Donald Trump's former personal lawyer cannot serve as acting U.S. attorney for New Jersey, the Third Circuit ruled Monday in a precedential opinion holding that her appointment violated the ...
www.law360.com
December 2, 2025 at 2:50 PM
ICYMI - The Third Circuit upheld a ruling that Trump lawyer Alina Habba was not legally appointed as the US Attorney for New Jersey, and added a finding that once she was nominated to the Senate for the job, she couldn't be Acting USAtty even after her nom was withdrawn (via Carla Baranauckas):
In additional East Palestine legal news, the Sixth Circuit largely upheld the fee payments for the plaintiffs' lawyers in the settlement, finding mega-firm Morgan & Morgan hadn't shown it was harmed by the "quick-pay" provision for the legal fees (by Rae Ann Varona): www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
November 26, 2025 at 2:05 PM
In additional East Palestine legal news, the Sixth Circuit largely upheld the fee payments for the plaintiffs' lawyers in the settlement, finding mega-firm Morgan & Morgan hadn't shown it was harmed by the "quick-pay" provision for the legal fees (by Rae Ann Varona): www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Reposted by Matthew Santoni
The former administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million settlement over the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, said it had been following a plan of distribution, not defying it, when it paid personal injury claimants based on a starting amount of $25,000 each.
Ex-Admin Of Norfolk Southern Deal Denies Disobeying Court - Law360
The former administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million settlement over the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, said it had been following a federal court's plan of distribution, not defying it, when it paid personal injury claimants based on a starting amount of $25,000 each.
www.law360.com
November 25, 2025 at 9:45 PM
The former administrator of Norfolk Southern's $600 million settlement over the derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, said it had been following a plan of distribution, not defying it, when it paid personal injury claimants based on a starting amount of $25,000 each.
The Third Circuit denied the Post-Gazette publisher's request to stay an order restoring newsroom employees to their 2020 union-backed health plans, as workers returned after three years on strike, @law360.bsky.social's Braden Campbell reports: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Pittsburgh Paper Can't Beat Healthcare Order As Strike Ends - Law360
Workers who returned to work at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Monday after a three-year strike must be reverted to their old healthcare plans, as the Third Circuit denied the company a stay of an ord...
www.law360.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:34 PM
The Third Circuit denied the Post-Gazette publisher's request to stay an order restoring newsroom employees to their 2020 union-backed health plans, as workers returned after three years on strike, @law360.bsky.social's Braden Campbell reports: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
A federal judge blocked the DOJ's demand for transgender patients' records from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, reasoning they were trying to make the investigation of allegedly misbranded or mismarketed drugs into an investigation of state-regulated medical practice (via @law360.bsky.social):
DOJ Demand For Pa. Transgender Patient Records Blocked - Law360
A Pennsylvania federal judge partially quashed part of a U.S. Department of Justice subpoena seeking health records for minors receiving gender-affirming care at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphi...
www.law360.com
November 25, 2025 at 2:26 PM
A federal judge blocked the DOJ's demand for transgender patients' records from Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, reasoning they were trying to make the investigation of allegedly misbranded or mismarketed drugs into an investigation of state-regulated medical practice (via @law360.bsky.social):
One of the engineering firms that inspected Pittsburgh's Fern Hollow Bridge before its 2022 collapse must turn over documents for lawsuits, after a judge ruled they weren't protected by rules surrounding safety investigations & planned improvements: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Engineers Must Share Documents For Bridge Collapse Suits - Law360
An engineering firm must turn over documents related to bridge inspections in Pittsburgh for a group of lawsuits contending that inspectors' negligence contributed to the 2022 Fern Hollow Bridge colla...
www.law360.com
November 24, 2025 at 1:53 PM
One of the engineering firms that inspected Pittsburgh's Fern Hollow Bridge before its 2022 collapse must turn over documents for lawsuits, after a judge ruled they weren't protected by rules surrounding safety investigations & planned improvements: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
The 3rd Circuit ordered the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to restore newsroom employees' healthcare to the union-backed plan they had in 2020, but the publisher wants to pause that order while it seeks reconsideration of a ruling it had bargained in bad faith (via @law360.bsky.social's Braden Campbell:
Pa. Paper Asks 3rd Circ. To Stay Healthcare Restoration - Law360
The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette urged the Third Circuit to pause its obligation to restore workers' union healthcare plan while it challenges a recent ruling that its shift to a company plan violated fede...
www.law360.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:55 PM
The 3rd Circuit ordered the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette to restore newsroom employees' healthcare to the union-backed plan they had in 2020, but the publisher wants to pause that order while it seeks reconsideration of a ruling it had bargained in bad faith (via @law360.bsky.social's Braden Campbell:
At least four justices on the PA Supreme Court seemed inclined yesterday to think that "Pennsylvania Skill" machines were gambling or enabled gambling, given that the skill part of the game could be skipped but the chance part could not (or not without skipping play altogether):
Pa. Justices Suspect 'Skill Games' Are Gambling Devices - Law360
In a case poised to determine the legality of the Pennsylvania Skill games proliferating in gas stations and storefronts, at least four justices on the state Supreme Court seemed ready on Thursday to ...
www.law360.com
November 21, 2025 at 1:50 PM
At least four justices on the PA Supreme Court seemed inclined yesterday to think that "Pennsylvania Skill" machines were gambling or enabled gambling, given that the skill part of the game could be skipped but the chance part could not (or not without skipping play altogether):
A 4-3 PA Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors have "high public official immunity" from claims brought under the state Wiretap Act, as opposed to the "sovereign immunity" the law explicitly waives: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Split Pa. Justices Say Prosecutors Not Bound By Wiretap Law - Law360
Prosecutors like those at the Philadelphia District Attorney's Office can't be sued for using secret recordings obtained in violation of Pennsylvania's wiretap act, a split state Supreme Court ruled W...
www.law360.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:18 PM
A 4-3 PA Supreme Court ruled that prosecutors have "high public official immunity" from claims brought under the state Wiretap Act, as opposed to the "sovereign immunity" the law explicitly waives: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
A Pittsburgh man who killed two people then set a house on fire as cops approached should have been sentenced for arson once, not for each of the police he endangered, the PA Supreme Court ruled (via @law360.bsky.social's Elizabeth Daley): www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Pennsylvania Justices Order Resentencing For Arsonist - Law360
A Pittsburgh man sentenced to up to 52 years in prison for killing two men and igniting the house containing their bodies when police entered shouldn't have faced multiple arson counts, Pennsylvania's...
www.law360.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:14 PM
A Pittsburgh man who killed two people then set a house on fire as cops approached should have been sentenced for arson once, not for each of the police he endangered, the PA Supreme Court ruled (via @law360.bsky.social's Elizabeth Daley): www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Young, conservative-leaning men are looking for discipline, early Christian traditions and mysticism? We need to bring back stylites.
“It’s so much harder than I thought it was going to be, but it speaks to me in a way that nothing else ever did.” I visited a growing Orthodox Christian parish in North Carolina to understand why so many young men are converting. Gift link: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/19/u...
Orthodox Church Pews Are Overflowing With Converts
www.nytimes.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:15 AM
Young, conservative-leaning men are looking for discipline, early Christian traditions and mysticism? We need to bring back stylites.
Pennsylvania's $50.1B budget was secured in part by promising to withdraw PA from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and last week the DEP dropped an appeal pending in the state Supreme Court that was trying to keep PA in the multi-state CO2 cap & trade program: www.law360.com/articles/241...
Pa. Budget Ends State's Bid To Join Cap-And-Trade Compact - Law360
Pennsylvania legislators have announced that their long-awaited 2025 budget included provisions ending the state's bid to join a multistate carbon cap-and-trade compact, mooting years of litigation ov...
www.law360.com
November 17, 2025 at 2:31 PM
Pennsylvania's $50.1B budget was secured in part by promising to withdraw PA from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, and last week the DEP dropped an appeal pending in the state Supreme Court that was trying to keep PA in the multi-state CO2 cap & trade program: www.law360.com/articles/241...
A group of Pittsburgh developers had their lawsuit over the city's "inclusionary zoning" requirements tossed, w/ a federal judge ruling they lacked standing/were unripe because no one had tried seeking exceptions, @law360.bsky.social's Isaac Monterose reports: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
Judge Tosses Nonprofit's Pittsburgh Inclusionary Zoning Suit - Law360
A Pennsylvania federal judge has sided with Pittsburgh against a nonprofit real estate trade association's suit challenging the constitutionality of the city's inclusionary zoning ordinances, ruling t...
www.law360.com
November 13, 2025 at 1:59 PM
A group of Pittsburgh developers had their lawsuit over the city's "inclusionary zoning" requirements tossed, w/ a federal judge ruling they lacked standing/were unripe because no one had tried seeking exceptions, @law360.bsky.social's Isaac Monterose reports: www.law360.com/pennsylvania...
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.