Sean Corr Secures Commonwealth Court Victory in Guarrasi v. Scott et al.

On June 21, 2011 Sean Corr won a victory for judicial and public officials, and taxpayers before the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania in the case of Guarrasi v. Scott et al. Acting in his capacity as a part-time Assistant Solicitor for Bucks County, Mr. Corr represented District Attorney David W. Heckler, Detective Terry Lachman, District Attorney Karen Diaz, and Bucks County Open Records Officer Regina Armitage in a claim filed by a former attorney who is serving a lengthy state prison sentence for crimes related to a murder-for-hire scheme.

In this case, Plaintiff sought to force the public officials to provide documents under Pennsylvania’s Right to Know Law (RTKL). The RTKL became effective in 2009, and provides public access to any record in possession of a Commonwealth agency or local agency unless protected by privilege, Federal or State law, or specifically exempt from the RTKL.

Significantly, the law does not allow the public agency to require a legitimate justification for the request before honoring it. The law has therefore proved costly to taxpayers, not only when used by prisoners, but also when used by businesses which submit requests for information about filings by private citizens, for purposes of direct solicitation.

Mr. Corr and Michael Daley, Esquire, defense counsel from the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts, successfully persuaded the Commonwealth Court to dismiss Plaintiff’s complaint with prejudice, finding among other things that he was trying to use the request to circumvent the proper procedures for appealing his criminal convictions. The victory should represent a substantial savings to taxpayers, as the decision effectively shuts down similar lawsuits by prisoners across the state.

As an experienced trial and appellate attorney, Sean has appeared before the courts of Bucks, Philadelphia and Montgomery counties, as well as all three appeals courts of Pennsylvania and both the trial and appellate courts of the Federal system. Over the past 20 years, Mr. Corr has established himself as one of Bucks County's leading trial lawyers, with a particular concentration in personal injury claims. Mr. Corr is a Certified Civil Trial Attorney, having been certified by the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification in 2000, and recertified in 2005 and 2010. The NBLSC is the only organization accredited by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to bestow specialty certification on Pennsylvania lawyers. He has been named a "Super Lawyer" by his peers in 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2011. He resides in Doylestown.