Lindsay SchoenebergerThe law firm of Russell, Krafft & Gruber, LLP has named Lindsay Schoeneberger a Partner effective July 1, 2022.

Lindsay joined Russell, Krafft & Gruber, LLP following a clerkship with the Honorable Jay J. Hoberg of the Court of Common Pleas of Lancaster County, Orphans’ Court Division.

Lindsay is a 2010 cum laude graduate of Widener University School of Law. She obtained her B.A. from Muhlenberg College in 2007. Lindsay was a member of the Widener Law Journal and a clinic leader at the Harrisburg Civil Law Clinic. She also worked as an intern for the Office of Inspector General through the Governor’s Office of General Counsel Summer Legal Internship Program.

Lindsay is the Chair of the Lancaster Bar Association’s Estate Planning & Probate Law Section. Her thorough approach to estate planning is appreciated by all of her clients regardless of their stage in life or the size of their estate. Lindsay’s attention to detail is important for clients needing a simple Will and for those requiring a complex trust or other estate planning strategies. She brings the same knowledge, skill, and level of care when probating and settling an estate. Lindsay recognizes and addresses the unique needs of each of her clients and their families.

Lindsay concentrates her practice in Estate Planning, Estate Administration, Elder Law, Orphans’ Court Litigation, Guardianships, and Adoption Law, providing personalized counsel and effective legal representation to a wide range of clients.

 

 

Katharine Costlow

Katharine Costlow is an experienced litigator with a history of winning difficult cases. Most recently, she was a public defender in Dauphin County, where she tried and won multiple felony and misdemeanor cases. She represented both adults and juveniles – whose cases required special attention. Katharine joins Russell, Krafft & Gruber, LLP with an established reputation for diligence, attention to detail, and tenacity during trial.

Outstanding results are not her only focus. Katharine represented hundreds of clients and regularly provided status updates and reviewed strategic options. She knows that the results of any legal representation, including trial victories, are meaningless if they don’t serve the client’s end goals.

Katharine graduated cum laude from Gannon University in Erie, Pennsylvania, with a biology degree. She went on to attend Widener University School of Law in Harrisburg, where she graduated with a Business Advising Certificate with honors and finished first-in-class in her advanced legal analysis and alternative dispute resolution classes. She was on the Moot Court Honor Society Board and competed in the Jessup International Moot Court Competition.

Katharine has devoted a significant part of her life to service. In addition to spending nearly five years as a public defender, she is a member of the Alpha Phi Omega service fraternity. She received the Presidential Gold Award for her service to AmeriCorps, where she served the Erie Community—specifically, at the Veteran Affairs Hospital. She also worked at the Civil Law Clinic during law school.

Pennsylvania businesses and taxpayers, beware. There is a new scam around.  On July 14, 2022, the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue issued a press release warning business owners that fraudulent letters are being delivered by U.S. Mail.

These letters impersonating the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue demand that the taxpayers turn over their tax and accounting records. They allege that there is a tax investigation of your entity by the “State Revenue and Cash Disbursements Unit,” who will be imposing penalties if you do not comply “immediately.”
Continue Reading Pennsylvania Businesses: Beware Fraudulent Government Notices

For many years, Pennsylvania has been one of the few states that did not recognize like-kind exchanges (also known as 1031 exchanges or land swaps).  Now, with the passing of Act 53 of 2022 by Governor Wolf, Pennsylvania finally has adopted 1031 exchanges. This change may lower your tax burden on real estate transactions and even encourage more investment in the state.

What is a Like-Kind Exchange?

A like-kind exchange is a strategy under the Internal Revenue Code to exchange property of the “same nature, character, or class” without paying federal income tax. The type of property usually doesn’t matter as all real estate is considered like-kind to each other so long as it’s located in the United States of America. For example, an investor may want to sell her residential rental to purchase an apartment building or an office building.
Continue Reading Like-Kind Exchanges Better in Pennsylvania

Mark Twain was right – no one is making any new land.  He probably had no idea there would be a shortage of developable land around the historically rural Lancaster County.  Two recent programs of the Lancaster County Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Council (Lancaster C&I) highlighted this problem and showed one possible solution to the shortage of available developable land: changing how you use the land you already have.

Continue Reading Leveraging Our Land: Promote Innovation, not Acquisition Says Lancaster C&I

With the headlines coming out of the United States Supreme Court, I thought this would be a good time to write about the different courts that make up the American judicial system and how they work together. Let this be the start of a new blog series I’m calling Capturing the Courts, where I will discuss the different levels of state and federal courts and how cases work through each of the various court systems.

For this post, I will delve into the US Supreme Court (“the Court”) but will follow this up with a general overview of how the state and federal courts work together before digging into each specifically.

What is the US Supreme Court?

The United States Supreme Court was established by Article III of the United States Constitution to act as the highest court in the United States.
Continue Reading Capturing the Courts: The US Supreme Court

What do cupcakes, a truck of rare Chinese pottery, and litigator Brandon Harter have in common? And how can they help your small business? Continue reading for the answer.

On Thursday, April 21, RKG Law’s Brandon Harter was honored at SCORE Lancaster-Lebanon’s Small Business Awards Luncheon as the 2022 Community Partner. Cathy Bonser, chapter president, recognized Brandon’s longstanding contribution as a SCORE Simple Steps presenter for almost ten years. She commended his ability to connect with small business owners and simplify entity formation considerations.

During the Simple Steps presentations, Brandon explains the importance of choosing and setting up the proper business entity. Many entrepreneurs focus only on the logistics of their business, but Brandon’s guidance helps them minimize risk and save time and money down the road.
Continue Reading Brandon Harter Honored at SCORE’s 2022 Small Business Awards Luncheon

Several years ago, I wrote a blog article about the three estate planning documents every person should have.  Fast forward to today, and my recommendation has not changed.  Every person over the age of eighteen should have a Will, a Health Care Power of Attorney and Living Will, and a Financial Power of Attorney.

It is important to have all three documents because they each do different things and are effective at different times.  But how often do you really need to update them? And can’t the internet write most of these for you anyway? Let’s take a closer look.
Continue Reading Updating Your Estate Planning Documents for a Digital World

This post was originally published on February 24, 2021 and updated on March 24, 2022.

RKG’s team is committed not just to helping our clients but to supporting the health of the entire legal community. The Lancaster Bar Association (LBA) has adapted well during the pandemic and has continued to find ways to help not only lawyers but the community as well.

Its referral programs for clients and its partnership with the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce to pair lawyers with businesses feeling the pandemic crunch have both been very successful. We are proud to help support the organization with our time and efforts.

We thank these folks for stepping up to the plate through the LBA for 2022:

Continue Reading A Thank You to RKG’s Volunteers with the Lancaster Bar Association (LBA)

Every year, the Lancaster Commercial and Industrial Real Estate Council hosts High Real Estate‘s review of the local commercial and industrial real estate market. High always presents an extensive, well-researched and thought-out presentation. In addition to just showing charts and graphs, the speakers from High really understand the Central Pennsylvania market and are willing to share their thoughts on what the numbers mean.

When I go to this presentation each year, I ask myself, “What would I tell a client who was not here to watch the presentation?”  This year, the ideas that stuck with me are:

1. If I could invest in any real estate, I’d want to own existing apartments or warehouses in places like Lancaster County.

One of the speakers mentioned that pre-COVID, the average daily work commute was around 30 minutes.  Today, it is an hour.  He explained that as more people are spending fewer days in the office and working more from home, some people do not mind making a longer commute a few days a week.
Continue Reading New Trends in Lancaster’s Commercial and Industrial Real Estate

It has been about half a year since the terrible collapse of Champlain Tower South in Surfside, Florida.  Because of this tragedy, condominium and homeowners’ association boards and owners have been concerned about the structural safety of their buildings. And now Associations are facing hard questions from mortgage companies concerning both maintenance and capital reserve balances.

Role of Fannie and Freddie in Mortgage Lending

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac are two governmental entities that guarantee mortgage loans for residential properties, like condominiums and homeowners’ associations.  They put out guidelines – requirements for association budgets, documents and practices – that a community needs to meet for Freddie Mac or Fannie Mae to back a mortgage.
Continue Reading Surfside Towers Collapse Causes Tighter Maintenance and Capital Reserve Requirements for Associations