Neil C. Schur

Among his successful representations, Neil obtained a unanimous verdict in favor of two clients on all counts brought against them, following a nine-day jury trial in state court in Essex County, New Jersey (Fioravanti v. Ettere). The plaintiff, a former employee of a closely held corporation, sought to “pierce the corporate veil” and recover corporate debts from shareholders. Neil represented two of the five defendants in the case.

In another case, Neil and co-counsel, as part of a multi-firm team, represented a student loan provider accused of improper billing to the U.S. Department of Education by a relator asserting a claim under the federal False Claims Act.  (U.S. ex rel. Oberg v. Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency).  Neil, along with several lawyers at his firm, litigated whether the agency was an arm of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and developed arguments successfully deployed at trial by co-counsel to convince a Virginia federal jury to reach a unanimous verdict in favor of the agency, avoiding the requested judgment of $350 million.

Neil also has substantial experience in franchise litigation, including the representation of franchisors to enforce franchise agreements with franchisees, regional developers and area representatives, and to protect the intellectual property of various franchise systems.

Neil has also collaborated with environmental lawyers on complex successor liability issues in multi-million dollar environmental disputes under CERCLA and state environmental laws.

Before becoming a lawyer, Neil worked as a reporter for The Philadelphia Inquirer and the Associated Press, and as a teacher for the Houston Independent School District as part of Teach for America, the national corps of recent college graduates who commit two years to teach in urban and rural public schools.