Philadelphia is the firm’s largest market. The city’s mix of public-sector unions, large hospital systems, universities, professional-services firms, and small businesses produces a uniquely broad employment-law caseload. The firm appears in state court at 1400 John F. Kennedy Boulevard (City Hall), federal court at 601 Market Street, and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit at the James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse.
The firm in Philadelphia
Steven T. Auerbach has been admitted to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals since the start of his practice. The firm has been published in the Philadelphia Inquirer, the Legal Intelligencer, Billy Penn, and 6ABC on Philadelphia matters — many of them involving the City of Philadelphia itself (the Sheriff’s Office harassment matters were among the highest-profile employment cases the firm has prosecuted in the city). Today the firm represents Philadelphia employees across every sector and Philadelphia-area employers on the defense side of the same questions.
Courts and tribunals
Philadelphia matters move primarily through:
- Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas — 1400 John F. Kennedy Boulevard (City Hall). Civil, family, and orphans’ court divisions; the criminal division sits at the Criminal Justice Center on Filbert Street. The civil program at the Court of Common Pleas is the largest in Pennsylvania.
- Philadelphia Municipal Court — small-claims and minor criminal matters.
- U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania — 601 Market Street. Federal employment, civil rights, FLSA, ERISA, and Section 1983 matters.
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit — James A. Byrne U.S. Courthouse, 601 Market Street. The firm’s appellate work originates here.
- EEOC Philadelphia District Office — the federal administrative venue for Title VII, ADA, ADEA charges.
- PHRC field office — Pennsylvania Human Relations Act charges.
- Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication — Philadelphia branch.
Local economy and employer mix
Philadelphia’s employer base is the most varied in the region: city government (one of the largest municipal employers in the country), SEPTA, the School District of Philadelphia, the University of Pennsylvania, Drexel University, Temple University, Comcast (headquartered downtown), Independence Blue Cross, Penn Medicine, Jefferson Health, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, the City of Philadelphia’s public agencies, and a deep concentration of professional-services firms (law, banking, accounting). Public-sector unions are dominant — AFSCME District Councils 33 and 47, the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 5, SEIU 1199C, and the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.
Practice areas that matter here
Workplace sexual harassment is the firm’s flagship matter type, both for Philadelphia employees and for Philadelphia employers. The city’s public-sector concentration produces a steady volume of harassment matters under both Title VII and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Act. Beyond harassment, Philadelphia work clusters around discrimination and retaliation (race, gender, age, disability, national origin), wrongful termination, federal civil rights claims under Section 1983 (often involving city agencies), and FLSA wage-and-hour at large hourly employers. On the employer side, the firm represents Philadelphia businesses on internal investigations, EEOC charge responses, severance design, and the broader outside-counsel relationship.
Where the firm appears
The firm covers all Philadelphia neighborhoods — Center City, University City, Old City, South Philly, North Philly, West Philly, Fairmount, Northern Liberties, Fishtown, Manayunk — and represents employees commuting in from suburban counties for work in Philadelphia firms and institutions. Many engagements continue into Delaware County, Montgomery County, or Bucks County.
Talk to a Philadelphia employment attorney
Call (484) 430-4391 or schedule a free consultation. Most consultations happen by phone or video; the firm appears in person for hearings and trials wherever the matter sits.