Joshua D. Bonn
- Harrisburg
- jbonn@cohenseglias.com
- 717.480.5304
Josh has been involved with the litigation of numerous high profile cases including:
- Department of Education emails related to the Jerry Sandusky scandal declared to be public records. Bagwell v. Pennsylvania Dep’t of Educ., 76 A.3d 81 (Pa. Commw. 2013).
- Emails transmitted by Township Supervisors on personal email accounts declared to be public records. Mollick v. Township of Worcester, 32 A.3d 859 (Pa. Commw. 2011).
- Agency may not use prepayment demand as means to avoid processing request. Pennsylvania Dep’t of Educ. v. Bagwell, 131 A.3d 638 (Pa. Commw. 2016).
- Exemptions to public access do not apply to records made unconditionally public by law other than RTKL, subject to constitutional balancing test for personal information. Reese v. Pennsylvanians for Union Reform, 173 A.3d 1143 (Pa. 2017).
- Applications for permits to grow, process, and distribute medical marijuana are public records subject to “minimal redaction” to ensure facility security. McKelvey/Pennlive.com/Patriot News v. Pa. Dep’t of Health, 255 A.3d 385 (Pa. 2021).
- Federal Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) does not preclude public disclosure of de-identified student attendance records. School District of Philadelphia v. Calefati/Philadelphia Inquirer, No. 1285 C.D. 2020 (Pa. Commw. 2022).
- School bus surveillance videos are public records subject to redaction of student identifiers. Dauphin Sch. Dist. v. Hawkins, 286 A.3d 726 (Pa. 2022).
Josh is a trial attorney who represents clients in the railroad, media, insurance, and financial industries. He handles a variety of civil litigation matters, including personal injury defense, contractual and business disputes, real property, condemnation, replevin, mortgage foreclosure, ejectment, quiet title, adverse possession, enforcement of judgments, and bankruptcy matters. Josh handles appeals in Pennsylvania’s Supreme, Commonwealth, and Superior courts and in the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. In addition, he has handled complex matters, including declaratory judgment proceedings instituted in the Commonwealth Court’s original jurisdiction.
Josh has extensive experience representing municipalities, individuals and media entities in public records litigation under Pennsylvania’s Right-to-Know Law (RTKL). He routinely briefs and argues open records appeals in the Office of Open Records (OOR) and in trial and appellate courts. His cases have resulted in favorable precedential rulings on privacy, trade secrets, and attorney-client and attorney work-product privileges. Josh lectures various groups on the RTKL, including the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors, the Pennsylvania Association of Boroughs, and the Dauphin County Bar Association.
Josh also advises several mid-state municipalities and is the Solicitor for Paxtang Borough and the Capital Tax Collection Bureau. Josh counsels local governments in governance, zoning, land use and subdivision, codes enforcement, and public records matters. He formerly worked as an assistant district attorney in York County, Pennsylvania. Josh has assisted municipal officials in handling intense public pressure in highly publicized matters, including the denial of a land development plan to build a fast food restaurant (which was eventually affirmed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court) and the decertification and ejectment of a volunteer fire company.
Josh counsels Class I, regional, and shortline railroads in a variety of matters. Josh handles personal injury cases arising from crossing accidents and workplace accidents arising under the Federal Employers’ Liability Act (FELA). He has also represented clients in administrative proceedings before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC) involving the maintenance of rail highway crossings, administrative proceedings before the United States Surface Transportation Board (STB) involving the abandonment and discontinuance of rail lines, and condemnation proceedings instituted by natural gas utilities. He is also familiar with the procedures for eminent domain proceedings in federal and Pennsylvania courts. Josh co-authored an amici curie brief to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court on behalf of CSX, Transportation Inc., Norfolk Southern Railway Company, and Consolidated Rail Corporation in a matter affecting the railroad industry’s ability to use eminent domain to serve single customers.
- Pennsylvania State University Dickinson School of Law, J.D.
- Lock Haven University, B.A., magna cum laude
- Pennsylvania Supreme Court
- U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court, Middle District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit