Daniel devotes his practice to the defense of workers' compensation and federal black lung matters. With more than 15 years of experience in handling these types of matters, Daniel has represented sports manufacturing companies, trucking companies, hospitals, nursing homes, school districts, vehicle manufacturers, hotels, restaurants, electronics manufacturers, construction companies, public transportation entities, grocery/retail stores and mines.
Daniel successfully defended a workers' compensation fatal claim involving a motor vehicle accident by demonstrating that the decedent claimant was not an employee of his client for the purposes of the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act, while also establishing that the decedent claimant was not in the course and scope of his employment at the time of the fatal accident. Daniel also successfully defended against a claimant's allegations of entitlement to the maximum temporary total disability rate for a compensable injury by proving that the time-of-injury average weekly wage was properly calculated pursuant to Section 309 (d.1) of the Workers' Compensation Act. See Collier v. WCAB (PRS/Engles Trucking), 805 A.2d 1267 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2002).
In 1990, Daniel graduated from Villanova University with a bachelor's degree in political science. He then attended Duquesne University School of Law and was awarded his juris doctor in 1993. Following graduation, he joined the Carnegie-based firm of Keisling & Associates, P.C. as an associate and concentrated his practice in the litigation of insurance defense, workers' compensation and federal black lung cases. In 1997, Daniel became a partner and shareholder in the firm of Keisling, Schmitt, Coletta & Deitrick, P.C., and continued to develop his practice in the aforementioned areas.
Representative Cases
· Barnes v. WCAB (Midland-Ross. Corp.), 684 A.2d 1107 (Pa.Cmwlth. 1996)
· Collier v. WCAB (PRS/Engles Trucking), 805 A.2d 1267 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2002) (app. denied, 818 A.2d 505 (Pa. 2003))
Past Employment Positions
· Keisling & Associates, P.C., associate
· Keisling, Schmitt, Coletta & Deitrick, P.C., partner/shareholder
Associations & Memberships
· Allegheny County Bar Association, Workers' Compensation Section
· American Bar Association, Law Practice Management Section
· Pennsylvania Bar Association, Workers' Compensation Section
· Pittsburgh Claims Association
Honors & Awards
· AV® Preeminent™ by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell
Year Joined Organization: 2000