Tony devotes his practice to Pennsylvania workers' compensation, unemployment compensation, municipal law (Heart and Lung Act), and federal Longshore and Harbor workers' compensation. He focuses on high-exposure, complex litigation including repetitive trauma claims, occupational disease and hearing loss claims, as well as chemical sensitivity claims. He also actively represents the National Hockey League and the National Basketball Association in regard to workers' compensation matters. In addition, Tony is the Chair of our Medicare Compliance Practice.
Tony has represented law firms, financial institutions, forging companies, steel mills, transportation companies, aeronautical/space manufacturers, universities and hospitals in various types of workers' compensation and unemployment compensation matters. He has handled multiple high-exposure workers' compensation chemical and toxic tort claims involving mass defendants, and he has had a high success rate in having clients dismissed from same.
Tony is the founder of Marshall Dennehey's in-house workers' compensation Continuing Legal Education program. He is also frequently called upon to speak to insurance companies and self-insured employers in the areas of workers' compensation and employment law.
Honors & Awards
•The Best Lawyers in America, Workers’ Compensation Law - Employers (2025-2026)
•Pennsylvania Super Lawyers (2026)
Classes & Seminars Taught
•Average Weekly Wage, panelist, Pennsylvania Bar Association Workers' Compensation Fall Section Meeting, September 12, Hershey, Pennsylvania
•How to Deal With Difficult Litigants, Pennsylvania Bar Institute's Tough Problems in Workers' Compensation webinar, May 11, 2023
•Workers' Compensation Case Law Update, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 27, 2022
•Hot Topics in Workers' Comp and Litigation Trends, Philly I-Day, Philadelphia, PA, September 20, 2022
•'Insurance Defense Attorneys Combat Workers' Compensation Fraud,' AM Best Insurance Law Podcast, August 31, 2022
•What People Do For Money: Identifying Claimant Fraud In Workers’ Compensation Cases, Marshall Dennehey Insurance Fraud 360 Seminar, Lafayette Hill, PA, June, 2022
•The Right Way to Avoid a Wrongful Termination Claim When the Employee Is Also a Workers’ Compensation Claimant, Marshall Dennehey webinar, March 3, 2022
•Navigate the Medicare Maze: A Practical Guide to Understanding Medicare Set-Asides, Marshall Dennehey webinar, November 19, 2020
•Decisions, Decisions: A Legal Update, Marshall Dennehey webinar, October 28, 2020
•HR Webinar Series Part I: Workers' Compensation Basics, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, February 13, 2020
•Workers' Compensation and Medicare Legal Update, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 24, 2019
•Identifying Fraudulent Workers' Compensation Claims, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 24, 2019
•The Interplay Between Traumatic Brain Injuries and Fraud in Workers' Compensation, Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Conference, Hershey, Pennsylvania, April 24, 2019
•Influence of Pharmaceuticals and Changing Landscape in Workers' Comp Medical Costs, Philly I-Day, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 9, 2019
•Workers' Compensation Case Law Update; and Workers' Compensation Fraud, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 25, 2018
•Workers' Compensation Fraud: Don't Forget the Data, Marshall Dennehey Insurance Fraud 360, June 13, 2018
•Workers' Compensation Fraud: Don't Ignore the Data! 2018 Pennsylvania Insurance Fraud Conference, Pocono Manor, Pennsylvania, April 13, 2018
•Workers' Compensation Fraud: Don't Forget the Data, Philly I-Day, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 12, 2018
•Biggest Mistakes Companies Make in Complying with Workers’ Compensation, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Annual Human Resources Conference, Hershey, Pennsylvania, November 28, 2017
•Workers' Compensation Legal Update, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 19, 2017
•If You See Something, Say Something - Detecting Workers' Compensation Fraud, Pennsylvania’s 2017 Insurance Fraud Conference, Hershey, Pennsylvania, April 6, 2017
•Case Law Update, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminars, October 19 and 27, 2016
•Pennsylvania's Workers’ Compensation Law: Best Practices for Complying with Benefits, Understanding the Flow of a Workers’ Compensation Claim, and Tips to Prevent WC Fraud, PA Chamber of Business and Industry Workers' Compensation Summit, September 30, 2016
•Check the Rulebook: Workers' Compensation Legal Update, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 22, 2015
•Unemployment Compensation Roundtable, Pennsylvania Chamber of Commerce, June 2015
•Tough Problems in Workers' Compensation 2015, Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, April 13, 2015
•UC/WC 101 Benefits Roundtable, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, March 19, 2015
•PEO's effect on Guaranty Fund: Insurance Company Perspective, Fund Perspective and Counsel Perspective, NCIGF 2014 Fall Workshop, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, October 22, 2014
•Case Law and House Bill Update, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, October 30, 2014
•Social Media and Workers’ Compensation, and Handling Unusual WC Situations, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Workers' Compensation Summit, Hershey, Pennsylvania, October 1, 2014
•Workers' Compensation Medical Fraud and Abuse, CEU Institute, June 25, 2014
•Busted! Identifying, Proving And Prosecuting Workers' Compensation Fraud, National Workers' Compensation Insurance ExecuSummit, Uncasville, Connecticut, February 4-5, 2014
•Understanding the Most Common Mistakes Made in Workers' Compensation, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry Annual Human Resources Conference, Hershey, Pennsylvania, December 3, 2013
•Tri-State Workers' Compensation Legal Update, Roadmap to Success - Understanding Workers' Compensation, Marshall Dennehey seminar, October 24, 2013
•FrankenFraud - The New Employee Monster, Marshall Dennehey Workers' Compensation Seminar, November 30, 2012
•Workers' Compensation 101 Roundtable, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, June 8, 2012
•Unemployment Claims Fraud: Protect Your Organization from Bogus Jobless Claims, Center for Competitive Management, April 19, 2012
•Unemployment Compensation Roundtable, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, Scranton, Pennsylvania, March 8, 2012; King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, March 16, 2012
•The Interplay Between the Pennsylvania Heart and Lung Act and the Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act, AmeriHealth Casualty webinar, August 25, 2011
•Top Ten Defenses to a Fee Review Action, Chubb Seminar, April 2011; discussion about the problems associated with provider fraud in fee review applications and a 10-point analysis on how to properly defend these cases
•Workers' Compensation Primer, Drexel Seminar, March 2011; an analysis on how to defend workers' compensation actions in a university setting
•Pennsylvania Claims Handling (monthly seminars in PA, NJ and DE), 2002-present
•Defending Pennsylvania Claims, Boston, 2008
•Prosecuting Fraud Under New Guides, Texas, 2006
•Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Law and Claims Handling, Michigan, 2001
•Case Law Updates to various insurers on monthly basis, 1998-2000
•Prosecuting Fraud, 1997
•Pennsylvania Forms Seminar, 1997
•Act 57 Amendments, 1996
•How to Defend Hearing Loss Cases, 1994
•ADA and Workers' Compensation Act, five Pennsylvania cities, 1992
Published Works
•'Compensating the Boys of Fall - College Sports May Soon Face the Ultimate Call: Player or Employee?' CLM Magazine, October 22, 2025
•'Beware of the Language Used in Your Settlement Agreements: Medicare is Watching,' The Legal Intelligencer, Workers' Compensation Supplement, October 10, 2023
•'Why do Claimants Lie? Because They Can and Swift Prosecution is the Only Way to Deter It,' CLM Magazine, June 2023
•' The State of Pay-For-Play: College Athletes as Employees and the Implications for Workers' Compensation,' CLM Magazine, September 2021
•'Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act and the Student-Athlete: The Ultimate Mismatch,' Pennsylvania Lawyer, September/October 2019
•'Suicide Squeeze: An Overview of Pa. Workers' Comp and the Pro Athlete,' The Legal Intelligencer, Workers' Compensation Supplement, October 30, 2018
•'If You See Something, Say Something - The Importance of Identifying and Reporting Workers' Compensation Fraud,' CLM Magazine (page 10), August 2017
•Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Guide, Eighth Edition, Pennsylvania Chamber of Business and Industry, contributing author, 2016
•'The Treating Physician: A Misnomer in Workers' Comp Litigation,' Pennsylvania Law Weekly, August 25, 2015
•Insurance Agency Risk Management: E & O Exposures By Line of Business, chapter on workers' compensation, 2014 edition
•'Practical Ramifications of Supreme Court Determination Involving Latent Manifestation of Occupational Diseases Under the PA Workers' Compensation Act,' CounterPoint, newsletter of the PA Defense Institute, April 2014.
•'PEOs: A New Potential for Workers' Comp Fraud? A Close Look at Professional Employer Organizations,' National Underwriter Property & Casualty, October 2013
•'Fee Review Litigation: An Overview,' Pennsylvania Self-Insurers' Association newsletter, May 2011
•'Retirement Does Not Mean Retirement When You are Collecting Workers' Compensation Benefits,' The Philadelphia Lawyer, Summer 2011
•'Ding Dong Kachinski's Dead: Commonwealth Court Declines To Resuscitate,' Defense Digest, Vol. 16, No. 3, September 2010
•Articles in Defense Digest and the Pennsylvania Self-Insurer's Association's publications
Media Commentary
•'Insurers Mobilize to Identify Comp Fraud in Effort to Stem Rise in Suspicious Claims,' Business Insurance, May 3, 2022
•'Spotting the Red Flags of Workers' Comp Fraud,' Business Insurance, April 18, 2018
Results
Defense Verdict Obtained Involving an Employment-Related Shoulder Injury
Defense Verdict Secured in a Case Centered on an Employment-Related Low Back Injury
We received a defense verdict on our termination petition in a case where the claimant sustained a low back injury when he slipped and fell in an elevator during his employment. The employer had an IME wherein the claimant was pronounced fully recovered from strain injuries. The claimant presented evidence that alleged disc injury and ongoing radiculopathy. The matter proceeded to litigation and a decision on the merits. The court found the employer’s expert to be credible as to full recovery based on the finding that no architectural change could be identified between the claimant’s diagnostic studies when compared to studies from before and after the work injury.
Thought Leadership
Compensating the Boys of Fall. College Sports May Soon Face the Ultimate Call: Player or Employee?
October 22, 2025
College sports may soon face the ultimate call: player or employee?
Beware of the Language Used in Your Settlement Agreements: Medicare Is Watching
October 2, 2023
The workers’ compensation practitioner has now become a forced bedfellow of CMS, like it or not. If you fail to “issue spot” in relevant settlements, you will have problems.
News
Marshall Dennehey Announces 2026 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and Rising Stars Honorees
May 22, 2026
98 Marshall Dennehey Attorneys Recognized in the 2026 Editions of The Best Lawyers in America and the Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in America
August 20, 2025
AV Preeminent®: The highest peer rating standard. This rating signifies a large number of the lawyer’s peers rank him
or her at the highest level of professional excellence for their legal knowledge, communication skills and ethical standards.
Notable: This rating indicates that the lawyer has been recognized by a large number of their peers for strong ethical standards.
