Stephen E. Geduldig is the Managing Shareholder of the Harrisburg office of Pion, Nerone, Girman & Smith, P.C., and is on the Firm’s Executive Committee. He is a life-long resident of the Harrisburg, PA area.

Steve’s practice is primarily devoted to the defense of catastrophic loss litigation against the transportation industry. He also handles premises and general liability litigation. With over 35 years of courtroom experience, Steve has first-chaired more than 100 jury trials.

Before joining the firm, he was a partner at Thomas, Thomas & Hafer, LLP, where he was the Chairman of the firm’s Transportation Group. Prior to that, he gained significant trial experience covering thirty-seven (37) counties in Pennsylvania as a Deputy Attorney General in the Tort Litigation Unit of the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, where he defended Commonwealth agencies, including Penn DOT, State hospitals, the Pennsylvania State Police, the Department of General Services, and State universities, against lawsuits involving death and serious injury. Steve was appointed to the position by the Honorable LeRoy F. Zimmerman, and served from 1986 to 1990.

Steve is former Vice Chair of the USLAW Network’s Transportation Practice Group. He has been a member of the Pennsylvania Defense Institute (PDI), the Trucking Industry Defense Association (TIDA), the Commercial Transportation Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association (ABA), the Trucking Law Committee of the Defense Research Institute (DRI), the American Trucking Association (ATA), the Transportation Lawyers Association (TLA) and the Dauphin County Bar Association. He has lectured on defense strategy, loss prevention and other litigation topics to insurers and self-insureds in the transportation industry and at various insurance and litigation related seminars throughout Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Michigan, New Jersey, Ohio, Pennsylvania and South Carolina.

He was graduated from Hamilton College, in 1982, with a B.A., and received his J.D. in 1985 from Case Western Reserve University Law School.

He was admitted to the Pennsylvania bar in 1985, the Middle District of PA in 1988, the U.S. Supreme Court in 1989, the U.S. Court of Appeals 3rd Circuit in 1999, the Western District of PA in 2003 and the Eastern District of PA in 2004. Steve is privileged to have received the highest peer review rating (AV) from Martindale-Hubbell and has been named by Pennsylvania Super Lawyers numerous times since 2011 as a “Top Rated Lawyer in Transportation.”

Steve is frequently asked to serve as a mediator throughout Pennsylvania and has successfully mediated to conclusion numerous pre-litigation and litigation matters.

Pennsylvania State Courts
Middle District of Pennsylvania
Western District of Pennsylvania
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Supreme Court of the United States

Case Western Reserve University School of Law,
J.D.
(1985)

Hamilton College,
B.A.,
(1982)

Timothy Smith is a founding partner of Pion, Nerone, Girman & Smith, P.C.  His complex litigation practice is concentrated in the areas of transportation law, commercial litigation, insurance coverage, and product liability law.  Previously, Mr. Smith served as national trial counsel for a Fortune 100 corporation and its subsidiaries.  He also gained valuable industry experience and knowledge while working for a Fortune 500 Insurer.

In addition to his litigation practice, Mr. Smith serves as a mediator.  He brings a breadth of litigation experience and geographic reach to mediations and arbitrations in West Virginia and Pennsylvania.  Mr. Smith has completed 40 hours of mediation training qualifying him to mediate matters pursuant to Allegheny County’s mandatory mediation program.  Additionally, he has been approved as a mediator in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Mr. Smith is a member of the Pennsylvania, West Virginia, and American Bar Associations.  He is admitted to practice before the state courts of Pennsylvania and West Virginia, the United States District Courts for the Western District of Pennsylvania, Middle District of Pennsylvania, Southern District of West Virginia, Northern District of West Virginia, and the United States Courts of Appeals for the Third and Fourth Circuits.  He has presented appellate argument before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, the Superior Court of Pennsylvania, and the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals.  In addition to Pennsylvania and West Virginia, Mr. Smith has litigated cases in Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Tennessee, Alabama, Indiana and Texas.  He is recognized as a Super Lawyer and is a member of USLAW, TIDA and the International Association of Defense Counsel.

Pennsylvania State Courts
West Virginia State Courts
Western District of Pennsylvania
Middle District of Pennsylvania
Northern District of West Virginia
Southern District of West Virginia
Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

University of Toledo College School of Law,
J.D.
(1991)

Washington & Jefferson College,
B.S., English & Business Administration
(1988)

John T. Pion is a founding shareholder whose practice focuses primarily on transportation litigation as well as litigation arising from catastrophic events. He has tried cases involving trucks, construction accidents, premise liability, railroad claims, FELA and third-party litigation, maritime, and medical malpractice, to name a few areas of the law that lead him to juries.

In his 30 plus years as a lawyer, Mr. Pion has tried cases in state and federal courts in Pennsylvania, Ohio, North Carolina and New York. He has been admitted to practice in these states as well as Arizona, Texas, Indiana, Illinois, South Carolina, Louisiana, Florida, New Jersey, Illinois, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, Delaware, West Virginia, Michigan, Missouri, Georgia, Virginia and Maryland.

Recently, Mr. Pion has been retained for several national clients to serve as resolution counsel for catastrophic loss cases throughout the United States. This role allows Mr. Pion to use his creativity and boundless energy in shaping resolutions and settlements for the benefit of all involved parties. His ability to connect to people stands out in this process.

Before founding Pion Law, Mr. Pion worked for a large regional defense firm where he created and chaired that firm’s first Transportation Practice Group. He also served on that firm’s Executive Committee. Those experiences provided the impetus for our firm’s client driven focus; client success begets firm success.

Mr. Pion is a frequent lecturer and has spoken/lectured before organizations including the University of Pittsburgh Medical School, Pennsylvania Orthopaedic Society, International Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgeons, American Trucking Association, Specialized Carriers & Rigging Association, Trucking Industry Defense Association, and American College of Transportation Attorneys, to name a few. In addition, he is called upon frequently to speak to Insurance Companies on issues ranging from creating catastrophic response teams, to driver training and protocol.

Mr. Pion was a founding member of the American College of Transportation Attorneys, a three-term member of the board of directors of the Trucking Industry Defense Association and holds memberships in Claims and Litigation Management Alliance, and American Bar Association, as well as various state bar memberships.

Mr. Pion has been elected to the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County, a position he has held since 2012. He was accepted into the National Association of Distinguished Counsel in 2015, has been named a Top Rated Lawyer in Transportation Law since 2014, Best Lawyers in America since 2018, and Pennsylvania Super Lawyers since 2009, as well as Who’s Who in American Law.

Mr. Pion has maintained an AV Peer Review Rating from Martindale-Hubbell during his distinguished career.

John has been an invited guest lecturer at the university of Maryland School of Law to discuss the role of settlement counsel in litigation.

Pennsylvania State Courts
Ohio State Courts
Western District of Pennsylvania
Middle District of Pennsylvania
Eastern District of Pennsylvania
Northern District of Ohio
Third Circuit Court of Appeals
Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals

Duquesne University School of Law,
J.D.
(1985)

University of Pittsburgh
B.A., English Literature
(1982, Magna Cum Laude)