An en banc Commonwealth Court panel upheld nearly $2.35 million in damages and attorney fees a tax collection law firm was ordered to pay to a class of taxpayers who sued over the administrative costs they had to pay the firm for collecting delinquent real estate taxes.
Attorney Michelle Portnoff and her firm, Portnoff Law Associates of Norristown, Pa., appealed Philadelphia Common Pleas Court Judge Mark I. Bernstein’s orders in Roethlein v. Portnoff Law Associates ruling $1.06 million in administrative fees be repaid to the 16,000-member class along with $1.27 million in attorney fees and nearly $21,000 in costs.
