WEST CHESTER, PA — The law firm Gawthrop Greenwood, PC is pleased to announce that it has been appointed solicitor of New Hanover Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania. Attorney and partner Patrick M. McKenna will serve as lead solicitor.
Over his 20+ year career practicing law, McKenna has become a well-known solicitor for townships, municipal authorities and other public entities, including as legal counsel for Westtown Township during its years’ long acquisition of Crebilly Farm to preserve it from future development.
“It’s no secret that public scrutiny of local government has intensified in recent years, and Gawthrop Greenwood’s tri-county government law practice covering Chester, Delaware and Montgomery Counties provides clients with a regional perspective on the major issues they’re facing,” said McKenna.
McKenna’s core team includes Government Law Department attorneys Stacey L. Fuller, Robert C. Jefferson, IV and Ellen B. Koopman, who provide advocacy at government meetings; advise elected boards on governance, open records and other issues; litigate municipal, school, land development and zoning matters through appeal; and draft legislative and policy documents for municipal governments.
McKenna recently completed his term as the youngest chair of the management committee in Gawthrop Greenwood’s 120-year history after heading the firm’s Government & Education Law Department, which has grown into one of the most successful in Chester County. He has served as President of the Chester County Bar Association and President of the Chester County Bar Foundation. He has been a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association since 2004, where he currently sits as a Zone 9 Delegate At-Large to the P.B.A. House of Delegates. In addition, McKenna is a past Chair of the P.B.A. Municipal Law Section Council. He is a Member of the Solicitor Section of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Supervisors.
Named to Super Lawyers since 2019 and The Best Lawyers in America® since 2018, last year McKenna was elected to the board of trustees for the Chester County History Center. McKenna is a board member for the Franklin Mint Federal Credit Union. He is also a past President of the Board of Directors of Safe Harbor of Chester County, Inc., a shelter for single homeless men and women in Chester County.
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