Samuel H. Pond has concentrated his practice in the area of workers' compensation litigation since his graduation from Temple University School of Law in 1984. He is a founding and managing partner of Pond Lehocky Giordano. Mr. Pond’s advocacy for his clients has resulted in some of the largest settlements in Pennsylvania and the nation. Mr. Pond is a member and past president of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association and the current treasurer of the organization’s political action committee, the Committee for a Better Tomorrow. Mr. Pond is the past chair of the Workers' Compensation Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association, past chair of its Education and Ethics Committee and its Workers' Compensation Section Executive Committee. Mr. Pond was appointed by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to serve on the Board of Law Examiners. He also served on the Board of The Pennsylvania Federation of Injured Workers, the Pennsylvania Association for Justice and the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Charitable Foundation. Mr. Pond was appointed by the Speaker of the House of Pennsylvania to the Workers' Compensation Advisory Board. He is a current board member of the Pennsylvania Alliance and the USC Shoah Foundation's Next Generation Committee. He sits on and has served on numerous other boards. Mr. Pond is also president of Union Services Access, a legal consulting services network for unions and their members. In addition to his practice as a workers' compensation attorney, Mr. Pond is a frequent author and lecturer in workers' compensation matters. His Martindale-Hubbell rating concerning Legal Ability and Ethical Standards has been given the highest grade. Mr. Pond was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® from 2007-2016. Mr. Pond has also been selected for inclusion in the Super Lawyers® Top 100 in Pennsylvania and Top 100 in Philadelphia lists for consecutive years. Through lectures and seminars, Mr. Pond educates union members and employees throughout the region on their rights under the Workers' Compensation Act. His charitable contributions are extensive and focused on children and education; they include the Union Services Access Scholarship Fund, The Pond Lehocky Trial Advocacy Scholarship and The Pond Lehocky Legal Studies Department Head Office at Drexel University’s LeBow College of Business. He also created the Marie Pond Scholarship Fund in honor of his mother, which is a yearly scholarship awarded to a member of the Torresdale Boys Club.

Gary Schafkopf is a practicing lawyer in the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey specializing in Business, Employment, and Real Estate.

Jerry M. Lehocky is a partner at Pond Lehocky Giordano, LLP. Mr. Lehocky has been a litigator of workers' compensation and Social Security since being admitted to practice in 1985. Initially, his practice involved representing employers and insurance companies. In 1991, Mr. Lehocky began representing claimants exclusively in the areas of workers' compensation and Social Security disability. A former chairman of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Workers' Compensation Section (for 12 consecutive years), Mr. Lehocky served as a consultant to several Pennsylvania governors as well as numerous state senators and representatives on workers' compensation issues. He co-authored “House Bill 2738,” which created the Uninsured Employers Guaranty Fund. This fund provides workers' compensation benefits to injured workers whose employers do not carry workers' compensation insurance. The bill was signed into law by Governor Rendell on November 9, 2006, and was the first piece of workers' compensation legislation in favor of injured workers to become law in over 30 years. Mr. Lehocky continues to serve on the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania Association for Justice and the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, and was previously on the Board of Directors of the Volunteers for the Indigent Program. Mr. Lehocky is also a member of the Workplace Injury Litigation Group and a committee member of the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. Mr. Lehocky is a former president of The Pennsylvania Association for Justice, the first workers' compensation attorney in the organization’s history to hold that position. Mr. Lehocky has been selected for inclusion in the Super Lawyers® Top 100 in Pennsylvania and Super Lawyers® Top 100 in Philadelphia lists. Mr. Lehocky was selected by his peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2012-2016. Mr. Lehocky received the 1997 Legal Leader Award from Philaposh for distinguished service to injured workers of Pennsylvania and has also received an accommodation of dedicated service from the State Senate of Pennsylvania for his efforts on behalf of injured workers in Pennsylvania. Mr. Lehocky also received the Joe Hand Gym's 2014 Good Guy Award for his support of urban youth athletics. Mr. Lehocky has written numerous articles and publications on workers' compensation and lectures extensively on various workers' compensation issues. Mr. Lehocky has appeared on many different television shows to discuss workers’ compensation issues, and has been interviewed by National Public Radio to address the crisis of injuries to healthcare workers in America.

Thomas J. Giordano, Jr. joined the firm in October 2005 and currently heads the Social Security Disability department, where he focuses his practice solely on obtaining Social Security Disability benefits for disabled individuals. Mr. Giordano has represented individuals before Administrative Law Judges throughout Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware. He has been invited by labor and disability organizations as well as physicians throughout the tri-state area to lecture on Social Security Disability law. He is currently a sustaining member of the National Organization of Social Security Claimants' Representatives (NOSSCR) as well as a member of the Social Security Disability law section of the American Association of Justice.Prior to joining the firm, he was an associate with a large Philadelphia defense firm where he represented self-insured and commercial insured businesses in a wide variety of industries, as well as to third-party administrators throughout Pennsylvania. He also served as a legal intern for the Philadelphia District Office of Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.Mr. Giordano is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and before the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey. He earned his undergraduate degree, cum laude, in communications from Towson University in Maryland. He received his law degree from Rutgers University School of Law - Camden. He is an active member of the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Bar Associations, the Pennsylvania and Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Associations, and the Trial Lawyers for Public Justice. He is currently serving on the Board of Directors for the Epilepsy Foundation of Eastern Pennsylvania.

Melissa R. Chandy is a Partner with Pond Lehocky and has focused her practice exclusively on Pennsylvania workers’ compensation law since graduating from Penn State – Dickinson School of Law. Ms. Chandy was born and raised in Canada where she attended the University of Toronto and was accepted into a highly competitive Specialist Program in Commerce and Finance. Following law school, Ms. Chandy served as a law clerk for two Commissioners on the Workers’ Compensation Appeal Board. She then joined a leading regional firm, where she developed her legal writing and trial advocacy skills. When Ms. Chandy joined Pond Lehocky, she continued to devote her time to protecting the rights of injured workers. While working at Pond Lehocky, Ms. Chandy earned the title of Partner. Additionally, she manages the brief writing department in the law firm. In this role, Ms. Chandy uses her knowledge to train and teach new associates the nuances of the brief writing processes, to ensure that from start to finish, Pond Lehocky cases are passionately and articulately argued. Ms. Chandy also plays an active role in Pond Lehocky’s Summer Associate and Clerkship Program.

Sexual Harassment and Employment Discrimination Attorney in New York, Philadelphia & New Jersey. Derek Smith is proud to have obtained several multi-million dollar settlements and verdicts on behalf of employees like you, who have been discriminated, tormented, and humiliated at work. Attorney Smith and his firm have obtained a $2.5 Million verdict on behalf of a woman sexual harassed by a restaurant owner. He also obtained a $1.6 Million verdict on behalf of a woman who was subject to a hostile work environment while working as a chef. He believes in becoming emotionally invested in every one of his clients, and it shows in his results.

Michael J. Parker earned his undergraduate degree in history from the University of Massachusetts Amherst in 2001 and went on to receive his J.D. from The Dickinson School of Law of The Pennsylvania State University in 2004. Mr. Parker has focused his practice on advocating for the disabled for almost fifteen years. He is a board-certified Social Security Disability Advocate by the National Board of Legal Specialty Certification, an American Bar Association accredited organization. Mr. Parker has been recognized for his legal expertise as a Super Lawyers® Rising Star, which represents the top 2.5 percent of all attorneys under the age of 40 in 2010-2017. In January of 2018, Mr. Parker spearheaded the formation of our Pond Lehocky’s Long-Term Disability Department. Mr. Parker has taken his passion for representing disabled individual and applied to helping disabled individuals who are wrongfully denied insurance benefits. He is very involved in the legal community and is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Lackawanna County Bar Association, the Pike County Bar Association and the National Organization of Social Security Claimant’s Representatives. Mr. Parker is admitted to practice law in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for Veterans Affairs and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals.

Kajal Alemo is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She is a member of both the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association and American Association for Justice, where she serves on the Social Security Executive Council. Before joining Pond Lehocky, Ms. Alemo practiced for a large Philadelphia law firm, where she assisted senior counsel with the coding of potentially discoverable corporate documents, including privilege determinations for a high profile merger. She was also co-editor of a legal textbook regarding law and business enterprise. A graduate of Villanova University School of Law, Ms. Alemo was the Villanova Law student director of Face to Face Legal Clinic for the Pro Bono Society. She interned at Face to Face during all three years of law school. She was also a student attorney at the Villanova Civil Justice Clinic where she handled her first Social Security case. Prior to law school, Ms. Alemo obtained a B.A. in Psychology from George Washington University, graduating in 2008 on the Dean’s List. She is also a member of the National Society of Collegiate Scholars and Phi Alpha Delta Law Fraternity International. Under her leadership as President/Justice, Phi Alpha Delta’s King Chapter was awarded most improved chapter in its district.

David F. Stern, Esquire is the President and Partner at the Law Firm, Stern & Cohen, PC. Dave was born and raised in Northern Virginia just off the Beltway outside Washington D.C. Dave’s father was a Federal Judge. His understanding of how to be an advocate began at an early age as he had the opportunity to travel with his father on occasions and observe Federal trials. Many disputes were resolved at the kitchen table with a good, courtroom-like debate. Dave excelled early on in academics and also on the baseball field. Dave played in the athletic conference with the largest high schools in the state of Virginia. This area is a hotbed for baseball talent. His senior season, Dave’s high school team lost in the state championship, but local papers wrote articles about how this would likely be the best team in program history. Dave then took his academic and athletic prowess to the University of Delaware. Dave earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Finance, a concentration that he knew would serve him well in business after he went to Law School. He was also a four-year letterman for the University of Delaware Fightin’ Blue Hens Division One baseball program. College baseball is not heralded like football and basketball, so it was a well-kept secret that Delaware’s baseball program was one of the best in the country. From 1994-1997, Delaware won over 40 games every season while Dave was there. He ended his career with double-digit wins, including a sparkling senior season when he went 8-3 on the mound. The team was nationally-ranked many weeks in the Top 25. Perhaps Dave’s finest achievements during these seasons was his consistent placement on the Academic Dean’s List. Dave was able to maintain exemplary grades while playing a vigorous schedule with 6-7 games per week. While his classmates had plenty of time to study, play video games, and socialize, Dave went from classroom to weight room to practice to library with no time to ever spare. It was these experiences that Dave credits as the foundation for the lawyer and business-owner that he has become today. Intangibles of hard work, dedication, time management, being a team player, and managing pressure scenarios were developed through these valuable life experiences. Following college, Dave reluctantly hung up his spikes and attended the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. While in law school, Dave took a course in Workers’ Compensation Law and earned an “A” in the class. This was his first exposure to this line of law and it instantly intrigued him. Dave graduated from Pitt in 2000 and immediately passed the Pennsylvania Bar Examination. Following his success of the Pennsylvania Bar Examination, he was hired that fall by a large, reputable insurance defense firm and was conveniently placed in their workers’ compensation defense department. He defended workers’ compensation cases on behalf of local employers and insurance carriers. Dave cut his teeth in this area of law and began to learn the nuances of the laws. Dave still credits this four-year experience at a defense firm as giving him the unique ability to “understand how the other side thinks.” Dave’s talents were recognized quickly and law firms that represented injured workers began to approach him about changing sides. In 2004, Dave joined a large firm that represented injured workers. Dave had already developed the perfect skill set to represent injured Pennsylvanians. He had a meteoric rise at this Firm and became one of the youngest (if not the youngest) partners in the Firm’s history. However, he ultimately decided the best path forward would be to start his own Firm, where his visions and strategies for representing injured workers could be best put on display. The Firm, Stern & Cohen, got its start in late December 2019 with an official launch date of January 1, 2020. Under Dave’s management, Stern & Cohen has grown at a rapid rate. The Firm moved into new office space in the summer of 2023. Dave has personally hired every lawyer and staff member and is exceptionally proud of the Team that has been built. Dave has mentored dozens of workers’ compensation lawyers over the years. Without hesitation, however, he has the utmost confidence that the Stern & Cohen legal team is the best he has ever built and mentored. Dave’s excellence in the legal industry has been recognized time and time again. Dave frequently gets calls from clients directed to him by defense attorneys, claims representatives and former judges. The fact that these individuals want their family member or friend to be represented by Dave speaks to his reputation in the field. All the various publications have showered Dave with awards over the years. Dave has been selected a Super Lawyer® nearly every year for two decades, including most recently in 2024. On multiple occasions, based on the results of voting of his peers, that publication listed him amongst the Top 100 Lawyers in both Pennsylvania and Philadelphia – a rare recognition for a claimants’ workers’ compensation lawyer. Dave has been chosen to the Best Lawyers® list every year for almost a decade. In 2019, he was awarded The Philadelphia Business Journal ‘Best of the Bar’® distinction – the only workers’ compensation attorney rewarded this prestigious recognition. He was also identified as one of the Top 100 Civil Plaintiff Trial Lawyers in Pennsylvania by The National Trial Lawyers Top 100®. Dave has authored numerous published articles in the area of workers’ compensation law and has been a frequent lecturer in the field. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association. Dave is on the Board of Governers for the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers’ Association and has previously served leadership roles for the Pennsylvania Association For Justice. Dave is also part of the Workers Injury Law Advocacy Group (WILG). For years, Dave has taken on pro bono cases for the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program (Philly VIP) and was enrolled numerous years in the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania Pro Bono Roll of Honor and was previously recognized as Philly VIP’s Volunteer of the Month.