Dwight Ferguson

Litigation. Dwight’s litigation practice has a particular focus on representing clients in zoning cases, from the pre-application design review phase, through the application and public hearing, trial and appellate court levels. He frequently gets calls from new clients or other lawyers who begin with, “I hear you’re the zoning guy.” A significant aspect of Dwight’s practice involves appellate litigation, including landmark cases before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court in the areas of local land use ordinances and state law regulating oil and gas drilling; the constitutionality of the Oil and Gas Conservation Act, the Private Roads Act; real estate tax exemption for buildings in Pittsburgh’s cultural district; and use variances for outdoor advertising devices; and numerous real estate cases before the Pennsylvania Commonwealth and Superior Courts and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. Examples of Dwight’s real estate litigation experience include the following subject matter: Zoning, subdivision and land development Boundary and title disputes Ejectment and quiet title actions Adverse possession and consensual line Mortgage foreclosures Homeowners, planned community and condominium owner associations Landlord/tenant disputes Eminent domain Restrictive covenants Roads and easements Construction Oil & gas leasing, unitization, pooling, site development and zoning Real estate tax assessment appeals including applications for tax exempt status Administrative law DEP PennDot State licensing matters Transactions. Dwight’s transactional experience includes: negotiating oil, gas and mineral leases, commercial leases; formation and representation of planned communities and condominiums and their governing documentation; negotiating and drafting commercial agreements of sale and purchase and the consummation of sale and purchase transactions; easements, restrictive covenants, drafting zoning and other municipal ordinance provisions and amendments. He is currently serving as the Chairperson of the Legal Redress Committee of the NAACP Pittsburgh Branch and has served as a municipal solicitor; has been appointed a special Landlord-Tenant Arbitrator in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County arbitration division; serves as Chairman of the Upper St. Clair Zoning Hearing Board and was the first chairman of the Pittsburgh chapter of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society. Dwight and his wife, Janine reside in Upper St. Clair, and have three daughters and one son. Select Representative Publications and Presentations Fate of Pennsylvania’s Private Roads Act, Allegheny County Bar Association Real Property Section, January, 2011. Validity Standards for License and Permit Fees, 1997 Municipal Law Colloquium, Volume I, pp. 424-435 (Copyright 1997, The Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Mechanicsburg, PA.) Zoning and Zoning Hearing Boards, Major Land Use Laws in Pennsylvania, National Business Institute, pp. 19-67 and Recent Trends and Municipal Government Perspectives, pp. 133-157(Copyright 1997, NBI, Inc. Eau Claire, WI) Faculty Member for Pennsylvania Bar Institute and National Business Institute continuing legal education seminars