Leonidas N. Koletas

Leo Koletas was born of Greek immigrant parents who settled in Philadelphia and lived the American Dream by working hard so they could see their son graduate from Villanova University in 1980 and Temple University School of Law in 1983. It was from these parents that Mr. Koletas learned the value of hard work, doing what was right, rather than expedient, and never backing down from a challenge. Within days of graduation from law school, he was in the courtroom, and has not looked back since. Mr. Koletas began working in a small Philadelphia Personal Injury firm upon graduation from Temple University School of Law, and, realizing his passion was in litigating cases, moved on to a larger suburban firm with a significantly larger trial caseload. It was at this firm that Mr. Koletas honed his litigation skills, conducting hundreds of Court hearings, arbitrations and many trials during his stay with this firm. Seeking out another challenge, Mr. Koletas became employed at a personal injury law firm, where he was lead litigator, responsible for trying all 6 and 7 figure cases in the office. It was here that Mr. Koletas also developed the area of Insurance Bad Faith Law in Pennsylvania, as he tried the very first bad faith claim under the Pennsylvania Bad Faith Statute. See Terletsky v. Prudential Property and Casualty Company, 649 A.2d 680 (PA Super 1994). He tried that case against one of the largest insurers in the world, who had hired one of the largest and most powerful defense firms in the state. Mr. Koletas has also appeared in Superior Court carving exceptions to the limited tort limitation in motor vehicle claims. See Furman v. Shapiro, 721 A.2d 1125 (Pa. Super. 1998). Seeking a new challenge and greener pastures, the Law Offices of Leonidas N. Koletas was formed on March 25, 1999. It was a way to service his clients in a more personal manner, to make decisions in where he wanted his abilities to be used, and allowed him to practice a variety of types of law. Mr. Koletas experience in personal injury and bad faith claims grew to include business sales and acquisitions, partnership formation, real estate, family law, wills and medical directives, and foreclosure defense. According to Mr. Koletas the bigger benefit was the ability to participate in his childrens lives, and to pay it forward with service to the community and those in need. He is most proud of the time spent donating his services to the Montgomery Child Advocacy Project, where he is Court appointed to represent the interests of children in Protection From Abuse actions. He is also involved with Feeding5000.us, an organization dedicated to feeding and clothing Philadelphias homeless, and Cradlestocrayons.org, an organization dedicated on giving children a chance to succeed. According to Mr. Koletas, I never got into this profession for the money. I joined to try to be a part of the solution. I often call myself an honest man in a dishonest profession. I look for real solutions to real problems, rather than a way to keep your wallet open. Find out for yourself why it is that lawyers hate me for doing the right thing.