E.J. Strassburger

E.J. Strassburger was President of Strassburger McKenna Gutnick & Gefsky for thirty years beginning in 1980. During that period, the firm expanded from 4 to 37 lawyers and extended its geographical reach from Allegheny to Beaver and Westmoreland Counties. E.J. currently serves as Counsel.

For half a century, E.J. has been an active litigator who has concentrated in complex commercial and Orphans’ Court litigation, municipal law, and appellate practice. For the past 40 years, he has balanced his litigation practice with estate planning and administration.

E.J. has been a lead attorney in more than 60 cases decided in the Pennsylvania and federal appellate courts, which have included landmark decisions involving real estate, contract, municipal, employment, mineral, estates and trusts, and public utility law.

E.J. is a pioneer in school choice reform in Western Pennsylvania. He represented the Wilkinsburg School Board in its privatization of Turner Elementary School, which led to the passage of the Pennsylvania Charter School Act. Some of his most satisfying cases have involved representing on behalf of the ACLU.

E.J. has also played a pivotal role in resolving complex municipal disputes. As the solicitor for Findlay Township, he secured an agreement with Allegheny County that enabled the township to collect parking taxes at Pittsburgh International Airport. He also represented Findlay Township in a multi-million-dollar settlement of a tax dispute with a solid waste management contractor. For the municipality of Monroeville, E.J. collected millions of dollars in taxes from a Fortune 500 company. On behalf of a real estate appraisal contractor, he negotiated a substantial settlement in a dispute with Allegheny County involving a court-ordered reassessment of 580,000 properties in the County.

To maintain his perspective, E.J. is a mediator and arbitrator in Western Pennsylvania. The more complex and intricate the dispute, the more effective he is.

E.J. and his wife, Mona, a retired psychologist, live in Shadyside. They have two grown children and three grandsons. He is the third generation of lawyers on both the paternal and maternal sides of his family. His son, Jordan, and nephew, David, represent the fourth generation in the firm. His grandfather, the late Eugene B. Strassburger, co-founded the firm over a century ago and was one of the drafters of the Uniform Commercial Code.