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Office of the City Solicitor
Daniel W. Cantu-Hertzler, Chair Corporate and Tax Group The Chair of the Corporate and Tax Group reports to the City Solicitor and is responsible for all corporate (commercial, transactional, and regulatory) and tax matters in the Law Department. Daniel W. Cantu-Hertzler has served as Chair of the Group from 2000 to 2004 and since 2006, having also served as Chief Deputy City Solicitor of the Regulatory Affairs Unit from 1999 to 2000 and 2004 to 2006. After graduating cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1986, Dan served for two years as a staff attorney for the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He worked at large and small firms in Philadelphia for eleven years, with a varied practice including commercial, insurance-coverage, and environmental litigation, appeals, tax, and small business and nonprofit counseling.
The Corporate and Tax Group includes the following Units:
The Commercial Law Unit is responsible for handling all commercial contracts and financing matters and for counseling City departments on a range of related matters involving procurement, information technology, telecommunications, and the solicitation and award of contracts for goods and services. Chief Deputy City Solicitor Michael Athay leads the Unit, which includes the Finance and Contracts Division (Francois Dutchie, Divisional Deputy City Solicitor; Michelle Flamer, Senior Attorney) and the Intellectual Property Division (Robert Sutton, Divisional Deputy City Solicitor; Valerie Robinson, Senior Attorney).
Special Corporate Counsel Cheryl Kritz serves as counsel on several city-wide practices, including contract reform and HIPAA, as well as other complex contractual matters such as health care-related contracts. Cheryl reports to the Chair.
The Economic Development and Investments Unit is responsible for negotiating and documenting economic-development and other transactions for the City and its Board of Pensions and Retirement, including deeds and other transactional documents and specialized contracts, as well as counseling the Board in benefits matters. James P. Leonard is Chief Deputy City Solicitor for the Unit, which includes the Real Estate and Economic Development Division (Henry Schwartz, Divisional Deputy City Solicitor; Lawrence Copeland and John Mondlak, Senior Attorneys) and the Pension and Investments Division (Christopher R. DiFusco, Deputy City Solicitor).
The Regulatory Affairs Unit handles matters involving Philadelphia International Airport and other transportation matters, environmental law (counseling all City agencies and representing it as plaintiff and defendant in administrative and court proceedings), energy and utilities (including Water Department, Gas Commission, and Municipal Energy Office matters and relations with the Philadelphia Gas Works), and certain Streets Department matters including bridges and contracts with waste haulers. Chief Deputy City Solicitor J. Barry Davis heads the Unit, whose divisions include the Environmental Law Division (Patrick O?Neill, Divisional Deputy City Solicitor; Darlene Heep, Senior Attorney), the Transportation Division (Joseph Messina, Divisional Deputy City Solicitor; Sara Beth Kalb and Leslie Hope, Senior Attorneys), and the Water Division (Ji Jun and Erin McDevitt-Frantz, Assistant City Solicitors).
The Tax Unit collect delinquent taxes, water revenues, and certain other debts on behalf of the City and the School District of Philadelphia, and supervises the work of outside firms that also collect similar debts. The Unit also represents the City in administrative and court tax appeals, and handles tax sales and bankruptcy matters. Long-time Chief Deputy City Solicitor of the Tax Unit is Cynthia E. White. Divisions include the Major Tax Division (Frank Paiva, Divisional Deputy City Solicitor), the Real Estate Tax Division (James Zwolak, Divisional Deputy City Solicitor), and the Tax Administration Division (Marco Muniz, Deputy City Solicitor, mass litigation program; Joseph DiGiuseppe, Deputy City Solicitor, bankruptcy). Divisional Deputy City Solicitor Anne Whitcombe heads the judgment execution unit, and Senior Attorney Christine Bak handles matters involving economic development and realty transfer tax. For the first time, the Tax Unit has retained outside counsel to take properties to sheriff sale for nonpayment of delinquent real estate taxes. We are listing real estate tax delinquents against whom suit has been filed who, as of the most recent update, had not paid in full or entered into an agreement to do so.
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