In this case, Attorney Ogden and his former partner,
Gavin W. Markey, Esquire attempted a very rarely used strategy in order to win
the case for the Mostovs. Rather than appealing the decision, which meant it
could drag on for close to a year and cost the clients much money, Attorneys
Ogden and Markey decided to advertise that York Township did not follow the
law and denied our clients their due process of law. The court agreed and
found that the clients were entitled to a
"deemed Decision" for failing to follow
the law.
In this case, Hopewell Township had made an agreement with the Borough of Stewartstown where the Borough's water authority would supply water to the Township's residents. There were two problems however: first, our clients had their own wells which cost money to dig and were working fine, second, the Stewartstown Borough Water Authority did not have sufficient water for its own residents and its water was dirty, smelly and unpleasant to drink. Despite our residents protests that they did not want the Township to supply it with water, the Township sued the residents to compel them to connect to the water that they did not need nor want. And, the Township planned to take the clients wells to supply water to their water system. Attorney Ogden defended the case successfully in the York County Court of Common Pleas using a technical motion to have the case dismissed. The Township, appealed to the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania where Attorney Ogden successfully argued the case in Harrisburg. The case was appealed to the Pennsylvania Supreme Court where the residents once again won.