Ronald J. Fonner

Partner

    Contact Information

  • Location: Greensburg
  • Office Phone: 888-534-6016
  • Fax: 724-837-1348
  • Email: rjf@qrlegal.com

    Practice Areas

  • Certified Workers' Compensation Specialist
Download Biography PDF

Biography

Ronald J. Fonner is a partner at the firm and concentrates his practice in the areas of workers’ compensation, exclusively representing injured workers, and corporate business law.

Mr. Fonner is a member of the Westmoreland County, Allegheny County, and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. Mr. Fonner is a member of the Workers’ Compensation Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, where he serves as a Council Member of the Section. He is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section, where he currently serves as the Chair-Elect of the Section. He serves as province president for Phi Delta Phi in Western and Central Pennsylvania and West Virginia. Phi Delta Phi is an international legal fraternity that promotes professional ethics in the field of law. Mr. Fonner is a member of the American Inns of Court.

Mr. Fonner is admitted to practice law in front of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, as well as the Federal District Courts for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the Eastern District of Michigan. Mr. Fonner is also admitted to practice in front of the United States Supreme Court.

Mr. Fonner is certified by the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as a Workers’ Compensation Specialist. Mr. Fonner has been named a Super Lawyer for the past eight years.

Within one year of admission to the Pennsylvania Bar, Mr. Fonner prepared the brief for, argued and won the Pennsylvania Supreme Court case of Lumax Industries v. Aultman. The case involved corporate issues and “piercing the corporate veil.” The plaintiff had entered into a business agreement with a corporation of which Mr. Fonner’s client was the sole shareholder. Although the agreement was with the corporation, the plaintiff attempted to hold our client personally liable for debts of the corporation. The lower courts held that the plaintiff could hold our client liable for the debts of corporation. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court reversed the decision, holding that our client was entitled to immunity from liability since the agreement was with the corporation, and the client was merely a shareholder of the corporation. Mr. Fonner convinced the Pennsylvania Supreme Court to reverse the lower courts’ decisions involving shareholder liability of a corporation’s debts.

Mr. Fonner received his B.A., in economics, magna cum laude, from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1989 and his J.D. from the Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University (formerly Duquesne University School of Law) in 1994, where he was a contributor to the Duquesne Law Review. Born in Greensburg, Mr. Fonner currently resides in Penn Township.

Certified Legal Specialties

  • Certified Workers’ Compensation Specialist

Bar Admissions

  • Pennsylvania, 1994
  • U.S. District Court Western District of Pennsylvania, 1994
  • U.S. District Court Eastern District of Michigan, 1998
  • U.S. Supreme Court, 2005

Education

  • Thomas R. Kline School of Law of Duquesne University (formerly Duquesne University School of Law), Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
    • J.D. – 1994
  • Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Indiana, PA
    • B.A. – 1989
    • Honors: magna cum laude
    • Major: Economics

Representative Cases

  • Lidey vs. WCAB, Tropical Amusements, Inc, 726 CD 2017 (Pa. Cmwlth.2017)
  • Pennsylvania Supreme Court case of Lumax Industries v. Aultman, 669 A.2d 893, 1995, PA Supreme Court
  • PIAO Precision Castings v. WCAB (Bosco), 922 A.2d 967 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2007)
  • Helvatia Coal Co. v. WCAB (Learn) , 913 A .2d 326 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2006)
  • Alltel , Inc. v . WCAB (Baum), 829 A.2d 739 (Pa. Cmwlth. 2003)

Honors and Awards

  • Pennsylvania Workers’ Compensation Specialist
  • Super Lawyer
  • Phi Delta Phi- Province President for Western and Central Pennsylvania and West Virginia

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • Westmoreland County Bar Association, Member
  • Allegheny County Bar Association, Member
  • Allegheny County Bar Association, Workers’ Compensation Section, Chair-Elect
  • Pennsylvania Bar Association, Member
  • Pennsylvania Bar Association, Workers’ Compensation Section, Council member
  • American Inns of Court, Member
  • Phi Delta Phi, Providence President, 1996 to Present

Pro Bono Activities

  • Westmoreland County Pro Bono, 1996

Fraternities/Sororities

  • Phi Delta Phi
  • Alpha Phi Omega
  • Pi Gamma Mu