Samuel J. Cordes

Attorney

Contact Information

• Location: Pittsburgh, Greensburg
• Office Phone: 724-552-2728, Ext. 157
• Email: sjc@qrlegal.com

Practice Areas

• Employment Law

Biography

Samuel J. Cordes primarily represents plaintiffs in employment discrimination, ERISA, civil rights and constitutional law matters. Sam joins the Quatrini Law Group as a former member of Samuel J. Cordes & Associates and previous Special Employment Litigation Counsel to Rothman Gordon. During the course of his 30-plus year career, Sam has tried numerous high-profile cases in the Western District of Pennsylvania. He was lead counsel in the largest individual age discrimination verdict and largest pregnancy discrimination verdicts ever awarded in western PA, and won the first employment case under the Americans with Disabilities Act to be tried in western PA.

The Pittsburgh Tribune Review calls Sam the “Archangel of employment rights in Western Pennsylvania;” an “extremely creative lawyer, which makes him dangerous to the opposition.” The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette notes Sam is “Extremely smart in the scholarly sense and has that practical street-smart sense. You don’t see that combination in too many lawyers.” Chambers USA–America’s Leading Business Lawyers says Sam is “Smart and highly rated for employment litigation; juries love him.”

Sam has been named among the Top 50 Super Lawyers in Pittsburgh for 13 years in a row, and one of the Top 100 Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania. He is also a Fellow of the National College of Labor and Employment Lawyers and a member of the Allegheny County Academy of Trial Lawyers. He is rated AV by Martindale-Hubble and is listed in The Best Lawyers in America® and LawDragon. Sam is active with the Allegheny County Bar Association and the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA). He has taught continuing legal education classes to other lawyers for more than 20 years, both in Pennsylvania and nationally.

With a B.A. in Journalism and Communication, magna cum laude, and an M.A. in Journalism, summa cum laude, from Point Park University, Sam received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1988, where he was an editor of the Journal of Law and Commerce.

Sam has served as the Co-Chair of National Employment Lawyers Association Trial Practice Committee; as a Member of U.S. District Court for Western District of Pennsylvania Rules Advisory Committee; Chair of Amicus Curie Committee of Pittsburgh Chapter of National Employment Lawyers Association; a Member of Pennsylvania Bar Institute Litigation Education Advisory Committee; Vice Chair of the Allegheny County (Pennsylvania) Bar Association’s Civil Rights Committee. Spokesman for the Pittsburgh Infant Mortality Prevention Committee, 1983-85. Member of Columbus, Ohio Bar Association Homeless Project Committee, Chair of the Allegheny County Community College Library Advisory Committee, Member of the Greater Pittsburgh March of Dimes Community Education Task Force, He teaches faith formation classes for Christ the King Parish.

Sam was born and raised in McKeesport, Pennsylvania, the son of a mill worker and a licensed practical nurse. He worked his way through college–a long, and often part-time endeavor–as a taxicab driver, shoe salesperson and telephone solicitor. During the 1960s he was the drummer for local rock bands The Knives; the 4 1/2 and the Potlatch Forrest. He served in the U.S. Army in Vietnam and was awarded the Purple Heart. Following college, he worked as a journalist, and public relations representative.

When he is not representing his clients, Sam enjoys both playing and listening to music, especially jazz; traveling; reading; Broadway theater, and teaching his one-year-old grandson to play the drums, one paradiddle at a time. Sam currently lives in Fox Chapel with his wife Maria, a retired attorney, and Virgil, a spoiled English cocker-spaniel. His daughter, Emily is a New York actor and author of two recently published books of poetry.

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Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania
• United States Supreme Court
• Pennsylvania Supreme Court
• Ohio Supreme Court
• U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
• U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces (Court of Military Appeals)
• District Courts, Western District of Pennsylvania; Middle District of Pennsylvania; Eastern District of Pennsylvania; Southern District of Ohio

Education

• J.D., magna cum laude, Order of the Coif, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Pittsburgh, PA, 1988
  • Herman R. Foreman Award for Highest Performance in Labor Law
  • W. Edward Sell Award for Highest Performance in Corporations Law
  • Best Brief Award Appellate Moot Court
  • Senior Editor, Journal of Law and Commerce
• M.A., Journalism, summa cum laude, Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1985
• B.A., Journalism & Communications, magna cum laude, Point Park University, Pittsburgh, PA, 1980

Representative Cases

• Kengerski v. Allegheny County, 6 F.4th 531 (3d Cir. 2021)(amicus)
• Karlo v. Pittsburgh Glass Works, 849 F.3d 61 (3d Cir. 2017)
• Ryder v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 128 F.3d 128 (3rd Cir.1997)
• Brewer v. Quaker State Oil Refining Corp., 72 F.3d 326 (3d Cir. 1995)
• Fiscus v. Wal-Mart, 385 F.3d 378 (3d Cir. 2004)
• Boyle v. Allegheny County, 139 F.3d 386 (3d Cir. 1998)
• Robinson v. Pittsburgh, 120 F.3d 1286 (3d Cir. 1997)
• Pennsylvania v. Ostrosky, 589 Pa. 437, 909  A.2d 1224  (Nov. 22, 2006)
• Roman v. McGuire Memorial, 127 A.3d 26 (Pa. Super. 2015)
• Fowler-Nash v. Democratic Caucus of Pa. House of Rep., 469  F.3d 328  (3d Cir.  2006)
• Armour v. Beaver County, et. al.,  271 F.3d 417 (3d Cir. 2001), cert denied, 535 U.S. 1079  (2002)
• Murphy v. Duquesne University of the Holy Ghost, 565 Pa. 571, 777 A.2d 418 (2001)
• Spinetti v. Service Corp. International, 324 F.3d 212 (3d Cir. 2003)
• Wurst v. Nestle’s Inc. 973 F.2d 1553 (3d Cir. 1992)
• Marion v. The Honorable Ralph Pratt, 202 F.3d 254 (3d Cir. 1999)
• Hopp et. al. v. City of Pittsburgh, 194 F.3d 434 (3d Cir. 1999)
• Pivirotto v. Innovative Systems Inc., 191 F.3d 344 (3d Cir. 1999)
• Halterman v. Fayette County, et. al., 181 F.3d 85 (3d Cir. 1999)
• Pennsylvania v. Flaherty, 983 F.2d 1267 (3d Cir. 1993)
• Murphy v. Dalton, 81 F.3d 343 (3d. Cir. 1996)
• Patterson v. American Bosch, 914 F.2d 384 (3d Cir. 1991)
• In re Determination of Priority of Comm’n Among Certain Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County, 524 Pa. 465, 573 A.2d 1025 (1990)
• Rooney v. Allegheny Intermediate Unit, 568 Fed.Appx. 172 (3d Cir.  2014)
• Risk v. Burgettstown Borough, 364 Fed. Appx. 725 (3d Cir.  2010)
• Kellerman v. UPMC, 317 Fed. Appx. 290 (3d Cir.  2009)
• Snooks v.. Duquesne Light Corp., 314 Fed. Appx. 499 (3d Cir.  2009)
• Heller v. Elizabeth Forward School District, 182 Fed. Appx. 91 (3d Cir. 2006)
• Colussi v. Woodruff Family Services, 173 Fed. Appx. 118 (3d Cir. 2006)
• Henderson v. Chartiers Valley School, 136 Fed. Appx. 456 (3d Cir. 2005)
• Bradley v. Kemper Ins. Co., 121 Fed. Appx. 468 (3d Cir. 2005)
• Neiderlander v. American Video Glass Co., 80 Fed.Appx. 256 (3d Cir. Nov. 5, 2003)
• Hoechstetter v. City of Pittsburgh, 79 Fed. Appx. 537 (3d Cir. Nov. 3, 2003)
• Zablow v. Board of Educ. of School District of Pittsburgh, 729 A.2d 124 (Pa. Cmwlth. 1999)
• Morgan v. Perry, 142 F.3d 670 (3d Cir. 1998)
• Zemprelli v. State Employees’ Retirement Bd., 680 A.2d 919 (Pa. Cmwlth 1996)
• Saloum v. USAir, Inc.  37 F.3d 1488, (3d Cir. 1994)
• Morrison v. Pennsylvania Dept of Public Welfare, 538 Pa. 122, 646 A.2d 565 (1994)

  Marchiben v. Haggarty, 972 F.2d 1331 (3d. Cir. 1992)

Honors and Awards

• Fellow, National College of Labor and Employment Lawyers
• Rated AV® Preeminent™ by Martindale-Hubbell
• Best Lawyers in America® 2003-present
• Pennsylvania Super Lawyer, 2004-present
• Lawdragon Top 500 Plaintiff Employment Lawyers, 2018-present

Professional Associations and Memberships

• Pennsylvania Bar Association
• Allegheny County Bar Association
• Allegheny County Academy of Trial Lawyers
• National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA)
• Western Pennsylvania Employment Lawyers Association (WPELA)