Four Attorneys from Eastburn and Gray Selected for Inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America ©2018
Doylestown and Blue Bell, PA – Eastburn and Gray shareholders Marc D. Jonas, Kellie A. McGowan, Michael J. Savona and John A. VanLuvanee have been selected by their peers for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® 2018 edition. In the 2018 rankings, both Mr. Jonas and Mr. VanLuvanee received “Lawyer of the Year” distinctions in the Philadelphia market.
Mr. VanLuvanee has been named The Best Lawyers in America® 2018 Lawyer of the Year for Land Use and Zoning Law in the Philadelphia area. He previously received this distinction in 2014. Mr. VanLuvanee has been continuously ranked in this publication for ten years. As one of Pennsylvania’s premier land use attorneys, he handles zoning, subdivision and land development matters, as well as real estate transactional matters, for both developers and property owners. During his career, he has been involved in many significant, precedent-setting land use cases decided by the Commonwealth Court and Pennsylvania Supreme Court. For more than 30 years, he has served as counsel to the Home Builders Association of Bucks/Montgomery Counties. He is an active member of the Legal Action Task Force and Judicial Task Force of the Pennsylvania Builders Association and the Legal Action Network for Development Strategies (LANDS) sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders. Mr. VanLuvanee is a graduate of Kalamazoo College and the University of Michigan Law School.
Mr. Jonas has been named The Best Lawyers in America® 2018 Lawyer of the Year for Litigation: Land Use and Zoning Law in the Philadelphia area. This accolade follows Mr. Jonas’ recognition in the 2017 edition as the “Lawyer of the Year” in the area of Land Use and Zoning Law. A graduate of the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Pennsylvania Law School, he has established a reputation as one of the preeminent land use attorneys in Pennsylvania with extensive experience in real estate, land use/zoning, and municipal law, representing individuals, businesses, and municipalities. Mr. Jonas serves as Solicitor to Kennett Square Borough and as Solicitor to the Zoning Hearing Boards of Towamencin, Upper Merion, and Lower Salford Townships. Following his service in the United States Air Force Reserve, Mr. Jonas began his legal career as law clerk to President Judge James S. Bowman of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. He is a previous board chairman of the Montgomery County Planning Commission.
Mr. Savona is a member of the firm’s Land Use and Zoning, Litigation, Municipal Law, and Real Estate practice groups. He has been ranked in the areas of Land Use and Zoning Law and Municipal Law. He is the firm’s first practitioner to be recognized in the area of Municipal Law. He frequently publishes articles and lectures on local government, land use and zoning law. For 20 years he has served as solicitor to numerous municipalities and government agencies across the State of Pennsylvania and in 2013 was appointed General Counsel to the Pennsylvania Tax Collectors’ Association. In addition, he serves as the Editor of the firm’s municipal and land use and zoning blog, www.pazoninglawyers.com. He is a graduate of California University of Pennsylvania and the American University, Washington College of Law. This is the second year that Mr. Savona has been included in this ranking system.
Ms. McGowan is a shareholder at Eastburn and Gray where she practices in the firm’s Real Estate, Land Use and Zoning, and Banking practice areas. This is the first year that Ms. McGowan has been recognized in this ranking system and she is the firm’s first attorney to be recognized in the area of Real Estate Law. Ms. McGowan represents clients throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey in commercial and residential real estate and land use matters, as well as banking transactions for some of the most prestigious regional and community banks in the region. Ms. McGowan has practiced real estate law for nearly 15 years and has participated in hundreds of real estate transactions. She has experience in all phases of transactional and land use law including: commercial and residential sales and acquisitions; commercial leasing; financing; commercial loan origination; residential foreclosures; zoning approvals; and subdivision and land development entitlements. Ms. McGowan earned her law degree from Temple University’s Beasley School of Law and her undergraduate degree from Muhlenberg College.
Since it was first published in 1983, Best Lawyers® has become universally regarded as the definitive guide to legal excellence. Best Lawyers lists are compiled based on an exhaustive peer-review evaluation. Over 83,000 leading attorneys globally are eligible to vote, and the company has received more than 13 million votes to date on the legal abilities of other lawyers based on their specific practice areas around the world. For the 2017 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America©, 7.3 million votes were analyzed, which resulted in more than 55,000 leading lawyers being included in the new edition. Lawyers are not required or allowed to pay a fee to be listed; therefore inclusion in Best Lawyers is considered a singular honor. Corporate Counsel magazine has called Best Lawyers “the most respected referral list of attorneys in practice.”
The tradition of excellence at the law firm of Eastburn and Gray, P.C. began nearly 140 years ago and continues today. With law offices in Doylestown, Bucks County and Blue Bell, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, our experienced attorneys provide high quality legal services throughout Pennsylvania and New Jersey. As a full service firm, Eastburn and Gray attorneys practice in diverse areas of the law, effectively meeting the needs of the firm’s clients.
To learn more about our firm, our practice areas and our attorneys, please visit our website: www.eastburngray.com.