Donald Petrille, Jr.

Donald Petrille, Jr. primarily represents businesses and their shareholders as they wrestle with complex issues in today’s ever-changing legal environment. Don has helped businesses through all phases of their development, starting with initial organization, through the operational stage, eventually ending with sale, acquisition or dissolution.  Addressing corporate governance, contracts, procurement, compliance, human resource issues and creditors’ rights, Don has spent his career helping small-business owners succeed. His client base  includes companies in diverse industries such as real estate management, alternative energy, market research, pharmaceutical services, telecommunications, construction and software development.

Don is a member of the firm’s wills, trusts, estate planning and probate team, where he advises clients on methods of wealth preservation and transfer, as well as business succession planning. As a member of the firm’s real estate team, Don advises clients on the purchase, sale, financing, leasing and improvement of real estate. He has served as a closing agent on scores of transactions.

Don has volunteered legal services for Living Hope Community Church, Bucks County emergency management associations and has served as the solicitor for the Bucks County Department of Health.  He has been a director of Discover Dublin, Inc., a community development organization whose mission is to improve the residential and business communities in Dublin, PA, Bucks County, and the surrounding areas.  Don is a director of the Bucks County Board of the Penn State Cooperative Extension.

Currently, Don is serving Bucks County as its Register of Wills and Clerk of the Orphan’s Court.  He is the President of the Registers of Wills and Clerks of the Orphans’ Court Association of Pennsylvania, where he serves as its Legislative Liaison to the General Assembly.  He is also serving as the Vice President of the Pennsylvania State Association of Elected County Officials.    Don is Of Counsel to High Swartz.

Areas of Practice

• Business and Corporate Law
• Mergers and Acquisitions
• Real Estate Law
• Affordable Housing
• Commercial Leasing
• Condominiums & Planned Communities
• Eminent Domain
• Financing and Deal Structuring
• Real Estate Taxation
• Zoning and Land Development
• Wills, Trusts & Estates
• Estate Planning
• Special Needs Trusts
• Taxation
• Will & Trust Litigation
• Power of Attorney

Bar Admissions

• Pennsylvania, 1998

• New Jersey, 1998

• U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1999

• U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey, 2000

• U.S. Court of Appeals, 3rd Circuit, 1999

• U.S. Tax Court, 2005

Education

• Villanova University School of Law, J.D., 1998

• College of William and Mary, B.S., Chemistry, 1994

Professional Affiliations & Honors

• Bucks County Bar Association, Member

• Orphan’s Court Section, Member

• Dispute Resolution Section, Member

• Bucks County Estate Planning Council

Civic & Community Activities

• Legislative Liaison – Registers of Wills and Clerks of the Orphans’ Court Association of Pennsylvania

• Vice President – Pennsylvania State Association of Elected County Officials

• Appointed by Governor Wolf as a member – Pennsylvania County Records Committee

• Appointed by Bucks County Commissioners – Bucks County Penn State Cooperative Extension Board of Directors

• Pennsylvania Supreme Court Access to Public Records Policy Implementation Committee

• Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Court Judicial Application Design Committee

• Alternate – Pennsylvania Supreme Court Advisory Council on Elder Justice

• Director – Discover Dublin, Inc.

• Pro Bono Counsel to Ottsville Volunteer Fire Company, Living Hope Community Church, Little Lambs Nursery School