KingSpry is proud to announce that four of our attorneys, Donald F. Spry, II, John E. Freund, Kirby G. Upright, LLM, CPA, and Timothy E. Gilsbach have been named 2018 Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and two attorneys, Jessica F. Moyer and Avery E. Smith, have been named 2018 Rising Stars by Super Lawyer Magazine and Philadelphia Magazine.
Honorees are listed in the June 2018 issue of Pennsylvania Super Lawyers and at www.superlawyers.com.
Meet Our 2018 Super Lawyers
Donald F. Spry, II is a founding member of the firm. He chairs the Family Law Practice Group and is also a member of the Education Law Practice Group. As a Pennsylvania Bar Institute faculty member, he lectures frequently on family law and also lectures on education law for other organizations. He has written materials for PBI as well as for other seminars and he appears regularly on the television show American Law Journal.
Mr. Spry has represented public school district clients since 1973 as a solicitor and special counsel. In that capacity, he has advised school boards, directors, and administrators, and appeared on their behalf before state and local agencies and in Pennsylvania courts. He is a past president of the Northampton County Bar Association and is past chair of the NCBA Law and Family Court Rules Committee. He is a previous member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board hearing panel and is a biographee in Who’s Who in America and Who’s Who in American Law. He is listed in the Bar Register of Preeminent Lawyers (Martindale-Hubbell) and Best Lawyers in America.
A graduate of Moravian College, Mr. Spry earned his Juris Doctorate from University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
John E. Freund is a founding member of the firm and the chair of KingSpry’s education law practice group. Mr. Freund is one of Pennsylvania’s most experienced practitioners in education, employment, civil rights, and issues that affect local government and their insurers. As a leading education law attorney, Mr. Freund regularly represents public schools, private schools and colleges on a wide range of legal concerns in state and federal courts, administrative agencies and special education due process matters. He also serves as counsel to various regional and national educational organizations.
Mr. Freund is a past president of the Pennsylvania School Solicitors Association and the Saucon Valley School Board; served on the Pennsylvania Attorney General’s Task Force on School Violence; was a Pennsylvania Supreme Court-appointed Juvenile Master. He is past President of the Middle States Commission on Elementary Schools, a member of the Board of Trustees and is a former member of the Executive Committee of the Pennsylvania School Boards Association.
Mr. Freund is a member of the Board of Directors of Lehigh Mutual Insurance Company and serves as the company’s corporate Secretary and General Counsel. He is a long-standing member of the Pennsylvania Association of Mutual Insurance Companies. Most recently, he was elected Vice President of the board of directors of the Community Insurance Company, Inc.
Mr. Freund is a frequent lecturer and writer on education, public entity, employment and insurance law topics, and he serves as an instructor at East Stroudsburg University. He has been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer by Philadelphia Magazine every year since 2007. In 2017, he was named to the list of “Select Lawyers” by Lehigh Valley Style Magazine, and was awarded the 2014 Pennsylvania School Board Solicitors’ Association “President’s Award for Distinguished Career Achievement in School Law.”
Mr. Freund graduated cum laude from Princeton University and received his Juris Doctorate from Villanova University, where he was a member of the Villanova Law Review and winner of the Reimel Moot Court Finalist Award. In 2014, he received the Pennsylvania School Board Solicitors’ Association President’s Award for Distinguished Career Achievement to School Law.
Kirby G. Upright is an attorney who holds a Masters of Laws (Taxation) as well as being a certified public accountant. Mr. Upright takes particular pride in having been elected a Fellow in the American College of Trust and Estate Council, a prestigious organization to which only attorneys who meet certain exemplary standards are invited. He is one of only two attorneys in northeastern Pennsylvania and approximately 1500 across the nation in ACTEC. Mr. Upright is a frequent lecturer on matters of estate planning and administration and regularly serves as a faculty member of and has authored many articles for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. He is the past chair of the Real Property, Probate and Trust Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, and most recently, he contributed a chapter and served as editor of a PBI text entitled “Representing Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Clients in Pennsylvania.” Mr. Upright is listed in various Who’s Who publications as well as Best Lawyers In America.
A graduate of The Pennsylvania State University, Mr. Upright earned his Juris Doctorate from Akron University School of Law and a Master of Law degree in Taxation from Temple University School of Law.
Timothy E. Gilsbach is an attorney with KingSpry, concentrating his practice in litigation and special education law. Mr. Gilsbach represents education entities through IEP meetings and litigation, from administrative due process hearing to appeals through the Federal District Courts and Courts of Appeals. In addition, Mr. Gilsbach advises school entities on special education matters prior to and in order to avoid litigation and on policies and practices.
He is a frequent speaker on a variety of legal topics for statewide and local conferences, as well as Pennsylvania Bar Institute and National Business Institute. Mr. Gilsbach has also presented numerous in-house workshops for schools districts, charter schools and intermediate units on a wide array of education law topics.
Mr. Gilsbach earned his Juris Doctorate from Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University and his BA in Political Science from Messiah College.
Our 2018 Rising Stars
Jessica F. Moyer was named a partner to the firm in 2014. She concentrates her practice in family and education law. Her practice is LGBT- and mediation-friendly. She is President of the Bethlehem Area School District Education Foundation and Vice President of the board for Via of the Lehigh Valley. Ms. Moyer is involved in the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Family Law Section and most recently, was among the PBA’s Presidential Award winners for her work on the association’s Good Governance Task Force.
Ms. Moyer has written articles on a variety of family law topics and has served as a panelist for several continuing legal education courses. She has co-authored a chapter on family issues for non-traditional families in the first and second edition of “Legal Issues Confronting Lesbians, Gays, Bi-Sexuals, and Transgenders.” She earned her Juris Doctorate at Villanova University.
Avery E. Smith was named a partner to the firm in 2016. Ms. Smith focuses her practice primarily on education and employment law. In addition, she handles trust and estate related matters including Wills, Powers of Attorney, Health Care Directives, and pre- and post-nuptial agreements.
Ms. Smith earned her Juris Doctorate from Temple University, Beasley School of Law and graduated cum laude from Franklin & Marshall College with a Bachelor of Arts in Government and English, and with honors in the Government Department.