Admitted:

1964, Pennsylvania, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit and U.S. Supreme Court

Law School:

Temple University, J.D. (1964)

St. Joseph’s University (1961)

Bethlehem Catholic High School (1957)

Member:

Northampton County (President, 1987) and Pennsylvania (Chairman, Conference of County Legal Journals, 1973-1974) Bar Associations; Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association; The Association of Trial Lawyers of America.

Thomas J. Maloney, a native of the Lehigh Valley, was born and raised in Fountain Hill, Pennsylvania. and practiced law in Bethlehem for over 50 years.

He was a 1957 graduate St. Joseph’s University in 1961, where he was Vice President of the Student Body and a Dean’s List student. While at St. Joseph’s he was a member of one of the Country’s oldest and renowned Villager Debating Society and as such participated in inter collegiate and international debates. The faculty at St. Joseph’s recommended his membership in Alpha Sigma the Nu-National Jesuit Honor Society.

His postgraduate work was at Temple University Law School and resulted in his receiving an LL.B. and J.D. 1964. He was a Dean’s List student and was the Associate Editor of the Temple Law Review from 1962-1964. From 1972-1975, he was an Assistant Professor at Moravian College, Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, teaching Constitutional Law.

During college and law school, Mr. Maloney worked for Merrill Lynch under the tutelage of Donald T. Reagan at Merrill Lynch’s Philadelphia office. While at Merrill Lynch he was exposed to all facets of the investment process, including underwriting, sales of securities, Commodities and the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

He became a member of the law firm of Butterfield, Joachim, Brodt & Maloney, between the years 1964-1969, which firm traces its history in Bethlehem to 1875. Mr. Maloney was appointed by the President Judge of the Northampton County Court to be the Chief Public Defender for Northampton County from 1968-1969, as such he tried numerous criminal cases including capital cases. He was made an Assistant Attorney General for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1968-1971, and there developed defense strategies and tried numerous asbestos and lung disease cases in Counties throughout Pennsylvania. He also served as Solicitor for the Bethlehem Housing Authority from 1971-1974.

In 1979, Mr. Maloney and Frank J. Danyi, Jr., founded the law firm Maloney & Danyi, currently named, Maloney, Danyi, O’Donnell.

As an active trial practitioner he enjoyed the experience of trying numerous civil jury trials. In the matter of Christof v. Boyer he obtained a 7 million verdict (Lehigh County, Pennsylvania). He also successfully tried one of the nation’s first defamation and invasion of privacy by the Defendant’s use of the internet wherein he represented a school teacher whose privacy was invaded, Fulmer v. Swidler (Northampton County, Pennsylvania). This was a matter where a student invaded the privacy of his teacher by publishing articles on the internet. The student’s parents were also sued and the jury issued a verdict against both the student and the parents. This case attracted national attention.

Mr. Maloney tried both civil and criminal cases in Pennsylvania, New York, New Jersey, Florida, Maryland and Arizona. He has been admitted to practice in Pennsylvania Eastern District federal courts, the Third Circuit Court of Appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court. He has argued cases in all of the Appellate Courts of which he is a member.

Mr. Maloney served our community and the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in various political positions over the years, namely being an elected delegate for Lehigh and Northampton Counties for the Republican National Convention in 1972. He was elected and served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1973-1974, serving on the Committee of Law and Justice, Judiciary and Urban Affairs, Legislative Data Processing Committee and a Special Committee to Investigate the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission. While a house member he developed, introduced and had passed one of the nations first Petroleum Practices Act, a Law which was eventually enacted by the Congress of the United States. He also authored the Pennsylvania Death Penalty Law, and co-authored Wiretapping laws and Pennsylvania’s first comparative negligence law.

Mr. Maloney was affiliated with numerous professional and community organizations:

  • American Trial Lawyers Association
  • Northampton County Bar Association (Past President; Board of Governors 1981-1988)
  • American Bar Association
  • American Judicature Society
  • Pennsylvania Bar Association
  • Court Organization Committee
  • Former Editor of the Northampton County Law Journal (1968-1994)
  • Chairman and former secretary of the Conference of County Legal Journal Officers (1971-1976) – Pennsylvania Bar Association
  • Bethlehem Kiwanis Club
  • Vice-Chairman of the Bethlehem United Fund Drive (1965)
  • Special Gifts Chairman – Cancer Crusader (1971)
  • National Associates of Boys Clubs of America (Board of Directors and Member)
  • National Alumni Association of Boys Club of America (1978 – 2015) (Incorporator and General Counsel)
  • Significant Bar Association activity – with the help of other young attorneys provided free legal assistance for the indigent establishing inter-city office for legal assistance and thereafter formed one of the first legal aid societies.
  • Martindale Hubbell rating AV – highest rating by peers
  • Preeminent attorney’s list
  • Former Chairman, Court Organizations Committee, Young Lawyers
  • Former Associate Member – Uniform State Laws Committee

Mr. Maloney was on the Board of Directors for several local organizations and businesses.

  • Reeb Millwork Corporation for all locations (1984-2015) –General counsel for one of the nations largest and most successful millwork distributors and is directly involved with all legal activities for all locations in varying states.
  • President of Bethlehem Boys Club (1977-1981) (Director and Legal Counsel)
  • Community Chest Board of Directors (1967-1968)
  • First Fidelity Bank (Merchant’s Bank) (1989-1992)
  • Director, Wyoming National Bank of Wilkes-Barre
  • Ambassador Bank of Commonwealth (Lehigh Valley) Founder and Director. He continues to serve in the same capacity at Lafayette Ambassador Bank after selling the Bank to Fulton Financial.
  • American Cancer Society
  • Bethlehem Jaycees
  • Minsi Trail Counsel – Boy Scouts of America, legal counsel (pro bono for 30 years)

Practice Areas

Civil Trial Law; Corporate and Personal Injury; Negligence Law; Medical Malpractice; Products Liability; Anti-trust; Franchises; Business Planning; Business Litigation; Commercial Law; Trusts and Estates; Commercial Real Estate; Residential Real Estate; Securities Litigation; Distribution Law