Impact on the Law
In addition to fighting on behalf of individual clients, Jerry McHugh has played a significant role in shaping the course of Pennsylvania law, both in the legislature and in the courts.

• On six separate occasions, the Governor of Pennsylvania has presented Mr. McHugh with the pen used to sign new legislation he helped to draft.
  
• Together with his mentor, legendary trial lawyer S. Gerald Litvin, Mr. McHugh coauthored a critically acclaimed legal text, Pennsylvania Torts: Law & Advocacy. It is cited in the Pennsylvania Annotated Statutes more than 600 times, and reviewers referred to this text as “the book” on tort law and advocacy. Click here for reviews.
  
• The Pennsylvania Report, in its annual ranking of the most influential people in public life in Pennsylvania, consistently ranks Mr. McHugh among the top 50.
  
• He is an elected member of the American Law Institute, a national organization of scholars, judges, and practicing attorneys dedicated to improvement of the law.
  
• In 1984, he redrafted the Pennsylvania Statue of Limitations for claims by minors, reforming the law to protect the rights of children.
  
• In 1996, the legislature unanimously passed amendments to Pennsylvania’s Wrongful Death Act, drafted by Mr. McHugh, preserving the rights of families of fatal accident victims.
  
• Legislative leaders asked Mr. McHugh to participate in the revision of Pennsylvania’s law on medical malpractice in 1996 and again in 2002.
  
• In 2002, he revised the law concerning the liability of volunteer doctors, protecting physicians who donate their time while preserving patient rights.
  
• He won the only appellate decision ever in Pennsylvania holding a hospital liable for failure to secure a patient’s consent.
  
• In 2002, he helped draft legislation that would create increased funding for legal services programs, increasing access to justice by the poor.
  
• On two occasions, Governor Ridge appointed him to the Nominating Commission for Judicial Appointments, and Governor Rendell appointed him to his Special Task Force on Medical Malpractice Liability.