Paige Macdonald-Matthes

Paige concentrates her practice in commercial, business, and real estate litigation. She has litigated a wide range of commercial contract and liability issues including construction litigation, enforcement of non-compete clauses, lease disputes, as well as other various complex litigation matters in state courts and in federal district and bankruptcy courts.

Paige’s approach to all litigation matters is the same: develop a strategic and outcome-oriented plan that is clearly laid out for the client so that everyone is clear about the litigation process, including time, resources, and cost. She strives to be laser-focused on the details of every case she handles so that she can quickly identify any potential issues and address them before they become a serious problem for the client. In the event that serious problems already exist regarding a client’s case, she will engage in frank discussions with the client concerning potential outcomes of their case in light of the same. Paige is known for making the statement, “I can’t begin to defuse a bomb or navigate around a landmine that I do not know exists.”

When she’s not working, Paige enjoys playing tennis, reading, sitting on the beach, spending time with her husband, children, and Boxers, and tailgating with her fellow Pards at Lafayette College tennis matches and football games.

Paige has extensive commercial litigation experience in both state and federal courts. In addition, she regularly handles a broad range of real estate litigation matters, including construction defects, failure to disclose cases, eminent domain and condemnation proceedings, boundary disputes, restrictive covenants and enforcement of conservation easements. Her real estate litigation practice also includes presentations before various municipal zoning hearing boards and planning commissions, not only in central and south central Pennsylvania, but in eastern Pennsylvania as well.

Paige has extensive experience in eminent domain matters, and has litigated multiple condemnation cases on behalf of a major publicly-traded public utility company to successful completion in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. She has also litigated a variety of matters before state administrative agencies including the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, the State Real Estate Commission and the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission.

During her extensive litigation career, Paige has amassed considerable experience representing clients in complex domestic matters, and she continues to be a member of the U.S. State Department’s Attorney Network that handles Hague Convention child abduction cases.

Paige has been involved in a variety of well-known federal condemnation cases, including UGI Sunbury LLC v. A Permanent Easement for 0.0933 Acres in Monroe Twsp., and land use cases, including Ulsh v. Zoning Hearing Board of Lower Paxton Township, et al. and Snyder v. Zoning Hearing Board.

Paige’s most notable work includes:

• Litigated several federal eminent domain cases involving a natural gas pipeline in north central Pennsylvania and worked to achieve multiple favorable settlement outcomes for the utility company;
• Successfully litigated a commercial landlord/tenant dispute on behalf of the commercial tenant which ultimately resulted in the transfer of ownership of the commercial property to the tenant;
• Achieved a favorable settlement on behalf of her clients in their lawsuit against the builder of their new home, as well as their lender for the mismanagement of their construction loan and negligent disbursement of their construction loan proceeds, and the Defendants’ related violations of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practice and Consumer Protection Law;
• Successfully “divorced” several businessmen from their business partners and/or partnerships and in so doing, achieved significant financial benefits and/or cash settlements on the clients’ behalf.
• Achieved a substantial jury verdict in favor of her clients (which was upheld by Pennsylvania Appellate Courts) in their claims against the builder of their new home which involved violations of the Pennsylvania Unfair Trade Practice and Consumer Protection Law.

Paige was named one of Pennsylvania’s 50 Best Women In Business by The Business Journals of Pennsylvania and the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development. She has also been recognized as one of Central Pennsylvania’s Forty Under Forty by the Central Penn Business Journal. Paige was a finalist in The Legal Intelligencer’s 2024 Pennsylvania Legal Awards, in the category of Best Law Firm Mentors. 

Active in the legal community, Paige is a member of the Association of Trial Lawyers of America, and served as Co-Chair of the Program Presentation Subcommittee of the Trial Evidence Section of the American Bar Association from 2004 to 2007. She is also a member of the Pennsylvania and Dauphin County Bar Associations.

Paige is also active in the Central Pennsylvania community. She is the current President of the Harrisburg Kappa Kappa Gamma Alumnae Association, and served as the Chairperson of Trinity High School’s annual Gala for two consecutive years. During the same time, she also served on Trinity High School’s Development Board. She previously served as a member of the Board of the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the Arthritis Foundation, as well as a member of the Leadership Council for the Central Pennsylvania Chapter of the MS Society. She is also a past member of Pinnacle Health’s Womancare Advisory Board.

For the past fifteen years, Paige has served her alma mater, Lafayette College, as an Alumni Admissions Representative. She was the 2015 recipient of Lafayette College’s William G. Wilson Distinguished Service Award, which is the highest award that can be bestowed for service to Lafayette through the Alumni Admissions Representative program.

Paige is a former adjunct faculty member at the Harrisburg Area Community College where she taught courses in civil litigation and family law. She continues to regularly lecture on a variety of litigation issues for both Lorman Educational Services and for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute.