Robert A. Alston is a Principal of the firm, having joined the “Corporate and Business Law” and “Wills, Trusts and Estates” departments at Friedman Schuman Layser in January, 2017. Due to his years of experience, Bob offers his clients a wealth of knowledge and formidable skills. He concentrates his practice on the general business representation of clients from counseling through litigation; estate and succession planning for business owners and senior business executives, and similar estate planning and administration services for individual clients.
Since 1985 Bob has served as an American Arbitration arbitrator, privately judging Business and Employment cases. He is one of six Fellows in Pennsylvania of the 250 Fellows nationally in the College of Commercial Arbitrators and one of 18 Pennsylvania members of the Academy of Distinguished Neutrals. Membership in both organizations is on invitation by the existing Fellows or Members. Bob also serves as a Judge Pro Tem in both Philadelphia’s Commerce Court and for its Major Civil Jury Mediation program. He was in-house counsel for a Fortune 500 company for one of its Marketing divisions and counsel to its Mergers and Acquisition teams. Bob created an in-house trial counsel staff for a Fortune 500 technology client, trying cases for them in the areas of technology, corporate business, real estate, merger and acquisitions and product performance law in both federal courts and in American Arbitration Association forums throughout the country.
Bob has taught Business and Estate Planning courses in area Colleges and Community Schools and speaks to lawyer groups regularly on litigating in an American Arbitration Association forum. He is currently an Adjunct at a local University teaching Business Ethics to its MBA class.
Bob was a cum laude graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and was also a member of the Order of the Coif, an honorary national legal fraternity whose membership is limited to the top ten percent of law school graduating classes. Bob was also Topics and Research Editor of Pitt’s Law Review. He has his LL.M.-Taxation from Temple Law School.
Areas of Practice
- Corporate and Business Law
- Estate and Trust Administration
- Wills, Trusts and Estate Planning
- Litigation, including Orphan’s Court
Bar Admissions
- Pennsylvania
- U.S. District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania
- U.S. Court of Appeals Third Circuit
- Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
- U.S. Supreme Court
- U.S. Tax Court
Education
- University of Pittsburgh, J.D. cum laude, 1974
- Temple University, LL.M., Taxation, 1980
- Villanova University, B.A., Honors Program, 1970
Professional Associations and Memberships
- Pennsylvania Bar Association, Arbitration and ADR Committee
- Montgomery Bar Association, Alternate Dispute Resolution Former Chair
- Chester County Bar, ADR Committee