Stephen G. Rhoads

MacMain Leinhauser

433 W. Market Street
Suite 200
West Chester, Pennsylvania 19382

610-936-9413

Commercial, Complex Civil, Construction, Contract, Insurance, Land Use, Professional Liability, Property/Casualty, Shareholder Disputes

Attorney Stephen G. Rhoads

Stephen Rhoads is a partner with MacMain Leinhauser, LLC in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Having spent much of his thirty-five-year career in large firm practice, he concentrates in the areas of general and professional liability defensemunicipal liability and civil rights defense, construction contract payment and defect disputes, employment law, and commercial litigation in state and federal courts.

A Pennsylvania Commercial Litigation Lawyer

An experienced Pennsylvania commercial litigator and trial lawyer, Steve has settled or tried numerous cases to verdict in Pennsylvania state and federal courts, involving alleged malpractice in hospital administration, psychiatric and mental health care, law enforcement and prison liability, civil rights defense and employment claims. He also handles claims involving payment disputes among contractors, subcontractors and owners in commercial construction, defects in residential construction, stormwater management, land use, zoning, and contractual obligations in a variety of business settings. Whenever possible, Steve advocates for alternative dispute resolution.  He also serves as a private mediator for civil disputes on referral from the Chester County Bar Association.

Legal Counsel for Schools and Non-Profits

Steve advises non-profit organizations in connection with grant agreements, contracts for services, employment law, and institutional governance. He has long served as outside general counsel to an independent school seeking advice for its daily operations, including issues with faculty and staff employment, board governance, risk management, land development, student discipline, and vendor contracts.

Professional Licensing and Liability Defense in Pennsylvania

Steve also represents a wide variety of licensed professionals in proceedings before professional licensing boards and investigations commenced by the Pennsylvania Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs. He regularly presents to groups of licensed professionals in the allied medical and mental health fields on matters pertaining to professional licensing, ethics, and risk avoidance.

Steve has held the coveted credential of a Martindale-Hubbell® AV Preeminent®-rated attorney since 1996.

Stephen Rhoads: Education and Experience

After graduating from St. Lawrence University in 1978, and prior to beginning his legal career, Steve taught fifth grade at an independent school in Chester County, Pennsylvania. He later was appointed the Director of Freshman Programs at his alma mater, where he provided personal counseling to first-year students and advised residence hall staff and various student organizations for four years while also enrolled in the Master’s in Education program, earning a degree in counseling and human development.

Steve then attended New England Law in Boston. Upon completing law school in 1986, Steve returned to his Philadelphia roots as an associate and later a partner in the Litigation Department at Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads, LLP. Over the years, Steve served as a member of the firm’s Hiring Committee, Summer Associate Committee, and Vice-Chair of the Professional and Insurance Defense Practice Group.  There, over a period of twenty years, Steve developed the firm’s professional liability/law enforcement/public officials defense practice with MacMain Leinhauser founder, David MacMain. He opened the firm’s Chester County office in 2004.

In addition to his experience at Montgomery McCracken, before joining MacMain Leinhauser, Steve also spent nine years with the Chester County firm Gawthrop Greenwood, PC as a partner in the Litigation Department and a member of its Management Committee.

Steve has lived in Chester County with his wife and two daughters for more than thirty years. When time permits, he plays guitar and enjoys performing in local restaurants and coffeehouses as a singer-songwriter.

433 W. Market Street, Suite 200
West Chester, PA 19382

P: 610-936-9413
E: [email protected]
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