PBA Workers’ Compensation Law Section to Honor Harrisburg WCOA Director Joseph DeRita

HARRISBURG (Aug. 25, 2022) — The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Workers’ Compensation Law Section will present its 2022 Irvin Stander Memorial Award to Joseph DeRita, director of the Workers’ Compensation Office of Adjudication (WCOA) in Harrisburg, during its annual fall meeting Oct. 13-14 at the Hershey Lodge, Hershey.

The award is named in honor of the late Judge Irvin Stander and is presented to an attorney whose dedication to the administration of workers’ compensation law, and whose professionalism and regard for clients and colleagues serves as an example to others.

In 2018, DeRita was appointed as the director of the WCOA by Secretary of the Department of Labor & Industry Jerry Oleksiak. Before assuming this role, DeRita was a workers’ compensation judge at the WCOA Allentown Judges’ Office where he adjudicated and mediated cases in Allentown, Easton and Doylestown. Previously, he was a workers’ compensation and personal injury attorney for 30 years while a partner at Shor, Levin and DeRita PC in Jenkintown and later as a sole practitioner.

Before taking the bench, DeRita earned his Workers’ Compensation Law Certified Specialist designation from the PBA Workers’ Compensation Law Section in 2013 and continues to be an active member in the section. In addition, he chaired the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Workers’ Compensation Section from 1997-98, co-chaired the Philadelphia Bar Association Workers’ Compensation Section in 2002 and also served on the association’s Executive Committee from 2001-03. 

Currently, DeRita is on the Executive Committee of the Workers’ Compensation Research Institute. He is a member of the International Association of Industrial Accident Boards and Commissions as well as the National Association of Workers’ Compensation Judiciary. In 2022, he was inducted into the College of Workers’ Compensation Lawyers.    

DeRita received his B.A. from St. Joseph’s University, his J.D. from Widener University School of Law and his LLM in trial advocacy from Temple Beasley School of Law.   

More information about the Workers’ Compensation Fall Section Meeting is available here: https://www.pbi.org/Meetings/Meeting.aspx?ID=42460.  

Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association strives to promote justice, professional excellence and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access of legal services; and serve the lawyer members of the state’s largest organized bar association.