Peter J. Gough - Greensburg, PA

Peter J. Gough has been a lawyer at Quatrini Rafferty since 2002 and focuses his practice in the areas of Workers’ Compensation, Heart & Lung and Act 534/632 Benefits. He exclusively represents injured workers. Peter was one of first lawyers in Pennsylvania to be certified by the Supreme Court as a Workers' Compensation Specialist.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, raised on Long Island, and a graduate of The University of Buffalo, Peter came to the Pittsburgh area to attend law school and achieved his Juris Doctor from Duquesne Law School in 1990. He fell in love with Western Pennsylvania and has been practicing law, primarily civil litigation and workers’ compensation law, ever since, representing thousands of injured people in Westmoreland, Allegheny, Indiana, Washington, Beaver, Butler, Cambria, Blair, Fayette, Greene, Somerset, Armstrong, Clarion, Venago, Crawford, Warren, Centre, Clearfield, Mckean, Lycoming and Erie Counties.

Peter has written and lectured on workers’ compensation throughout Pennsylvania for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and The Pennsylvania Bureau of Workers’ Compensation and was a frequent guest speaker on The Legal Checkup 1480 WCNS AM Radio and Legal Tip Tuesday. Peter is a co-author to the Pennsylvania Bar Institute publication Fee Agreements in Pennsylvania, Workers' Compensation Chapter.

A member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the PBA Workers' Compensation section, Westmoreland Bar Association, and Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, Peter is admitted to practice before the courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

Within two years of being admitted to the bar, Peter tackled the then newly developing area of psychological injuries in the workplace. He successfully convinced the Commonwealth Court that if a work-related psychological disability is associated with physical injury, the injured worker need only prove the basic requirements of a workers’ compensation claim: that the injury arose out of and was related to the employment. He successfully argued that a heightened burden of proof does not apply, making it easier for workers who sustain injuries such as post-traumatic stress disorder to receive their deserved benefits. Bell v. WCAB (Allegheny County Housing Department), 620 A.2d 589 (1993).

More recently in the case of HCR ManorCare v. WCAB (Bollman), 951 A.2d 1242 (2008), the Commonwealth Court agreed with Peter’s arguments that a medical provider’s failure to provide medical records as part of procedure to determine if the treatment is reasonable and necessary does not necessarily relieve the insurance company from paying the bills. The Court adapted Peter’s guidance that the Judge has jurisdiction to determine if proper procedures were followed and if not, why they were not. The Court also agreed that the Judge has the authority to order a whole new procedure. This important decision saved many injured workers from getting stuck with medical bills caused by their work injuries.

Peter has authored several articles, among the most recent include traumatic brain injuries, emotional injuries such as post traumatic stress disorder and depression stemming from the work environment and the significance and frequency of injuries affecting those in the healthcare industry, accessed here.

Since 2013, Peter has been a proud board member of Kids' Chance of Pennsylvania and serves on the Scholarship, Outreach, and Run/Walk Committees. Kids' Chance of Pennsylvania is a charitable organization that awards scholarships to kids of severely injured workers. Since its inception, KCPA has awarded over two million dollars in scholarships to deserving kids.

Peter now lives in Penn Township and can frequently be seen hiking the trails of Western Pennsylvania with his beautiful daughter and his best buddy "fin". Peter's amazing daughter is a senior at Franklin Regional High School in Murrysville taking A.P. classes and intends to go to college in the fall of 2020. He hopes she stays local! Peter’s other passions including playing, writing and listening to rock/indie music, (favorite instruments are guitar and bass), running, skiing, and mountain biking.