Stuart T. O’neal III

Stuart “Tye” O’Neal is an Equity Member of Burns White, and is on the firm’s Executive Committee. He is the co-chair of the Professional Liability and Cyber-security practice groups. He is an active trial attorney in charge of several valued trial teams, and enjoys the challenge of representing clients’ difficult cases against respected opposing counsel and before judges and juries. This most recently occurred in October of 2020, during an eight-day trial, when a jury of 12 Luzerne County citizens rendered a defense verdict in favor of his client, a community hospital, in a high exposure, highly contested case. The demand in the case from the Plaintiff was $16,000,000.00 and the jury came back in favor of Attorney O’Neal’s client in fourteen (14) minutes, declining to award the Plaintiff any money. It has happened on notable occasions in the past as well.

Individuals, groups, large corporations and even fellow lawyers retain Stuart and his team when they are in immediate crisis or are involved in high stakes litigation. Stuart and his team are “go-to” counsel for a wide variety of industries, including but not limited to healthcare, entertainment, human services, non-profits, and Fortune 500 companies. Stuart’s practice ranges from Crisis Management to professional liability across all spectrums, as well as employment and commercial matters. Stuart and his team have handled internal audits, allegations of fraud, and embezzlement allegations, and served as the “boots on the ground” when needed by clients in distress. Stuart was involved in witness representation immediately after the Jerry Sandusky incident at Penn State. Stuart and his team have been parachuted into cases to try them, in conjunction with existing counsel, or to end them with a successful resolution. His team will try cases many others do not want to in a courtroom.

Stuart graduated from Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania as an undergraduate and from the Villanova University School of Law. Stuart also continues his education on mediation training through seminars at the Harvard University School of Law.

Stuart proudly volunteers his time on two Boards on issues that are very important to him: children and Veterans. With respect to children, Stuart is currently the Board President for The Hamels Foundation, founded by former Phillies pitcher Cole Hamels and his wife Heidi. The organization raises money to assist in educational endeavors for students from Philadelphia all the way to Africa. Stuart is also a Board member of Harrisburg-based, The Sherman Foundation, which provides resources to those who suffer from addiction, as well as PTSD.