Timothy J. Ford

Tim represents clients in complex litigation, investigations, and appeals, with an emphasis on the public sector, including political and election law and ethics investigations.  He assists clients in all phases of high-stakes, sensitive litigation and investigations, from prelitigation advice, pleadings, motions practice, and discovery, through trial and appeal.  He has advocated for his clients from appearing in discovery court to briefing the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and federal appellate court.

In political and election law matters, Tim is the person who can help a principal in government and politics accomplish his or her goals. Tim has worked in government and politics at the state and federal levels, on campaigns and in government, and in the executive, legislative, and judicial branches. He is also involved outside of work in his community, serving as a committeeperson, poll watcher, and political committee treasurer. Because of his intimate knowledge of the political environment, Tim gives political as well as legal advice. Representative matters include constitutional litigation in state and federal court, nomination petition challenges and defenses, and campaign finance and public ethics investigations.

Prior to joining the firm, Tim served as a law clerk to the Honorable Timothy J. Savage on the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  He also worked as an associate in a Washington, D.C. law firm where he focused on litigation and investigations in international trade and a Philadelphia law firm where he practiced commercial litigation and election law.  During law school, Tim served as executive editor on the Michigan Law Review.

Representative Experience

• Successfully litigated and argued a line-by-line challenge to a nomination petition for Pennsylvania Senate, In re Nomination Petition of Elvira N. Berry, No. 150 M.D. 2020 in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
• Successfully intervened on behalf of voters, local political party chairs, and congressional candidates in litigation challenging Pennsylvania’s congressional districts in an unconstitutional partisan gerrymander, representing intervenors in trial before the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court and argument before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court
• Advised a corporation on federal constitutional aspects of a potential state statute-based challenge to a major business transaction
• Represented candidates and voters in successful challenges to and defenses of nomination petitions
• Advised clients from candidates for Congress to borough council on financial disclosure obligations under state and federal law
• Represented parties in public ethics investigations before the Pennsylvania State Ethics Commission, the Pennsylvania Judicial Conduct Board, and the City of Philadelphia Board of Ethics
• Drafted briefs in successful federal appellate litigation concerning proper calculation of antidumping duty rates

Professional & Community Activities

• Solicitor, Montgomery County Democratic Committee , 2019–Present; Committeeperson, 2018–Present
• Member, Plymouth and Whitemarsh Townships Historical Architecture Review Board, 2019–Present

Speeches & Presentations

• March 5, 2020, Impact of Pennsylvania’s New Voting Laws on 2020 Primary Election, Colonial Area Democratic Committee
• April 30, 2019, Campaign Finance Compliance, Candidate Training, Montgomery County Democratic Committee
• February 18, 2019, Petition Training, Montgomery County Democratic Committee

• 03/28/2019 Dilworth Paxson Adds Litigation Attorney Timothy J. Ford