Benjamin P. Novak
Contact Info
P: 717.696-0551
F: 717.229.1239
E: bnovak@fhmslaw.com
Lancaster Office
1860 Charter Lane
Suite 201
Lancaster, PA 17601
Education
- Penn State Law – Magna Cum Laude
Bar Memberships
- Pennsylvania
Benjamin Novak is an associate in Fowler Hirtzel McNulty & Spaulding’s Lancaster office. His practice focuses on the defense of civil lawsuits involving premises liability, auto accidents, municipal liability, § 1983 claims, and construction defects. Mr. Novak is also active in the Firm’s insurance coverage and bad faith departments. He has successfully represented clients in risk transfer matters, and successfully tendered the defense of multiple clients to the appropriate parties.
Highlights from the Last Year
• Successful jury trial result, with a net verdict of $700 to the plaintiff, in a case involving a $285,000 future care plan.
• Summary judgment granted in a $1.2 million construction dispute.
• Summary judgment granted in a trip and fall case involving sidewalk defect.
• Motion to dismiss granted in a trespass claim against municipality.
• Preliminary objections granted in Sunshine Act lawsuit.
Mr. Novak was named a 2022 and 2023 Rising Star by the organization Super Lawyers®.
About Benjamin Novak
Prior to joining FHMS, Mr. Novak served as a law clerk in several trial and appellate courts. He previously clerked for the Honorable Elizabeth Doyle of the Blair County Court of Common Pleas, for the Honorable Brooks Smith of the U.S. Third Circuit Court of Appeals, and for the Honorable Renée Cohn Jubelirer, of the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court. Mr. Novak graduated from Penn State Law with magna cum laude honors and was ranked in the top 5% of his class. He was chair of the Penn State Law Moot Court board.
Mr. Novak is a U.S. Army veteran, with deployments to Afghanistan in 2012 and 2014. He served in the Finance Corps and was responsible for certifying the legality and propriety of disbursements exceeding four million dollars and collections exceeding eight million dollars. One of Mr. Novak’s favorite memories involves a mission to a CIA base on the Afghan – Pakistani border, where he met an operator named “Cockroach.” Mr. Novak also performed a tour of duty in Kuwait in 2011, where his unit supported the drawdown of U.S. forces from Iraq.
Mr. Novak lives in Lancaster with his wife and son. He enjoys serving in his church, the NFL, history podcasts, and board games.