Hiring Committee
Addie A. Abelson
Deputy General Counsel
Governor's Office of General Counsel
Addie A. Abelson was appointed Deputy General Counsel with the Governor’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) in August 2021. In addition to her general responsibilities to the General Counsel, Addie’s practice focuses on regulatory and transactional matters on behalf of the Governor’s Office and in conjunction with various executive and independent agencies.
Addie comes to OGC from the Department of Human Services, where she advised the agency on regulatory matters. She also provided legal counsel to the Department’s Office of Income Maintenance on matters related to program administration and recipient eligibility for the following programs: Medical Assistance, Long Term Care, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, and the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program. Addie represented the Department in appeals before the Commonwealth Court and the Department’s Bureau of Hearings and Appeals. She received her bachelor of science in industrial engineering from the University of Pittsburgh and her juris doctor from the Pennsylvania State University’s Dickinson School of Law, where she served as an editor on the Penn State Law Review.
Leonard Cowitch, Jr.Assistant Chief CounselDepartment of Military and Veterans Affairs
Leonard Cowitch, Jr. is an Assistant Chief Counsel at the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Office of Chief Counsel. His primary focus is contracting and procurement, labor and employment law, regulatory and legislative issues, and litigation. Prior to joining the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, Len was a prosecuting attorney for the Department of State, Bureau of Professional and Occupational Affairs assigned to the Nurse Board, Real Estate Commission and the Bureau of Charitable Organizations. Len began his legal career in the Pennsylvania General Assembly as a staff attorney in the Democratic Caucus, Office of Chief Counsel. Len currently serves as a Brigade Judge Advocate in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard and is assigned to the 56th Stryker Brigade Combat Team. As a Judge Advocate, Len drafted the Pennsylvania Manual for Courts Martial, which is the implementing military regulation for the Pennsylvania Code of Military Justice. Len is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court of the Western District of Pennsylvania. Len received his B.A. in Political Science from the Pennsylvania State University and his J.D. from Widener University Delaware Law School. Len is an active member in the James S. Bowman American Inns of Court.
Morgan C. Davis
Assistant Counsel
Pennsylvania Parole Board
Morgan C. Davis began her career with OGC in June 2016 as an Assistant Counsel with the Board of Probation and Parole. Morgan currently represents the Board in claims in state and federal courts and administrative tribunals. Morgan also serves as the Right to Know Law Legal Liaison where she represents the Board before the Commonwealth’s Office of Open Records and the Commonwealth’s appellate courts.
She also provides legal training to county probation officers and state parole agents from across the Commonwealth. Prior to employment with OGC, Morgan was an attorney at the Law Offices of Silliker & Reinhold (Harrisburg, Pa), where she focused her practice on family law, wills, and estates.
Morgan is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the United States District Courts of the Eastern, Middle, and Western Districts of Pennsylvania. Morgan is a 2011 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh where she received a B.S. in Marketing and a Certificate in Leadership and Ethics. She received her Juris Doctor from the Widener University School of Law (Harrisburg Campus), where she still serves on the Dean’s Diversity Council. Morgan also serves as a mediator in the OGC Mediation Program.
Stephen Ekema-AgbawAssistant Counsel
Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency
Ana Paulina Gomez
Chief Counsel
Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Agency
Ana Paulina Gomez was appointed as Chief Counsel of the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority, d/b/a/ Pennie® in January of 2023. As Chief Counsel, she oversees Pennie’s legal matters and provides legal advice to Pennie’s senior staff. Prior to her appointment, she worked for the Pennsylvania Insurance Department where she represented the Department in litigation before administrative tribunals and appellate courts. She also provided the Department with legal advice regarding complex insurance issues, legislation, and regulations.
Ms. Gomez is also an Adjunct Professor at Penn State Dickinson Law where she teaches Insurance Law. Prior to joining the Insurance Department, she worked for the Pennsylvania Department of Education where she litigated educator misconduct cases at the administrative and appellate level. Prior to joining the OGC, Ms. Gomez was an Assistant District Attorney at the York County District Attorney's Office from 2012 until 2015. Prior to her work as an ADA, Ms. Gomez clerked for the Hon. Thomas Kelley in York County immediately after graduating from law school.
Ms. Gomez attended the Penn State Dickinson School of Law where she interned for the Hon. Yvette Kane, U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania and served as a Senior Editor for the Penn State Environmental Law Review and a Miller Center for Public Interest Fellow. Ms. Gomez is admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She is also a trained mediator.
Ms. Malone received her law degree from Temple University School of Law and her undergraduate degree in Political Science from Temple University.
Andrew P. HannaDeputy General Counsel
Governor's Office of General Counsel
Andrew P. Hanna was appointed Deputy General Counsel in the Governor’s Office of General Counsel (OGC) in March of 2021. In addition to his general responsibilities to the General Counsel, Andrew focuses on legislative and transactional matters on behalf of the Governor’s Office and in conjunction with various executive agencies. Andrew is a member of OGC’s Transactions Practice Group and Intellectual Property Practice Group. Andrew comes to OGC from the Department of Corrections (DOC), where he served as Assistant Counsel for Legal Services. Andrew’s practice focused on policy, legislation, procurement law, negotiating contracts, reviewing contracts for form and legality, and providing legal counsel on transactional matters. Andrew has also represented the DOC in Compassionate Release cases. Andrew received his bachelor’s degree from the University of Pittsburgh and his Juris Doctor degree from Widener University School of Law.
Kevin Hoffman
Deputy Chief Counsel
Department of Health
Kevin Hoffman is a graduate of York College of Pennsylvania and Widener University School of Law. Prior to joining the Office of General Counsel Mr. Hoffman spent a decade in private practice where he handled criminal, family, and civil cases. Mr. Hoffman was one of only a few attorneys in York County who were certified to handle death penalty cases. While in private practice, Mr. Hoffman represented clients in nearly a hundred trials ranging from bench trials to jury trials in both state and federal court.
Mr. Hoffman joined the Office of Legal Counsel in the Department of Health in 2018 where he took over the Right-to-Know law litigation efforts. In December 2019, Mr. Hoffman became the litigation supervisor for the Office of Legal Counsel and helped oversee the all the Department of Health’s litigation efforts. Mr. Hoffman has appeared before the Commonwealth Court and the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. He was a member of the a team of attorneys who won the Certificate of Excellence from the Office of General Counsel in 2019.
Mr. Hoffman is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Dauphin County Bar Association.
Jonathan D. KoltashDeputy General CounselGovernor's Office of General Counsel
Jonathan D. Koltash was appointed Chief Counsel to the Pennsylvania Health Insurance Exchange Authority in December 2019. Previously Mr. Koltash served as Assistant Chief Counsel for the Pennsylvania Department of Health (DOH). In that position, he served as DOH’s litigation supervisor, providing counsel to the Secretary of Health, the Physician General, and DOH staff on litigation matters. He was counsel to the Bureau of Human Resources, the Bureau of Laboratories, and the Office of Medical Marijuana. He is also an adjunct professor at Widener Commonwealth Law School and Central Penn College.
Prior to working with the DOH, Mr. Koltash served as Deputy Attorney General with the Pennsylvania Office of Attorney General, where he represented the Commonwealth in various matters before both the federal and state courts. Mr. Koltash also previously served as Assistant Counsel for the Department of Labor and Industry.
Mr. Koltash is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA). He currently sits in the PBA’s House of Delegates and serves as the Chair of the Government Lawyers’ Committee. He is currently serving as the Treasurer of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, Secretary of the Federal Bar Association Middle District Chapter, a member of the Board of Directors for the YMCA Youth and Government program a member of Widener Commonwealth’s Board of Overseers and leadership in the James S. Bowman Inn of Court.
Mr. Koltash is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and the United States District Courts of the Eastern, Middle and Western Districts of Pennsylvania. Mr. Koltash received his B.S. in Finance and Economics from the Pennsylvania State University and his J.D., cum laude, from Widener University Commonwealth Law School.
Jonathan W. Kunkel
Senior Counsel
Office of Administration
Jonathan W. Kunkel joined the Governor’s Office of General Counsel in 1996 and since 2018, serves as a Senior Counsel with the Office of Administration. Prior to that he was assigned to the Department of Education for three years. Mr. Kunkel, when he joined OGC, was originally assigned to the Department of Corrections in the Employment Litigation Section where he served for nineteen years. At Corrections and now at the Office of Administration, Mr. Kunkel regularly litigates employment cases before the State Civil Service Commission, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board and the Commonwealth Court. Prior to joining OGC he served as a Law Clerk to Senior Judge Narick of the Commonwealth Court. He received his J.D. Degree from the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law and his B.A. Degree from New York University. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Kunkel worked as a researcher in the Political Operations Unit for ABC News in New York City covering the 1988 Presidential Elections.
Mr. Kunkel is an active member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and is currently the Co-Chair of the Government Lawyers Committee, is a Zone 3 delegate to the House of Delegates, is a council member of the Administrative Law Section and previously served as the Chair; is a council member of the Labor and Employment Law Section and, since 2000, has been a scoring judge for the Statewide High School Mock Trial Competition sponsored by the PBA’s Young Lawyers’ Division.
Mr. Kunkel is also an active member of the Dauphin County Bar Association where he served as President in 2013, served three terms as the Chair of the Government Law Section and served five terms on the Board of Directors. He has twice been the recipient of the Angelo Skarlatos Memorial Award presented by the DCBA’s Young Lawyers Section to a member of the organization who demonstrates strong support of and advocacy for young lawyers. Mr. Kunkel is also a Master in the James S. Bowman American Inn of Court where he served a two-year term as President and is a Master in the William Lipsitt American Inn of Court.
Mr. Kunkel has also served on the Board of Directors of the American Red Cross of the Susquehanna Valley, on the Board of Directors of Theatre Harrisburg including a term as Chairman of the Board and on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the State Museum of Pennsylvania including four terms as President and was presented with the Distinguished Service Award by the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission.
Nolan B. Meeks
Deputy Chief Counsel
Pennsylvania State Police
Nolan B. Meeks was appointed Acting Chief Counsel in November 2022. Nolan has served as Deputy Chief Counsel and Assistant Counsel for the Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) where he advised the Department on a variety of legal matters and represented PSP in litigation before administrative bodies, courts of common pleas, Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate courts, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. Nolan has also served as Hearing Examiner to the Department of State (DOS) where he presided over administrative hearings for the DOS, Bureau of Professional & Occupational Affairs and other Commonwealth Agencies, and drafted proposed adjudications and orders for various boards and agency heads.
Prior to joining the Commonwealth, Nolan worked at a Harrisburg law firm where he represented clients in Social Security disability cases before administrative law judges and on appeal to the Social Security Appeals Council and in federal district courts. Nolan started his legal career in the Reading office of MidPenn Legal Services where he represented indigent clients in landlord/tenant, public housing, consumer debt and custody cases.
Nolan graduated from Cheyney University with Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and received his Juris Doctor from the Penn State Dickinson School of Law. He lives in Dauphin County with his wife and four children.
Derek RikerDeputy Chief of StaffGovernor's Office of General Counsel
Derek Riker was appointed Deputy Chief of Staff in the Governor’s Office of General Counsel in January 2023. He is responsible for operations management and employee training, development, and retention for over 600 lawyers and support personnel.
Prior to his appointment, Mr. Riker served as Deputy Inspector General at the Philadelphia Office of Inspector General, where he managed a team of lawyers and investigators tasked with conducting discrete probes into allegations of fraud, waste, and mismanagement involving high ranking public officials and city contractors.
Previously to that, Mr. Riker served as an Assistant District Attorney in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. During his tenure, Mr. Riker was instrumental in the creation of the Diversion Courts Unit. As Chief of that unit, he developed several of its key programs from concept through implementation, with primary focus on addressing the underlying causes of criminality through both pretrial and reentry programming.
Mr. Riker was chosen by the U.S. Department of Justice to act as a mentor-trainer to jurisdictions throughout the country interested in developing diversion programs. Before pursuing a career in law, Mr. Riker was a lobbyist and strategic advisor on government affairs to several Fortune 500 companies. He received his B.A. from Saint Joseph’s University and his J.D. from Widener University Delaware School of Law. He also received an M.A. in Political Management from the George Washington University.
Curtis Sullivan
Deputy Chief Counsel
Department of Environmental Protection
Curtis C. Sullivan serves the Office of General Counsel (OGC) as an Supervisory Counsel to the Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP’s) Southcentral Regional Office. In this position, he supervises attorneys and counsels DEP programs, the State Conservation Commission, and Conservation Districts in enforcement and litigation matters. Mr. Sullivan previously served OGC at DEP’s Bureau of Regulatory Counsel.
While he primarily practices in the Environmental Hearing Board and the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, Curt is admitted to practice in the Middle District of Pennsylvania and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Mr. Sullivan earned two Bachelor of Science degrees from The Pennsylvania State University at University Park. He earned his Juris Doctor and a Certificate in Environmental Law, Science & Policy from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. During law school, he completed OGC legal internships with DEP and the Department of Public Welfare.
Prior to law school, Curt served in AmeriCorps NCCC for two years at the Denver, Colorado region.