Brian M. Spaid
Having joined Dale Woodard Gent McFate Law Firm in 1993, Brian has been practicing family law for over 30 years throughout Northwestern Pennsylvania. He has developed a reputation as a tough and passionate litigator for mothers, fathers, husbands, wives and children while at the same time maintaining the compassion and understanding necessary to balance the needs of each client’s emotional and financial concerns that often arise in the midst of such cases.
Brian practices regularly before the courts in Crawford, Clarion, Forest, Jefferson, Mercer, Venango and Warren Counties in Pennsylvania. His family law experience spans all dimensions of the practice including divorce, custody, support, protection from abuse (PFA), adoption and related cases. He is a member of the American Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, and Venango County Bar Association, for which he was the President in 2012.
In addition to becoming an experienced and successful family lawyer, Brian also works as a municipal solicitor for the City of Franklin and the Borough of Sugarcreek in Venango County as well as other municipalities and authorities. After first serving as an assistant with his mentor and friend, the late Ray Woodard, Brian was named the City Solicitor in Franklin in 2000. He became the Borough Solicitor in Sugarcreek in 2004. Working tirelessly for the citizens of both municipalities, Brian has forged a bond with local communities.
That commitment carried over to his election to the Board of Directors at the Franklin Area School District in 2009, where he was the Board President for 11 consecutive years before choosing not to run for reelection in 2021. He is also a longtime board member at Community Ambulance. Additionally, he has served on the boards of other community organizations and businesses, including the United Way of Venango County, UPMC Northwest Community Foundation, Venango Janitorial Services, and Galaxy Federal Credit Union. He is a former instructor with America in Banking (AIB) as well.
Originally from Rochester, NY, Brian graduated from St. John Fisher (NY) College in 1990 and the University of Dayton (OH) School of Law in 1993. He then moved to Franklin with his wife, Roxanne. They raised three sons, all of whom were active in academia, athletics and music at Franklin High School. Their son Alexander joined the law firm as an attorney in 2022.
Brian and Roxanne are also active members of the First Presbyterian Church in Franklin. Over the years, Brian has served as a trustee and elder. He was Chairman of the Board of Trustees from 1997-2001. For over two decades, Brian has served as a church trust officer providing oversight and advice on the church’s endowment fund with another trust officer and a local investment firm. Roxanne served as the church treasurer from 2013 to 2022.
Brian also maintains a passion and connection with motorsports. Growing up with the sport in Western and Central New York where he worked as a reporter and producer with the nationally syndicated auto racing television show “This Week on DIRT” in the late 1980s, Brian’s love of motorsports followed him to the Keystone State. He worked as the track announcer and public relations director at Sharon Speedway in Hartford, OH, from 1994-97, and Tri-City Speedway in Franklin, PA, from 1998-2010. He was inducted into the Tri-City Speedway Hall of Fame in 2010. He is also on the board of the Northeast Dirt Modified Hall of Fame in Weedsport, NY. From 1998-2009, Brian was the motorsports writer for the local newspapers The Derrick and The News Herald. After traveling with the FASTRAK Northeast Late Model Touring Series in 2012, Brian now travels as the series announcer with the RUSH Dirt Late Model Touring Series and additional RUSH Racing Series events, which visits dirt tracks throughout Western Pennsylvania and Eastern Ohio, as well as other tracks located in Delaware, New York, Virginia, Maryland and West Virginia.
Practice Areas:
- Family Law – Divorce, Custody and Support
- Adoption
- Municipal Law
