Slippery Rock Mayor Jondavid Longo discontinued a civil suit he filed against attorney Jennifer Gilliland Vanasdale to recoup his legal costs from a 2023 defamation suit she filed against him and others.

The suit was discontinued Monday, March 9, and Gilliland Vanasdale filed a writ Tuesday indicating she intends to sue Longo.

Longo’s attorney Rebecca Black, who was named as a defendant in the writ along with her law firm Lutz Pawk & Black, said she discontinued the suit without prejudice to await the outcome of Gilliland Vanasdale’s appeal of the dismissal of her defamation suit in Superior Court.

She said she believes Gilliland Vanasdale’s appeal will be denied, but it is more efficient to wait on the results of the appeal before proceeding with the suit against her.

“I’ll file after her case is dismissed,” Black said.

At a hearing in February, visiting Senior Judge Christopher St. John denied Black’s request to stay, or suspend, the suit against Gilliland Vanasdale until after Superior Court rules on Vanasdale’s appeal of St. John’s October 2025 order dismissing the defamation suit. During the hearing, Black agreed with St. John’s comment that the suit was filed prematurely.

Longo’s suit named Gilliland Vanasdale, her law firm, Gilliland Vanasdale Law Office in Cranberry Township, and Very Law, the Pittsburgh law firm that represented her in her defamation suit, as defendants. The suit alleged wrongful use of civil proceedings, and said Longo hired Black’s law firm at a rate of $300 per hour, and spent in excess of $35,000 to defend against the “frivolous” defamation suit.

The writ Gilliland Vanasdale filed Tuesday serves as notice that she has commenced a civil suit against Longo, Black and her law firm, but a suit has not been filed.

“We stand up against bullies and eagerly await justice,” Gilliland Vanasdale said Thursday morning.

“We consider it to be another meritless filing by Jennifer Vanasdale and are not concerned about it,” Black said, about the writ.

The defamation suit Gilliland Vanasdale filed in November 2023 claimed Longo; District Attorney Richard Goldinger; Justin Castilyn, of Saxonburg; and Cheryl Guenther, of Prospect, defamed her to help Goldinger win reelection earlier that month. Gilliland Vanasdale ran as an independent candidate.

The defendants’ attorneys argued that Gilliland Vanasdale is a public figure because she ran for public office more than once and the defendants have immunity because the allegations against them took place during a political campaign and should be considered speech on a matter of public interest.

St. John ruled that Gilliland Vanasdale is a “limited-purpose public figure,” which is defined as an individual who voluntarily put themselves before the public, by campaigning for the office of district attorney. The ruling said Gilliland Vanasdale failed to present legally sufficient facts to support actual malice.