The Pennsylvania Statewide High School Mock Trial Competition – presented by the ACBA and the Pa. Bar Association – is underway, and additional dates have been opened for volunteer participation for an elimination round to get to the final eight teams, a semi-final round for those eight teams, and finals that will determine the two teams which will represent Allegheny County at the state competition. ACBA members are asked to volunteer to be a scoring juror or a presiding judge for the competition. Volunteers do not need to be a litigation attorney to participate, and prior experience is not needed. Volunteers need to arrive at the City-County Building by 4:45 p.m. With enough volunteers on Feb. 26 and March 3, volunteers will only be needed to judge one trial (4:45 p.m. to 7 p.m.) rather than the typical back-to-back trials.

• Thursday, Feb. 26 – Elimination round
• Tuesday, March 3 – Semifinals
• Thursday, March 5 – Finals

For additional information, contact Julie Brennan at jbrennan@pionlaw.com.

Far too many people in Allegheny County are struggling with hunger. The ACBF Attorneys Against Hunger program is aiming to help.

Volunteers attorneys are needed at Pittsburgh Community Food Bank – 1 N. Linden St. in Duquesne — on Saturday, March 14 from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information or to register, email Mya Thomasmeyer at mthomasmeyer@acba.org. For more on the Attorneys Against Hunger Program, click here.

In addition to the hard copy edition that is sent to members through the mail, the Feb. 20 edition of the Lawyers Journal — the ACBA’s flagship publication featuring substantive legal articles and stories of interest to the legal community — is available digitally on the ACBA website and at the button below.

The ACBA will hold a Canine First Aid course on Tuesday, March 3 at 12:15 p.m. in the Koppers Building. In this non-CLE program, earn the essential skills needed to respond in an emergency and help save your dog from pain, suffering, or even death. Led by a former Special Prosecutor for Animal Cruelty with extensive experience in animal rescue and triage, attendees will learn practical techniques for stabilizing and treating an animal while quickly seeking veterinary care.

The ACBA’s Member-to-Member Practice Area Guide is a printed and online resource that lists ACBA attorneys by their fields of practice. The guide is published on the ACBA’s website and emailed to all members as a PDF four times each year. In addition, the M2M Practice Area Guide will be printed in an April edition of the Lawyers Journal in a special section sponsored by ACBA partner AmeriServ Wealth & Capital Management.

Note that listings will no longer appear in the printed ACBA Legal Directory, as that publication has been discontinued. However, the areas of practice selected by members will now also appear next to their names in the online ACBA membership directory.

Any ACBA member who wishes to be included in the 2026–2027 M2M Practice Area Guide — including those currently listed — must order or renew their listings. Listings are $25 each. To place your order, complete the form using the button below. Deadline is Monday, March 1.

“There’s a Leprechaun Now?” – an award winning, adult comedy by the ACBA’s Brian Knavish – will be produced by Throughline Theatre Company at the Greer Cabaret Theater in the Cultural District on Monday, March 16 at 7:30 p.m.

The play follows a group of parents who are pushed to the edge after their children’s kindergarten teacher introduces the concept of a prankster Leprechaun who visits nightly, like the Elf on a Shelf. When the teacher goes off-grid on vacation, the parents are left bumbling, stumbling, and adlibbing to somehow pull off the fairytale that’s been thrust upon them. The 2024 production at R-ACT Theater in Beaver County was named “Theater Production of the Year” by the Pittsburgh City Paper.

If you’re interested in getting involved in ACBA leadership, the deadline to apply is tomorrow: Friday, Feb. 27. The ACBA Nominating Committee is seeking candidates to run for President-Elect and Treasurer, as well as members interested in running for spots on the Board of Governors and the Judiciary Committee. Terms begin July 1. For more information on the process, requirements and more, click below.

When is the last time you got a quote on your LPL insurance? The discount members can get on getting LPL through the ACBA Insurance Program – powered by USI – is often greater than the cost of ACBA membership. For more, visit www.ACBA.org/Insurance.

An effective elevator pitch could be the difference between a new connection and a lost opportunity. For more, see the below article. For more on ACBA Legal Employment Services, contact Jennifer Pulice atjpulice@acba.org.

If you are considering making a career change this year, now is the time to start your search. Be sure to check out the ACBA Job Board at jobs.acba.org, the Pittsburgh Legal Community’s top resource for legal job postings that gets more than 3,000 pageviews each month, the vast majority from Pittsburgh-area legal professionals looking for jobs. For more information, contact Jennifer Pulice, the ACBA’s Director of Legal Employment Services, at jpulice@acba.org.