In the below article, learn how a strategic Property and Casualty insurance planning process can help your organization manage risks, optimize costs, and achieve measurable financial results. For more on the ACBA Insurance Program, visit www.ACBA.org/Insurance.

Thanks to the generosity of former ACBA President John P. Gismondi and The Gismondi Foundation, the Allegheny County Bar Foundation will provide up to 10 annual scholarships to members of the ACBA Young Lawyers Division with financial need to attend the annual Bench-Bar Conference at no cost. This year’s Bench-Bar will be held June 18-20 at Seven Springs Mountain Resort.  These scholarships will allow YLD attorneys who could not otherwise attend Bench-Bar to experience first-hand the benefits of the conference.

Deadline to apply is Friday, Feb. 27. For additional information, including eligibility details and requirements, click below.

The Pennsylvania Statewide High School Mock Trial Competition – presented by the ACBA and the Pa. Bar Association – kicks off in Allegheny County on Tuesday, Jan. 20. ACBA members are asked to support these hard-working high school students by volunteering to be a scoring juror or a presiding judge for the competition. There are 36 local high school teams participating, and at least 24 volunteers are needed on each night of the competition. Volunteers do not need to be a litigation attorney to support this program, and prior experience as a scoring juror is not needed.

While volunteers are asked to commit to an entire evening, the enthusiasm and natural skill demonstrated by the high school students is extremely rewarding. Volunteers need to arrive at the City-County Building by 4:45 p.m. and should be prepared to judge two back-to-back trials, completed by approximately 9:00 p.m. The nights of the first round of the competition are as follows:

• Tuesday, Jan. 20
• Thursday, Jan. 29
• Tuesday, Feb. 3
• Thursday, Feb. 12

Additional dates will be scheduled for playoffs, semifinals and finals. Volunteers can sign-up at this link. For additional information, contact Julie Brennan at jbrennan@pionlaw.com. For more on upcoming mock trials, click below.

In addition to the hard copy edition that is sent to members through the mail, the Jan. 9 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.

Law Students are invited to attend the ACBA’s Law Student Career Reception on Wednesday, Feb. 4 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Duquesne University Power Center. The event, a meet and greet with ACBA members, allows law students to interact with attorneys from nearly every practice area imaginable. Law students can also learn about the ACBA’s various Committees, Divisions and Sections. Admission is free, and includes food and beverages.

The ACBA’s 27th annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Prayer Breakfast and Program will be held on Monday, Jan. 19 at Mt. Ararat Baptist Church in Pittsburgh’s Larimer neighborhood beginning at 7:30 a.m. The event – one of the biggest and most storied MLK Day events in the entire region – begins with a buffet breakfast, followed by a prayer service, commemorating the life of and legacy of Dr. King and his contributions to changes in law and social justice. The highlight of the event will be the presentation of the Drum Major for Justice Award to the Hon. Nicola Henry-Taylor.

ACBA members and attorneys from throughout the bar are invited to join local leaders, elected officials and members of the community at large to celebrate. No pre-registration is required, and the event is open to all ACBA members and the public at large.

ACBA members can receive discounts on IT services and solutions through Plummer Slade, the ACBA’s endorsed provider for these services. Plummer Slade offers computer networking, managed services, cloud backup and storage, cyber security, IP telephone services and more. For more on Plummer Slade, click the button below.

ACBA Young Lawyers Division members are invited to participate in a three-on-three basketball tournament, presented by the Pitt Legal Income Sharing Foundation, on Saturday, Jan. 17 at Market House on the South Side. Get your team of three-or-four players, and hit the court.

In this single-elimination tournament, all teams must have between three and four players (co-ed rosters are encouraged but not required), with only three players on the court at any given time. Players from the same team must wear similar colored shirts. Games are 15-minutes each, or end when one team gets to 25 points. Cost is $50 for teams composed entirely of law students, or $200 per team for other combinations. For additional information, contact Dylan Groff at dlg102@pitt.edu.

Wonder if your decisions, legal advice or other professional actions are ethical? ACBA members can get confidential consultation on their legal actions and/or potential actions through the bar association’s Professional Ethics Hotline.

Through the hotline, members of the ACBA Professional Ethics Committee are available to give their opinion on the proper interpretation of the Code of Judicial Conduct and/or Rules of Professional Conduct. They are available to address ethics questions from any ACBA member, but they advise only about the member's own conduct; they will not give opinions about the conduct of other lawyers or judicial officials.

If your firm is considering hiring an attorney, paralegal or legal secretary in 2026, be sure to check out the ACBA Job Board at jobs.acba.org. The Pittsburgh Legal Community’s top resource for legal job postings, the ACBA Job Board gets more than 3,000 page views 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.