The Babst Calland Women’s Initiative strives to increase the retention and advancement of women attorneys at our Firm and in the broader legal community by promoting inclusivity and equal opportunities.
The Women’s Initiative meets regularly to facilitate open discussions about workplace challenges historically faced by women in professional settings and encourages the exchange of advice and experiences to aid others in navigating those challenges.
The Women’s Initiative further supports the Firm’s women attorneys in developing and promoting their practices by acknowledging and celebrating successes and encouraging mentorship among all of the Firm’s attorneys. A key goal of the Women’s Initiative is to connect women attorneys across the Firm’s practice groups and offices, allowing for organic support systems to develop and prosper. This blending of practice groups and offices encourages collaboration and cross-marketing opportunities that benefit our attorneys and clients. By encouraging these relationships, the Women’s Initiative’s work advances the professional and business development of women attorneys at the Firm and within the legal community at large.
The following celebrates the initiatives of the women attorneys at Babst Calland.
Attorney Justine Kasznica who is also the Board Chair of the Keystone Space Collaborative leads the 2022 Keystone Space Collaborative Inaugural Conference April 20-21 at the Carnegie Science Center. Speakers include:
Babst Calland Women’s Initiative held its spring Lunch & Learn Panel, featuring four of the Firm’s shareholders—Lisa Bruderly, Kathy Condo, Jean Mosites, and Marnie Schock. The firm’s newest shareholder, Christina Manfredi McKinley, moderated the discussion, asking the panel to speak on issues relevant to women in the profession. …
As the Firm returns from remote operations across our offices, Babst Calland’s Women’s Initiative has taken the opportunity to refresh its committee objectives and to focus on opportunities to allow its women attorneys to reconnect with their colleagues. The Initiative was formed by former Babst shareholder Molly Meacham and the Initiative’s current chair, Carla Castello, and continues to grow in membership as the Firm expands. …
Attorneys Kathy Condo and Carla Castello will present a CLE program on “Class Action Lawsuits – The Basics” on Thursday, March 24, 2022. Class action litigation arises in various contexts, including environmental contamination, consumer protection, antitrust, product liability, pharmaceutical drugs, civil rights, data breaches, and workers’ rights. Given the liability exposure in class action cases, obtaining (or defeating) class certification is viewed as a critical milestone. …
Babst Calland, through its Women’s Initiative, is pleased to announce the Firm’s participation in the Allegheny County Bar Association’s ALLY Initiative Cohort. ALLY stands for “Attorneys, Learning as allies, Living as allies, and Yielding results.” The Initiative is designed to engage attorneys and their law firms, corporate legal departments, courts and other organizations to commit to increasing inclusivity, creating equitable workplaces and empowering historically marginalized and underrepresented community members.
The Initiative, which will run from March 15 through October 2022, will offer programing and other projects, which will then allow firms and legal departments to earn an official “ACBA ALLY Certification.”
To read more, click here.
Ember K. Holmes and Audra E. Hutter recently joined Babst Calland as associates in the Corporate and Commercial Group.
Ember Holmes focuses primarily on corporate and transactional matters, including commercial contracts, corporate structuring, mergers and acquisitions, and copyright and trademark issues. Prior to joining Babst Calland, she was an associate with Dickie, McCamey & Chilcote, P.C. Ms. Holmes is a 2018 graduate of the University at Buffalo School of Law. …
Christina Manfredi McKinley recently joined Babst Calland as a shareholder in the Litigation, Energy and Natural Resources, and Environmental groups.
Ms. McKinley provides business-oriented solutions to her clients and routinely serves as a general advisor, counseling clients on day-to-day legal and business matters on any number of issues. Her business-focused, proactive approach to problem-solving allows her to provide solutions to clients in a variety of industries, including manufacturing, retail, energy, chemicals, and environmental. …
Law firm Babst Calland recently named Katrina N. Bowers a shareholder in the Firm.
Katrina Bowers is a member of the Corporate and Commercial, Litigation, and Energy and Natural Resources groups. Ms. Bowers currently serves as General Counsel to the West Virginia International Yeager Airport, and as general counsel and advisor to airports in West Virginia, on day-to-day legal and business matters, such as compliance with West Virginia and federal law, employment and litigation matters, corporate governance, and contract negotiations. …
Babst Calland recently named Mary H. Binker and Jennifer L. Malik shareholders in the Firm.
Mary Binker is a member of the Corporate and Commercial, Energy and Natural Resources, and Real Estate groups. Her practice focuses primarily on corporate and transactional matters, including negotiation of commercial contracts and real estate transactions. Ms. Binker advises businesses of various sizes and complexity, in a broad range of industries including chemical, energy and real estate development, in their corporate contracting needs. …
The Legal Intelligencer and Martindale-Hubbell®, the company that has long set the standard for lawyer ratings, have announced the Pennsylvania Top Rated Lawyers®. To view the list of Babst Calland lawyers, including Kathy Condo, Marcia Grimes and Jean Mosites, who have achieved an AV® Preeminent™ Peer Review Rating, click here.
Jessica L. Altobelli recently joined Babst Calland as an associate in the Litigation and Employment and Labor groups. Ms. Altobelli has a broad range of litigation experience in several practice areas including employment, general liability, transportation, and school district defense. As part of her employment practice, she regularly defends employers in state and federal court litigation and administrative proceedings arising out of all aspects of the employment relationship. …
Jessica M. Barnes, Mackenzie M. Moyer and Christina M. Puhnaty recently joined Babst Calland’s Pittsburgh, Pa. office as associates.
Ms. Barnes, a 2021 graduate of Duquesne University Law School, joins the Litigation Group. She practices in a variety of litigation practice areas, including commercial, employment and labor, land use, and energy and natural resources.
Ms. Moyer, a 2021 graduate of Penn State Law, joins the Environmental Group. …
Babst Calland is pleased to announce that the following Babst Calland women lawyers were selected for inclusion in the 2022 Edition of The Best Lawyers in America (by BL Rankings), the most respected peer-review publication in the legal profession:
Led by Carla Castello, the Babst Calland Women’s Initiative Committee recently packed 200 Weekend Food Bags for the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania. The Bags will be distributed by the United Way to students in need.
Kelly R. Vehec recently joined Babst Calland as senior counsel in the Corporate and Commercial Group. Ms. Vehec’s practice focuses primarily on mergers and acquisitions, drafting commercial transaction agreements, finance and general corporate matters. Her experience includes drafting, reviewing, and negotiating a wide variety of commercial contracts, including asset purchase agreements, stock purchase agreements, equipment leases, service agreements, confidentiality and non-disclosure agreements, as well as letters of intent and corporate resolutions. …
