Meyer, Unkovic & Scott has been named by the Pittsburgh Business Times (PBT) as a 2019 Corporate Citizenship Award winner. This award recognizes companies in the Pittsburgh region for outstanding philanthropic contributions and collaborative relationships with nonprofits, civic, and governmental organizations. The firm was honored during a formal awards presentation October 11th at the Westin Convention Center Hotel.
Meyer, Unkovic & Scott was selected for this award by the PBT and an independent panel of judges for its ongoing pro bono legal work.
“Our attorneys take great pride in the pro bono work our firm does for the Pittsburgh community,” said Chris Smith, Meyer, Unkovic & Scott’s Managing Partner. “We are honored to accept this recognition not only for our firm but also on behalf of the organizations who partner with us on these important volunteer initiatives.”
The firm’s attorneys have partnered with Neighborhood Legal Services (“NLS”), the Pittsburgh Pro Bono Partnership (“PPBP”), and the Allegheny County Bar Foundation (“ACBF”).
The PPBP is a collaboration of corporate legal departments, law firms, the ACBF, and NLS working together to increase pro bono legal services to the greater Pittsburgh community. The PPBP encourages new and creative efforts to provide legal services to persons of limited means.
To assist Pittsburgh’s low-income residents in maintaining housing or, in some cases, obtaining public housing, the Landlord Tenant Project was established by the PPBP in 2013 through the efforts of MUS, who volunteered to establish and run the Landlord Tenant Project. The firm subsequently partnered with Arconic, Inc. and Alcoa Corporation, each of which staff the project with more than 38 attorney volunteers. Volunteer attorneys represent clients at Section 8 and public denial hearings and staff a hotline, which advises low income individuals on landlord-tenant issues.
In addition to the Landlord Tenant Project, MUS manages the PPBP Custody Conciliation Project, through which volunteer attorneys represent low-income individuals at custody conferences in the Family Division of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. Since taking over such project in the summer of 2014, the firm has managed more than 1,000 applications for assistance and representation at custody conciliations. Since the fall of 2014, MUS has managed and volunteered for the PPBP Criminal Records Expungement Project, which pairs volunteer attorneys with low income individuals seeking to improve opportunities for housing and employment by expunging criminal arrest, summary conviction, and juvenile records.
In addition to its leadership roles with these critical pro bono projects and organizations, MUS attorneys provide pro bono legal services as court appointed best interest attorneys, and at protection from abuse hearings.
