Babst Calland joins the Brownfield Coalition of the Northeast (BCONE) for its annual Northeast Sustainable Communities Workshop (NSCW), September 13-14, 2022. NSCW takes a regional, cross-industry approach to redevelopment that allows brownfield, environmental, and sustainability professionals to come together and get unique insights and perspectives on key regional issues, up-to-date strategies and emerging solutions for more successful remediation, resilience and sustainable projects.
Attorney Mackenzie Moyer will be a co-panelist for the “PFAS at Brownfield Sites Session (3C).” For more information, click here.
Last week, the Babst Calland Women’s Initiative and the Firm’s D/E/I Committee kicked off a joint CLE series covering diversity, equity, and inclusion topics. The series will feature multiple sessions throughout 2022 and 2023, starting with the first session on June 29, 2022 titled D/E/I Basics: What is DEI and why does it matter? The first presentation and discussion was led by Kellie Ware, the Director of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, for the Allegheny County Bar Association, and future sessions in the series will build upon this foundation to address a variety of D/E/I topics and issues relevant to the legal industry.
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.
The Women’s Initiative Committee’s first task of 2022 was to develop new pairings for its existing mentoring circles. Each mentoring circle includes 6-7 attorneys across the Firm’s practice groups and offices. The circles serve several important goals. Most importantly, they allow women attorneys from different practice groups to connect for advice and support, and to identify synergies to enhance each attorney’s practice and create integrated teams to serve our clients’ varying legal needs.
The Committee, led by Castello, also spearheaded efforts to apply for membership in the Allegheny County Bar Association’s ALLY Initiative. (ALLY: Attorneys, Learning as allies, Living as allies, and Yielding results.) The ALLY Initiative endeavors to engage law firms and other legal organizations to create more inclusive and equitable workplaces by participation in various key programs and projects targeting those objectives. Babst Calland was accepted as a member of the first ALLY Initiative class, and Castello, along with managing partner Don Bluedorn and Committee member Jessica Altobelli attended the ALLY Initiative’s Inaugural Event at the August Wilson center on March 15th. The Women’s Initiative Committee will work with Babst Calland’s DEI Committee to implement the ALLY Initiative’s goals.
The Women’s Initiative’s next undertaking in 2022 will be a Lunch & Learn panel in early April for the Firm’s women attorneys. The panel, moderated by shareholder Christina McKinley, consists of shareholders Lisa Bruderly, Kathy Condo, Jean Mosites, and Marnie Schock. The panelists will provide their perspective and insight on various topics, including professional and business development, tips and tricks, and lessons learned throughout their careers.
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. This course is designed to provide a brief overview of class action litigation and the requirements for class certification under federal and Pennsylvania law, and provide case studies from our practice applying those certification requirements in ongoing litigation.
Kathy Condo
Carla Castello