| Lorrie
Albert, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Lorrie is a 1991 alumna of the University of Pittsburgh School
of Law. She clerked for the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania
from 1992 to 1993. From 1995 to 2001, Lorrie did plaintiffs'
class action and consumer protection litigation. She was the
principal attorney for a group of individual plaintiffs who
alleged violations of consumer protection law, breach of contract,
fraud, and statutory bad faith by life insurance companies.
During 2002, Lorrie clerked for the Superior Court of Pennsylvania.
Tina
Baker, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Tina Baker joined KidsVoice as a staff attorney in
May 2002. Before attending law school, she earned a bachelors
degree in nursing at Carlow College. Following nursing school,
Tina earned her law degree at Case Western Reserve University
in Cleveland, where she was a member of the Law Review and
President of the Christian Legal Society. Prior to joining
KidsVoice, Tina served as a law clerk for the Honorable Marilyn
J. Horan in the Butler County Court of Common Pleas.
Amy
Smoyer Black, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Eleanor
L. Bush
Legal Director
Eleanor Bush is recognized as one of the leading experts on
juvenile law in Pennsylvania. Before joining KidsVoice as
our Legal Director, she spent the past eight years representing
children and addressing public policy issues at the Juvenile
Law Center in Philadelphia. When Executive Director Bob Schwartz
was on sabbatical, Bush was named Acting Co-Director of the
Juvenile Law Center. Bush also worked as an attorney for the
Pennsylvania Department of Education where she specialized
in vocational training and special education issues. She currently
consults with the Annie Casey Foundation to assess and train
agencies around the country regarding the health care needs
of foster children. Pennsylvania’s statewide organization
of adoption agencies, SWAN, contracts with Bush to train its
members on legal issues related to adoption. She received
her undergraduate, law, and school of management degrees from
Yale University.
Beth Calcaterra
Skadden Fellowship
Beth Calcaterra joined KidsVoice in September 2002. Beth is an alumna of University of Michigan Law School, from which she graduated in May 2002. In the summer prior to her third year of law school, Beth interned at Legal Aid of Cambodia in the labor law division, working to strengthen the rights of garment factory workers. As a third year law student, she was a member of the Child Advocacy Law Clinic where she represented children and parents in dependency proceedings. Prior to attending law school, Beth earned her BA in political science from the University of Michigan. In 1997, she became a Teach For America corps member and moved to Southern Louisiana. There she worked as a special education teacher at Fifth Ward Elementary for two years.
Beth has received a Skadden fellowship to focus on medically needy children. She will take her initial cases from the East region and the foster care/adoption case load. Beth will both represent medically fragile KidsVoice clients and work with Children's Hospital to coordinate the representation and provision of medical care for these children.
Leah Cullen, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Leah Cullen is a 1999 graduate from Emory University and received her Bachelor of Arts in English. While at Emory, Leah was a T.A. for Sculpture I and II classes in the Studio Arts Department. Leah received her Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Leah was introduced to KidsVoice through Dean David Herring at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she was enrolled in his Child Welfare Seminar. Prior to accepting her position at KidsVoice , Ms. Cullen completed Independent Study under the advisement of Dean Herring, worked as an extern in the field, and completed a clinical round at A Child's Place at Mercy Hospital observing forensic interviews.
Stephen
Dittmer, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Donna
DiStefano Gardner, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Donna DiStefano Gardner is a 1985 graduate of New England
School of Law. She Joined Legal Aid For Children in December
2000, following her relocation from New Hampshire. Prior to
joining the staff at KidsVoice, she practiced in the
States of Massachusetts and New Hampshire with a concentration
in family law. Her practice included divorce litigation, custody
and visitation disputes, and serving as Guardian ad litem
in high conflict divorces since 1988. Ms. Gardner also represented
children in school disputes, care and protection proceedings
and delinquency matters in District Courts of Massachusetts
and New Hampshire. Donna was appointed to serve as a Neutral
Evaluator in marital matters before the New Hampshire Superior
Court.
Donna
resides in McCandless with her husband and son, and is active
in her parish of St John Neumann. She was recently invited
to serve as a Board member of Sojourner House.
Linda
Fine, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Linda Fine joined KidsVoice in September of 2002. Linda is
an alumna of Duquesne University School of Law and has practiced
law for about 15 years. From 1987 through 1999 Linda worked
at Goldberg & Kamin, where she focused on Orphans' Court
practice, including adoption, decedents' estates, and guardianships.
She also represented grandparents in some dependency matters
and handled custody matters in the Family Division here in
Allegheny County. More recently, Linda has had her own practice
and has focused on elderly clients. Before attending law school,
Linda got her undergraduate degree in education from Chatham
College and interned at Craig House and the Western Pennsylvania
School for the Deaf, among other placements.
Cheryl
Gorski, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Before starting at KidsVoice in February 2002, Cheryl
Gorski had a general private practice. Ms. Gorski received
her B.A. from The Pennsylvania State University, Phi Beta
Kappa, in Political Science. She earned her Jurius Doctorate
from The University of Pittsburgh School of Law. She was a
Navy JAGG after law school where she was awarded the Navy
Achievement Medal for Prosecutorial Merit. Ms. Gorski has
been active in her community, church, and her children's school
by serving as a Girl Scout leader for six years, PTA President,
President of the Community Newcomers Club in Morgantown, President
of the Mon County Parents Association and many other school
committees.
Linell
Lee
Staff Attorney
Linell Lee became a KidsVoice staff attorney in September
of 2000. She previously clerked for Judges Nickleach and Valasek
in Armstrong County and spent her summers during law school
working for the Alaska Public Defender’s office and the
Federal Defender’s office here in Pittsburgh. Part of
her interest and commitment to our work comes from her personal
experience in successfully advocating for the appropriate
treatment and services needed for one of her children who
has autism. Linell looks forward to bringing that experience
to her work in advocating for the special needs and at-risk
children we represent.
Harry
Litman
Executive Council
Harry Litman is the former U.S. Attorney for the Western
District of Pennsylvania, where he had responsibility for
the prosecution of all federal crimes, and the litigation
of all civil matters involving the federal government in 25
counties in Western Pennsylvania. Litman has extensive experience
representing the government in the trial courts and the courts
of appeals. While an Assistant United States Attorney, Litman
was detailed to the Department of Justice’s main office
in Washington to work on several national cases, including
the federal reprosecution in the Rodney King case. He previously
served as law clerk to United States Supreme Court Justices
Thurgood Marshall and Anthony Kennedy and to Judge Abner Mikva
of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. In July
2000, President Clinton nominated him to a federal judgeship
on the United States District Court for the Western District
of Pennsylvania. Litman has taught as an adjunct professor
at the University of Pittsburgh Law School, Georgetown Law
Center, and at the University of California, Berkeley. He
received his B.A. from Harvard and his J.D. from Boalt Hall
at the University of California, Berkeley.
Elizabeth
McCall, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Elizabeth McCall is a 1999 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh
School of Law. She has previously worked in private practice
and served as a law clerk. She has provided representation to
victims of domestic violence. Also, she has worked with at-risk
children as a mentor and "Homework Helper" through New Day,
Inc. in Somerset County.
Cynthia B. Moore, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Cynthia Moore joined KidsVoice as as a staff attorney
in May of 2001. Before attending law school she worked in
the environmental arena for more than fifteen years for Westinghouse,
Alcoa, the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, and the
Indianapolis Department of Environmental Management. She is
a June, 2000 Duquesne law grad and worked at Goldberg, Persky
and Jennings before joining us. During law school, she clerked
with the Pennsylvania Environmental Hearing Board, Duquesne
Light, Caroselli Beachler, and the City of Pittsburgh.
Cynthia received her B.S. in Environmental Health Sciences
from Indiana State University, a Masters in Public Administration
from Indiana University.
Judith E. Patterson, Esq.
Senior Staff Attorney
Judith Patterson has been practicing law for 20 years, 18
of those years as a Child Advocate at KidsVoice, formerly
Legal Aid for Children. Ms. Patterson received her
Juris Doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh, class of
1982. In law school, she was awarded the 1982 International
Student Bar Association Client Counseling Competition. Her
duties at KidsVoice included in the past training new
personnel and law students through lectures, field trips,
on the job supervision, interviewing, and hiring and practical
supervision in the Court. Ms. Patterson has lectured to a
variety of organizations, such as PA Judges Conference and
the Juvenile Court Judges Conference, CLE training in conjuction
with Neighborhood Legal Services in 2000, and in-service training
for many of the group home and institutional placements in
the Juvenile Court system. Before becoming a Child Advocate,
Ms. Patterson worked as a paralegal for Neighborhood Legal
Services, in a general family law private practice, was a
secondary teacher as well as a Head Start and Follow Through
teacher for Kindergarten and First grade. Ms. Patterson has
also served on a numerous boards and been involved with a
variety of community activities. Most notbably, she served
as the Session of her chuch and the president of a local club
of Allegheny Mountain Swimming, a member of the organization's
board and the head of the first Judicial Committee for the
organization.
Rick Rogow
Staff Attorney
Rick Rogow is an alumnus of Duquesne University School of Law. He began his legal career as an attorney with Colorado Legal Services. He later co-founded the Center for Dispute Resolution in Denver and has served as a mediator for the Pittsburgh Mediation Center, the U.S. Postal Service, and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Before joining KidsVoice, Rick worked as a Regional Account Executive for Lexis-Nexis, covering central and northwestern Pennsylvania.
Pamela Spence Enck, Esq.
Staff Attorney
Pamela Spence has been a practicing attorney for more than
ten years. She worked in the Ohio County Prosecutor’s
Office in West Virginia, where she handled child abuse prosecutions,
delinquency cases, and abuse and neglect proceedings Pamela
also has been a municipal court judge in Bethany, West Virginia
and has worked in private practice handling divorce and custody
proceedings and medical malpractice and personal injury cases.
In addition to her J.D., she has a Masters in Public Administration.
Jennifer Staley
Legal Intern
Jennifer started an internship with KidsVoice in 2001. Jennifer continues to receive attention and accolades for her child advocacy work and public interest efforts. Besides receiving a Kirkpatrick & Lockhart/ Pittsburgh Foundation Fellowship to work with us. Jen was selected to receive the Allegheny County Bar Foundation Public Service Award as the 2001 Outstanding Law Student. Jen was also selected as CASA Volunteer of the Year.
J. Marie Webb
Staff Attorney
Marie Webb joined KidsVoice as a staff attorney in
January of 2001. She previously had a private practice in
Greene County, Pennsylvania where she represented children
in abuse and neglect cases for nearly thirteen years. Her
practice also included divorce and custody cases. She also
was a Assistant District Attorney and has served as a master
in family law proceedings in Greene County. She is the former
President of the Greene County Bar Association and for the
past eight years has published the Greene County Legal Journal.
Marie was a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Board
of Governors, where she was elected as the Women’s Governor
at large and subsequently was elected Secretary of the PBA,
a position she held until May of 2001. She is respected among
child advocates across Pennsylvania and is a frequent presenter
at statewide child advocacy programs.
Walter A. Wisz
Staff Attorney
Walter A. Wisz, born Johnstown, Pennsylvania, August 30, 1962;
admitted to bar, 1992, Pennsylvania, U.S. District Court,
Western District of Pennsylvania, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third
Circuit. Education: Indiana University of Pennsylvania (B.A.,
cum laude, 1984); University of Pittsburgh (J.D., 1992). Member
Governing Board for the Early Head Start Program at the University
of Pittsburgh; Member Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences;
American Society of Criminology. Adjunct Faculty, Mt. Aloysius
College, 1998-2000; Cambria County Community College, 1999-2000.
Member PA Bar Association Committee on Legal Education, 1999-2000,
Member Children's Rights Committee, 1998-present. LANGUAGES:
Spanish. REPORTED CASES: In Interests of S.S., 651 A.2d 174
(Pa. Super 1994); T.B. v. L.R.M., 753 A.2d 873 (Pa. Super.
2000).
Prior to joining KidsVoice in May of 2000, Walt gained
substantial experience handling dependency matters in Cambria
County, Pennsylvania. He spent three years as a staff attorney
for Southern Alleghenys Legal Aid, where he also worked as
a paralegal before going to law school. From 1995-2000, he
worked in private practice mostly in workers’ compensation
but also as an attorney appointed to represent children as
a guardian ad litem in dependency cases.
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