HARRISBURG (May 18, 2021) — Jay N. Silberblatt of the law firm of Silberblatt Mermelstein PC, Pittsburgh, will become president-elect of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) at the conclusion of the association’s May 21 House of Delegates meeting. Silberblatt will serve as the association’s 2022-23 president.
A voting member the PBA House of Delegates, the policymaking body of the association, Silberblatt is currently completing his term as PBA vice president.
Silberblatt is co-vice chair of the Planning Committee and a member of the Finance, Investment and Leadership Calendar committees.
He is serving on the PBA COVID-19 Task Force that is providing timely information to assist lawyers in their practices during the pandemic.
Silberblatt is a member and immediate past vice chair of the PBA Review and Certifying Board. He is a member of the PBA Minority Bar Committee and serves on its Executive Council and is a past co-chair of the committee’s Diversity Summit Subcommittee.
He holds memberships in a number of PBA sections and additional PBA committees, including the Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee, Professional Liability Committee, Legal Academics Committee, Solo and Small Firm Section and the Commission on Women in the Profession. He is a current member and past chair of PBA Civil Litigation Section as well as the Professional Liability Committee.
From 2015 through 2018, Silberblatt served as the PBA zone governor representing Allegheny County lawyers.
Recognized for his commitment to the organized bar, Silberblatt received a PBA Special Achievement Award in 2000 for his work in planning the PBA Civil Litigation Section's Retreat; the PBA President's Award in 2002 for his efforts with Senate Bill 406 and Rule 1023.1 of the Pennsylvania Rules of Civil Procedure, and; a PBA Special Achievement Award in 2004 for his work in planning and presenting malpractice avoidance programs for the Professional Liability Committee.
Also active with the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the PBA, Silberblatt previously served on its Board of Directors and the Audit Committee.
Silberblatt is currently a member of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Continuing Legal Education Board, which administers the rules pertaining to the continuing education of lawyers and the knowledge and skills they need to fulfill their professional responsibilities. He also is a Hearing Committee member for the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s Disciplinary Board, which works to protect the public, maintain the integrity of the legal system and safeguard the reputation of the courts.
Silberblatt is a Fellow of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County. He has served on the organization’s Board of Governors, Professionalism Committee, Electronics for the Litigator Committee and Website Committee. He also is a member of the American Bar Association and serves on the Allegheny County Bar Association Board of Governors and is a past chair of the Allegheny County Bar Association Civil Litigation Section.
He has lectured on a variety of topics throughout the state and has authored numerous articles for legal periodicals.
Silberblatt concentrates his practice in civil litigation with a particular emphasis on lawyers’ professional liability matters.
In the community, Silberblatt is the vice chair of the Board of Squonk Opera and a member of the Forest Hills Borough Planning Commission. Silberblatt is a past president of Temple Sinai. He has served on the boards of directors of the Jewish Association on Aging and the Rauh Jewish Archives of the Senator John Heinz History Center.
A third-generation lawyer, Silberblatt was raised in Clearfield, where his father and grandfather practiced law.
Silberblatt is a cum laude graduate of Allegheny College and earned his J.D. at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he served as a senior writer on the Law Review. He is Board Certified by the National Board of Trial Advocacy as a Civil Trial Advocate and as a Civil Pretrial Practice Advocate.
Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association strives to promote justice, professional excellence and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access of legal services; and serve the lawyer members of the state's largest organized bar association.