Pittsburgh Lawyer Lisette M. McCormick to Receive PBA Civil and Equal Rights Champion Award

HARRISBURG (April 14, 2022) — Lisette M. McCormick, the executive director of the Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness in Pittsburgh, will receive the fourth annual Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Civil and Equal Rights Champion Award at an awards ceremony during the PBA Annual Meeting, May 11-13 in Hershey.

Developed by the PBA Civil and Equal Rights Committee (CERC), this award honors an individual who champions for civil rights for all Pennsylvanians by making a significant impact through constitutional advocacy, legislative acts or advocacy or individual representation and development of case law.

In her role at the Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness, McCormick directs the implementation of recommendations from the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania’s 2003 study on racial and gender bias. Based on the recommendations, the organization strives to raise public and professional awareness of the impact of race, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation or disability on the fair delivery of justice in Pennsylvania; suggests ways to reduce bias or discrimination within government and the legal profession; and increases public confidence in fairness within the commonwealth’s government.

McCormick is also an adjunct professor at Duquesne University School of Law, teaching courses on women in the law and feminist legal theories. A frequent lecturer and author, McCormick is a board member of the Program for Female Offenders and the National Consortium for Racial and Ethnic Fairness in the Courts.

Throughout her 40-year legal career, McCormick has focused on public interest law. Starting as a staff attorney for Neighborhood Legal Services Association in Pittsburgh, she moved to roles as assistant trial defender for the Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office, assistant counsel and deputy attorney general for the Toxic Waste Unit of the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Resources, and a private practice attorney focusing on environmental counseling and plaintiff’s employment litigation.

Within the PBA, McCormick is a member of the PBA House of Delegates, a past chair of the PBA Civil and Equal Rights Committee and a past member of the PBA Judicial Evaluation Commission Investigative Division. In addition, she has served in a variety of roles for the PBA Commission on Women in the Profession. McCormick is also active in the Allegheny County Bar Association and American Bar Association.

Recognized for her work, McCormick has received numerous awards, including the YWCA Racial Justice Award, The Honorable Carol Los Mansmann Helping Hand Award, the Susan B. Anthony Award from the Women’s Bar Association, the Duquesne University Law School Adjunct Professor Award and induction into the Century Club of Distinguished Duquesne Alumni.

 

McCormick received a B.S. from The Pennsylvania State University and J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law.