Attorney Mária Zulick Nucci to Be Honored with PBA LGBTQ+ Public Policy Award

HARRISBURG, Pa. (April 20, 2023) — The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) LGBTQ+ Rights Committee will present its 2023 David M. Rosenblum LGBTQ+ Public Policy Award to Mária Zulick Nucci, a contract attorney for Allerton Bell PC in Douglassville, at an awards ceremony during the PBA Annual Meeting May 3-5 in Philadelphia.

Rosenblum, an active member of the PBA LGBTQ+ Rights Committee and a staunch proponent of civil rights, passed away suddenly in 2014. He was a driving force behind the report, “How Marriage Counts: 572 Ways Marriage Counts in Pennsylvania,” a joint publication of the PBA LGBTQ+ Rights Committee, the Mazzoni Center and Dechert LLP. Rosenblum was the legal director at the Mazzoni Center. The award honors individuals who have effected change resulting in a positive impact for the LGBTQ+ community and who have used his or her position of leadership to inspire others to act and promote civil rights and equality.

In her current practice, Nucci addresses business, estate, family and property law matters. She also has extensive experience in appellate law, pre- and post-trial advocacy, and legal research and writing. Previously, Nucci worked as a right-of-way agent for the Nevada Department of Transportation and focused on eminent domain and highways law. In addition, she worked as a contract attorney in aeronautical law and has published numerous articles about the topic.

A longtime member of the PBA LGBTQ+ Rights Committee, Nucci is the editor of Open Court, the committee’s quarterly newsletter. She has written various articles about LGBTQ+ topics, including the Masterpiece Cakeshop case and transgender service members in the U.S. military. Nucci is co-vice chair of the PBA Animal Law Committee and member of the Aeronautical and Space Law Section, Appellate Advocacy Committee, Collaborative Law Committee, Government Lawyers Committee, Judicial Administration Committee, Minority Bar Committee and Statutory Law Committee, among others. Nucci joined the PBA in 1984.

One of her nominators said: “Mária’s continuing, meaningful involvement in LGBTQ+ advocacy and legal education, often presenting respectful yet challenging issues for discussion, allows our community to think more critically and develop comprehensive and cohesive tactics when challenging legislation, presenting recommendations to the PBA’s House of Delegates, or representing clients more broadly.”

Nucci earned her J.D. from Temple University School of Law and her B.A. from Franklin and Marshall College.

For more information on the PBA Annual Meeting, visit https://www.pabar.org/pdf/2023/AnnualMeeting2023.pdf.