HARRISBURG, Pa. (May 1, 2023) — Jay N. Silberblatt of the law firm Silberblatt Mermelstein PC, Pittsburgh, will end his term as the 128th president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and become the organization’s immediate past president at the conclusion of the association’s May 5 House of Delegates meeting in Philadelphia.
As immediate past president, Silberblatt will continue to serve as an officer on the PBA Board of Governors.
During his year of presidential leadership, Silberblatt created the Task Force on Statewide Electronic Filing and Retrieval Systems. The multiyear initiative began with surveys and data collection about the civil filing systems used in each of Pennsylvania’s 60 judicial districts and with gathering information about existing statewide electronic filing systems used by other states. Next steps include working with the Administrative Office of Pennsylvania Courts to engage in factfinding about electronic filing vendors and an analysis of costs to establish a statewide electronic filing system.
Among other accomplishments, to increase civics education in schools, Silberblatt developed a partnership with Film Pittsburgh to bring the nonprofit’s Teen Screen program into more high schools across the state. Teen Screen curates films dealing with environmental justice, civil rights and criminal justice issues and screens them for high school students. Afterward, the high school students talk with PBA lawyers about the issues covered in the films.
Silberblatt is a longtime voting member the PBA House of Delegates, the policymaking body of the association. He is a member of the PBA Bylaws, Finance and Investment committees.
He holds memberships in numerous PBA sections and additional PBA committees, including the Civility in the Profession Committee, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee, Legal Academics Committee, Solo and Small Firm Section, and the Commission on Women in the Profession. He is a member of the PBA Minority Bar Committee, serves on its Executive Council and is a past co-chair of its Diversity Summit Subcommittee. He is a current member and past chair of PBA Civil Litigation Section and the Professional Liability Committee.
Silberblatt serves as a member and is a past vice chair of the PBA Review and Certifying Board.
He served on the PBA COVID-19 Task Force, which provided timely information to assist lawyers in their practices during the pandemic.
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 recently concluded a six-year term as 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. He has just been appointed by the Court to the Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial, and Ethnic Fairness.
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 has served 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 Pennsylvania 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.