Lori McMaster, the Executive Director of the Professional Development Office at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, is the 111th President of the Allegheny County Bar Association. Her term began on July 1, 2019 and will end on June 30, 2020.

Ms. McMaster serves with senior administration at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law responsible for oversight of departmental and administrative functions within the Law School. As Executive Director of the Professional Development Office, she engages in employer outreach and supervises activities designed to increase opportunities for law students and alumni in diverse geographic markets. Ms. McMaster provides career counseling to students and alumni regarding job and internship opportunities in the private and public sectors, effective strategies for securing preferred positions, networking advice, cover letter and résumé review, mock interviews, etc. She regularly collaborates with the Offices of the Dean, Admissions, Development and Alumni Affairs, and the Pitt Legal Services Incubator on institutional outreach to prospective law students, alumni, members of the judiciary and leaders within the legal community.

Ms. McMaster serves on the Finance Committee of the Allegheny County Bar Association, Gender Equality Committee, and Committee to Advance Professionalism and End Gender Bias.  She formerly chaired the Nominating Committee, Women in the Law Division and Membership Committee, and served on the Headquarters Committee, Ad Hoc Committee for the Institute for Gender Equality and the Gender Equality Task Force.  Ms. McMaster is a recipient of the WLD’s Honorable Carol Los Mansmann Helping Hand Award.  Ms. McMaster is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s House of Delegates.  

Ms. McMaster practiced for nearly 20 years as a trial attorney specializing in complex corporate litigation involving breach of contract, civil rights, employment law, insurance law, personal injury defense, insurance bad faith, and products liability in state, federal and appellate courts in law firms in Pittsburgh, PA and Cleveland, OH.  Ms. McMaster has had trial responsibility through appellate proceedings and extensive first and second chair experience in all phases of pretrial and trial procedure in federal and state courts, arbitration proceedings, and has argued before the Pennsylvania Superior Court and U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. Prior to joining Pitt Law, Ms. McMaster was a Senior Attorney Search Director with Special Counsel, handling direct hire attorney placement for law firms and corporate legal departments.

In addition to her bar association activities, Ms. McMaster serves as a Lector for Saints John & Paul Parish in Sewickley and previously chaired the parish’s Special Needs Awareness Committee. Ms. McMaster has advocated widely on behalf of children and adults on the Autism spectrum.  She is a recipient of the Children’s Services Award of the Mental Health Association of Allegheny County, and the Community Champion Award of the Advisory Board on Autism and Related Disorders.