Mt. Lebanon attorney recognized
Meghan Tighe of Mt. Lebanon was the recipient of the Lorraine M. Bittner Public Interest Attorney Award. She was recognized recently at the 2023 Pro Bono Achievement Awards held at the LeMont Restaurant on Mount Washington.
The awards are presented by the Allegheny County Bar Foundation, which is dedicated to providing free legal services to individuals facing critical legal issues who are not able to afford attorneys to represent them. Each year, through its Pro Bono Achievement Awards, the ACBF recognizes individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to this worthy cause.
The Lorraine M. Bittner Public Interest Attorney Award is given to an outstanding and dedicated attorney who is employed by an entity or program whose primary function is the delivery of civil legal services to individuals with low incomes or organizations that serve the poor or disadvantaged. It is named in honor of the first attorney to receive it when it was established in 2005.
Tight has served as a civil legal aid staff attorney at Neighborhood Legal Services (NLS) since 2003. The position was intended to be temporary but Tighe has thrived in it for 20 years.
Tighe began her NLS career in the Helpline Department giving legal advice across a broad spectrum of areas of need before moving to the Elder Law Project, where she serves individuals over 60 years old regardless of their income or assets.
Tighe later pioneered the Medical-Legal Collaborative for Children. There she provides legal assistance for clients facing a myriad of legal issues including but not limited to housing, utilities terminations, public benefits, SSI denials and terminations, and bankruptcy. Her work through this project eliminates legal issues that contribute to health disparities.
Tighe also handles Protection From Abuse and custody cases through the Family Law Section at NLS and provides legal advice through NLS’s Debt Advice Clinic. She consistently takes the initiative to expand to new areas of law so that she can meet the most areas of need possible, demonstrating her passion for legal aid work.
As an award winner, Tighe will also be honored during National Pro Bono Week, Oct. 22-28. Pro Bono Week is a national celebration of the life-changing work that volunteer attorneys perform on behalf of clients with low incomes across the country.