Lorraine M. Bittner, Esquire

Sherley & Ted Craig Award Honoree

Lorraine M. Bittner is an attorney who has provided legal representation for domestic violence survivors for over 40 years. She graduated from the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Law in 1979 and began her legal career at Neighborhood Legal Services (NLS) in Pittsburgh as a staff attorney and later Chief Attorney of the Family Law Unit. At NLS, Lorraine developed expertise in handling Protection from Abuse cases and other civil cases for domestic violence survivors.  In 1996, she was hired by Women’s Center & Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh (WC&S) to lead a Violence against Women Act collaborative project to improve the criminal justice system’s response to domestic violence. In 2001, Lorraine created and developed the Women’s Center and Shelter Civil Law Project, which currently provides free, civil legal representation for over 450 survivors of domestic violence every year.  Lorraine currently serves as the WC&S Chief Legal Officer and the President of the Women’s Center and Shelter Civil Law Project.

Lorraine is a member of the Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence’s statewide Domestic Violence Attorney Network and a member of the Family Law Section of the Allegheny County Bar Association.  She has served as long-term Chair of the Allegheny County Domestic Violence Task Force, which brings together representatives of various sectors of the local justice system for improvements in the county-wide response to domestic violence.   Through Task Force projects, Lorraine assisted Family Court with the creation of its Protection from Abuse (PFA) Unit and specialized PFA courtroom, coordinated Task Force members to draft and distribute the Handbook on Domestic Violence Legal Proceedings in Allegheny County, and developed domestic violence training for judges.  Lorraine is a frequent lecturer/trainer for attorneys, police, and others in the justice system on domestic violence and Pennsylvania’s Protection from Abuse (PFA) Act. She developed and served as lead trainer for over 25 years of a 4-hour CLE training for Pro Bono Attorneys representing domestic violence survivors in PFA cases; that training is still presented twice a year by NLS and major local law firms, with assistance from WC&S and the Allegheny County Bar Foundation’s Pro Bono Center.  Throughout her career, Lorraine has also provided expert domestic violence testimony and technical assistance for local and state governmental bodies as they have worked to address domestic violence in our communities. 

Lorraine has received various awards for her legal work including: the 1999 U.S. Department of Justice’s Award for Public Service; the “Woman of the Year Award” in 2000 from the Pitt Law Women’s Association; the Pennsylvania Coalition against Domestic Violence’s 2001 “Leadership in Action Award” for Legal Advocacy; the Allegheny County Bar Association’s inaugural Public Interest Attorney Award in 2005, which is now given to an attorney every year by the Allegheny Bar Foundation under the title “Lorraine M. Bittner Public Interest Attorney Award”;  the 2007 Governor’s Victim Service Pathfinder Award from the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency; the 2012 Edward G. O’Connor Fellows Award from the Allegheny County Bar Foundation for her commitment to excellence in her public service legal career; the 2014 Susan B. Anthony Award for Pioneering Champion from the Women’s Bar Association of Western Pennsylvania; and the 2019 Outstanding Service Award for her work on behalf of crime victims from the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Pennsylvania.