Sheila M. Burke

Ms. Burke is a litigator in the areas of both professional and general liability. She represents insurance agents, brokers, real estate agents, lawyers, home inspectors, accountants, and officers/directors, and is highly experienced in all general insurance defense areas, including automobile law, premises liability, products liability, and defending insurance carriers in bad faith lawsuits.

An experienced trial and arbitration lawyer, Ms. Burke's practice for the past 20 years has spanned across Western Pennsylvania. She is committed to her clients and works with them to reach the best resolution possible. Her experience includes risk management, managing litigation, trying cases, negotiating settlements, and handling appeals. 

Ms. Burke is also an active member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, currently serving as a Council Member for the Civil Litigation section. In the past she served as Council Member for Women in the Law Division, Chair of the Young Lawyers Division, and as a member of the Judiciary Committee, Gender Equality Task Force, and Board of Governors. Ms. Burke is a past Board Member and Secretary for the Professional Liability Defense Federation. She also served on the Duquesne University Law School Alumni Board as a Governor and as member of the PBA Women in Profession Committee.

Ms. Burke's volunteer work outside of her practice centers on serving children and the elderly. She is currently a member of the Board of Directors for Vincentian Collaborative System, and chairs its Compensation Committee. VCS is a Catholic not-for-profit health care and human services organization that coordinates three senior care communities in the greater Pittsburgh, PA area - Vincentian Home, Vincentian de Marillac and Marian Manor. She has been a volunteer with the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Pennsylvania and West Virginia for over twenty years and has spent time reading with children through the Reading is Fundamental program. Sheila also donates her time to her parish, Saint Sebastian in the North Hills as a lector, Children's Liturgy teacher and as a part of the baptism preparation team. She assists in her children's school as the Secretary of the Athletic association and as a 4th grade basketball coach. She also devotes time to promoting Allan's Hope, a foundation which provides assistance to children who have lost a parent. Allan's Hope was started by the wife of Allan Wertz, an attorney who Sheila worked with who was killed in an automobile accident in 2009.

MEMBERSHIPS

PRESENT:

Professional Liability Defense Federation - Secretary, Board of Directors, 2013-2015
Allegheny County Bar Association Women in Law Division - Council Member 2013-2015
DRI - Insurance Law and Professional Liability Committees
Claims & Litigation Management Alliance
Professional Liability Underwriting Society
Women's Bar Associaton of Western Pennsylvania

PAST:

Pennsylvania Bar Association - Women in Profession Committee
Allegheny County Bar Associaiton - Chair, Young Lawyers Division, 2003-2004; Judiciary Committee, 2003-2006
Pennsylvania Association for Justice