Amber Vala is in-house counsel at UPMC. Her practice involves advising on a variety of matters including supply chain, real estate, and payor contracting. While her work is mainly transactional, she also oversees various litigation matters that may arise within the aforementioned service lines that she supports. Amber brings a unique perspective to the traditional in-house role, given she has worked as an Assistant District Attorney for Allegheny County and has also practiced civil litigation representing national transportation clients. She uses her experience as a trial attorney and knowledge of the litigation process to provide her clients legal risk mitigating solutions to everyday healthcare problems.

Antoinette C. Oliver is a member of the Litigation, Insurance Coverage, Employment Law, and Intellectual Property Practice Groups. She is also a member of the firm’s Management Committee and serves as Co-Chair of the firm’s Associates Committee and as the firm’s Pro Bono Coordinator.

Her business litigation practice involves representing clients in commercial disputes in both state and federal court, as well as in arbitration proceedings.  She has litigated claims for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, fraud, negligence, UCC and insurance coverage.  Additionally, Ms. Oliver has litigated corporate disputes, including disputes over ownership as well as corporate misconduct.  She also has substantial experience in defending clients against products liability and personal injury claims.  She has been appointed as an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Neutral by the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.

A significant portion of Ms. Oliver’s practice involves representing clients in employment law matters, including employment discrimination claims, post-employment restrictions, covenants not to compete, and wage payment claims.

In addition, she focuses her practice on intellectual property law including trademarks and trade secret litigation. She has also represented individuals and companies before the Internal Revenue Service (in connection with examinations and appeals of audits), the Pennsylvania Department of Revenue, and the United States Tax Court (in connection with tax litigation).

In 2013 Ms. Oliver, along with Meyer, Unkovic & Scott associate attorneys, led the development and launch of the Landlord Tenant Project, a program operated in conjunction with Neighborhood Legal Services and the Allegheny County Bar Foundation.  The Project, which is a signature project of the Pittsburgh Pro Bono Partnership, provides free representation to individuals who have been denied Section 8 or public housing.  In addition, the Project represents those who need assistance to appeal a judgment of possession at an arbitration hearing.  The volunteer attorneys also staff a hotline, which provides advice to low-income tenants. In 2019, Ms. Oliver led the expansion of the Project to include pro bono representation of indigent clients at landlord tenant mediations held as part of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas’ Housing Court. Ms. Oliver was a member of the task force established by the Court to form the Housing Court and was instrumental in developing the provision of pro bono services offered to low-income individuals appearing before that Court.

As a result of their efforts, the Allegheny County Bar Association honored the firm with its Organization Pro Bono Achievement Award in 2014, and in 2017 the firm received the Pro Bono Institute’s Corporate Pro Bono Award. In 2019, the firm’s work on these projects was recognized by the Pittsburgh Business Times with a Corporate Citizenship Award.

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