Meyer, Unkovic & Scott announced that it has elected Christopher P. Smith, Jr. to serve as its managing partner. The firm has also re-elected Robert E. Dauer, Jr. to serve on the management committee for a two-year term.
Chris Smith follows Patti Dodge, who has led the firm for the past six years, as managing partner. Patti will continue to serve as a member of the firm’s Management Committee along with W. Grant Scott, Rob Dauer, Chad I. Michaelson, and Chris Smith.
The Management Committee of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott is responsible for governing the firm, leading strategic initiatives and ensuring that the firm provides superior legal representation to its diverse group of business clients.
Patricia L. Dodge served as managing partner of Meyer, Unkovic & Scott from 2012 – 2018. She represents a wide range of foreign and domestic corporations, closely-held businesses, municipal agencies and individuals in connection with complex commercial litigation, securities fraud, product liability and land use litigation. Dodge has been selected for inclusion in The Best Lawyers in America® every year since 2007, and has been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer® every year since 2005. The Legal Intelligencer named Dodge as a “Woman of the Year” in 2012, the same year the Civil Litigation Section of the Allegheny Bar Association honored her with its Professionalism Award. The Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania named Dodge a “2014 Woman of Distinction.” In 2015, the Legal Intelligencer awarded Dodge its “Lifetime Achievement Award,” and the Pittsburgh Business Times presented Dodge with a “BusinessWomen First Award.” In 2016, Dodge was recognized at the 7th Annual Diversity & Leadership Conference with their “Pittsburgh Most Powerful and Influential Women Award, ” and was recognized as a BTI Client All Star. Last year she was selected by Lawdragon as one of the “500 Leading Lawyers in America” for 2017. A graduate of Pennsylvania State University, Dodge earned her Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law, which honored her with the “Distinguished Alumni Award” in 2015.
Grant Scott is chair of the firm’s Real Estate & Lending Group and counsels clients on the structuring, negotiation and documentation of sophisticated real estate transactions, including the acquisition, sale and disposition of real properties. He has been selected for inclusion in Best Lawyers® for his practice of real estate law and has been named in Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® every year since 2007. Scott is the longest tenured member of Meyer Unkovic & Scott’s Management Committee – having served since 2005. A graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh Class XI, he is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute Faculty, the National Association of Industrial and Office Properties, and the International Council of Shopping Centers. Scott received his Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law and Bachelor of Arts from the University of Virginia. He and his wife Cindy reside in Sewickley (Edgeworth).
Robert E. Dauer, Jr. chairs the firm’s Creditors’ Rights & Bankruptcy Group. His practice focuses on real estate, corporate, commercial, securities and bankruptcy legal matters and litigation. In 2014, Best Lawyers® named him “Lawyer of the Year” for litigation-bankruptcy in the Pittsburgh area. Dauer serves on the board of directors of the Greater Pittsburgh Chamber of Commerce. He earned a Master of Business Administration from the University of Pittsburgh Katz Graduate School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts in political science and business from the University of Pittsburgh. Dauer is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He resides in Shadyside.
Chad I. Michaelson is chair of the firm’s Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group. He is a trial lawyer with more than 15 years of experience resolving complex business disputes. He focuses his practice on commercial litigation and construction. Michaelson has been named in The Best Lawyers in America® since 2015 and Super Lawyers named him a Pennsylvania Rising Star for seven consecutive years. He is chair of the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Construction Law Section, and a director of the local nonprofit Rebuilding Together Pittsburgh. A resident of Mt. Lebanon, Michaelson serves on the Mt. Lebanon Board of Appeals and is an attorney advisor for the Seton-LaSalle High School Mock Trial Program. He is a graduate of West Virginia University and Emory University School of Law.
Christopher P. Smith, Jr. serves as the firm’s Managing Partner. Smith regularly represents lenders, borrowers, purchasers, property owners, tenants and sellers in all matters related to real estate, including buying, selling and developing property; commercial and residential lending; property leases; zoning matters; and oil and gas leases. He also helps clients in legal issues related to creditors’ rights and bankruptcy matters. Smith is board chair of Residential Resources Incorporated, a nonprofit which provides housing aid to people with disabilities. A graduate of Notre Dame University, he is a member of the Notre Dame Alumni Club of Pittsburgh and the Notre Dame Monogram Club. Smith received his Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law. He resides in Robinson Township.
