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WHEREAS, Eileen Yacknin is a Neighborhood Legal Services attorney and litigation supervisor specializing in housing law; and,
WHEREAS, Eileen earned her Juris Doctorate from Boston College in 1977; and,
WHEREAS, Eileen will be retiring from Neighborhood Legal Services where she has worked as an attorney fighting for the rights of disadvantaged people for over 48 years; and,
WHEREAS, Eileen has dedicated her entire legal career to providing representation to low-income clients so that their legal rights are preserved and their voices are heard in the justice system; and,
WHEREAS, Eileen has been a mentor to countless law students and attorneys, both at Neighborhood Legal Services and at legal aid organizations across the country where she is known for her encyclopedic knowledge of housing law and her willingness to share her time and wisdom; and,
WHEREAS, Eileen has had a long and distinguished career as a litigator, representing clients in state and federal court in order to protect their civil rights; and,
WHEREAS, Eileen, along with her co-counsel Evalynn Welling, successfully represented a client before the United States Supreme Court in Clark v. Jeter, 486 U.S. 455 (1988), in which the Supreme Court upheld the rights of mothers of illegitimate children to seek child support under the Equal Protection Claus of the 14th Amendment; and,
WHEREAS, Eileen was the lead attorney in Bray v. McKeesport Housing Authority, 114 A.3d 442 (Pa.Cmwlth. 2015), which preserved the due process rights for applicants for federally subsidized housing by ensuring that they had the right to a review by Pennsylvania courts; and,
WHEREAS, Eileen was the lead attorney in Calabro v. Prothonotary of Allegheny County, No. GD 93-013381, and her victory in that case led to the creation new state rules of procedure to prohibit such illegal attachment of debtors’ protected funds, thereby preventing predatory lenders from wrongfully attaching the bank accounts of hard-working Pennsylvanians; and,
WHEREAS, Eileen has repeatedly been recognized for her legal work and her dedication to serving the community, including receiving the Edward O’Conner Award for public interest attorneys from the Allegheny County Bar Foundation in 2023, the New Person Award from the Thomas Merton Center in 2013, the Founders Award from the Pittsburgh AIDs Task Force in 2008, the Civil Legal Aid Attorney of the Year Award from the Pennsylvania Bar in 2008, the Lorraine Bittner Public Interest Lawyer of the Year Award from the Allegheny County Bar Association in 2006, and the Striving for Excellence Award from the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Center in 1992; and,
WHEREAS, in addition to her work fighting for the civil rights of the citizens of Allegheny County, Eileen has generously donated her free time to many local organizations, including The National Lawyers Guild, the American Constitutional Society, The Thomas Merton Center, J Street, Temple Sinai, Bend the Arc, and the Pittsburgh AIDs Task Force;
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NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, that Eileen is a fierce advocate for the rights of the downtrodden and her community is better off for her lifelong commitment to deliver civil legal services to low-income individuals; and,
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Council of the City of Pittsburgh does hereby declare Tuesday December 9th, to be “Eileen Yacknin Day” in the City of Pittsburgh.