PEC’s John W. Ubinger Receives PA Bar Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award

Harrisburg – John W. Ubinger, Jr., a senior vice president with the Pennsylvania Environmental Council, was presented with a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association for enhancing and furthering the practice of environmental law.

The award was presented in Harrisburg yesterday by the PBA’s Environmental and Energy Law Section.

Ubinger is a former chair of the Environmental and Energy Law Section of the PBA and has more than 35 years of broad-based experience in environmental law, including environmental compliance counseling, litigation and dispute resolution.

Throughout his career, Ubinger has been a tireless advocate of environmental dispute resolution and helped establish a number of important initiatives to promote problem-solving in environmental matters without the need for litigation. In 1987, he formed and chaired a committee to develop, promote and implement alternative dispute resolution in environmental law. He also served on the steering committee of PennAccord and was a liaison between PennAccord and the ACBA Environmental Law Committee.

In his role at the Pennsylvania Environmental Council (PEC), Mr. Ubinger is leading efforts to address deficiencies in regulatory programs around Marcellus Shale development and working to encourage the uses of green infrastructure in stormwater management projects. In addition, Ubinger teaches graduate courses in conflict resolution at the Center for Environmental Research and Education at Duquesne University. He routinely makes presentations to law students at Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh on environmental conflict resolution topics and, on occasion, has mentored students in their evaluation of career opportunities.

He was also a founding director and has served as an officer of the Allegheny Land Trust, where he has been a part of the effort to conserve and protect lands that support the scenic, recreational and environmental well-being of Allegheny County.

Prior to joining PEC in 2008, Ubinger was an attorney in the Pittsburgh office of Jones Day, where he led that office’s environmental practice from 1990-2008. He also practiced in the Pittsburgh office of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott from 1973–1990 and chaired that firm’s environmental practice.

He is a graduate of Ohio University and the University of Notre Dame Law School.

Ubinger is also a member of the environmental law sections of numerous professional organizations, including the American Bar Association, Pennsylvania Bar Association, Allegheny County Bar Association and the Association for Conflict Resolution. He is also a fellow of the Air & Waste Management Association and an associate of the Environmental Law Institute.

Additionally, Ubinger was named as one of America’s Leading Lawyers for Business from 2003-2008, Best Lawyers in America from 2006-2008 and a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer.

Mr. Ubinger and his wife, Linda, reside in Hampton Township, Pa.