The Erie County Bar Association and Northwestern Legal Services are pleased to honor Attorney Gary Skiba as this year's Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for his dedicated work on behalf of the civil legal needs of the low-income community in Erie.
Completing one major case in 2015, that allowed a pro bono client to discharge her student loan in bankruptcy giving her a much needed fresh start, Attorney Skiba devoted 39 hours of billable time to this pro bono case. Attorney Skiba has been an active volunteer since LAVA began in 1982, representing more than 30 individual low-income clients over the years.
Attorney Skiba is affiliated with Yochim, Skiba, and Nash in Erie with bankruptcy and general practice. His pro bono work focuses primarily on bankruptcy.
Attorney Skiba is a 1969 graduate of St. Vincent College with a BA in Economics, and a 1973 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Gary is a member of the Erie County Bar Association and a former chair of the Bankruptcy Section, and presided over the Civil Rules Committee. Gary has also served as Board President of Better Homes for Erie which he has been involved with for twenty years.
For his dedication to the legal profession, and his example to us all of our professional responsibility to help low-income clients who cannot afford legal representation in civil cases, I am extremely proud to acknowledge this year's Pro Bono Attorney of the Year – Gary Skiba.