First Female Law Dean Named at Duquesne University

The Honorable Maureen Lally-Green has been named the first female to serve as dean of Duquesne University School of Law, effective July 1, 2017. She has been serving as interim dean since July 2016.

Maureen Lally-Green

“During her highly-productive year in the dean’s office, Dean Lally-Green has already made significant strides in developing new academic programs, building strong ties with alumni across the United States, working collaboratively with faculty colleagues, and forging new pathways for Duquesne law school as it re-invents legal education for a new era,” said President Ken Gormley. “There is no person better suited to lead Duquesne law school to the next level of excellence than Judge Lally-Green; I’m thrilled that she has accepted this appointment. Her talent, wisdom, expertise and impeccable integrity will leave a brilliant imprint on the law school for many years to come.”

During Lally-Green’s tenure as interim dean, the School of Law has, among other achievements:

  • Celebrated a 91.6% first-time taker pass rate on the July 2016 Pennsylvania Bar Exam, placing Duquesne second among 10 Pennsylvania-area law schools
  • Launched its Education Law Clinic, which helps families with K-12 children navigate specific legal issues related to educational standing
  • Partnered with The Pennsylvania Innocence Project to house a Pittsburgh-based office in the law school’s Tribone Center for Clinical Legal Education
  • Garnered a $100,000 Juvenile Reentry Assistance Program grant through its Juvenile Defender Clinic that will enable the school and the Housing Authority of the City of Pittsburgh to assist current and potential public housing residents with juvenile record expungements.

“It has been a great privilege to serve Duquesne this past year with our extraordinarily talented Law faculty, administration and staff. I thank President Ken Gormley and his team, our board of directors, and our remarkable alumni and law school friends for their continued and sustained support,” said Lally-Green. “Together, each day, we serve our students so that they may serve others, as splendid lawyers and as highly effective leaders in all parts of society.”

In 1998, Lally-Green was appointed by Gov. Tom Ridge and confirmed by the Pennsylvania Senate as a judge of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Thereafter, she was elected to a 10-year term beginning in January of 2000, and served until her retirement a decade later. She then served as associate general secretary and/or director of the Office of Church Relations for the Catholic Diocese of Pittsburgh until August 2015.

During her rich, diverse law career, Lally-Green has worked as an associate with a private Pittsburgh law firm; as counsel to Commodity Futures Trading Commission in Washington, D.C., and the former Westinghouse Electric Corporation; and as a consultant to justices of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. She served as a professor of law at Duquesne from 1983-98, and subsequently as an adjunct law professor, teaching Appellate Practice and Procedure and Federal Employment Discrimination Law.

Lally-Green currently serves the Pennsylvania Supreme Court as a member of its Continuing Education Board of Judges. She has served the Court as chair, vice chair and a member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court’s Appellate Court Procedural Rules Committee. Lally-Green co-chaired the subcommittee that recommended substantial changes to the appellate rules involving children/family matters. She was secretary of the Pennsylvania Intergovernmental Commission on Race, Gender and Ethnic Fairness. Lally-Green chaired the committee that developed and proposed to the Supreme Court a Non-Discrimination Policy and Procedures for the judicial branch of government, which was adopted and became effective in January 2008. She also chaired the Supreme Court’s Gender Fairness Implementation Committee.

Lally-Green’s many honors and recognitions include the Helping Hands Judge Mansmann Award; the President’s Award from Saint Francis University; the Ann X. Alpern Award; and a St. Thomas More Award from the St. Thomas More Society. She was inducted into the Century Club of Distinguished Duquesne University Alumni in 2010 and presented with the Duquesne University Law School Distinguished Alumna Award in 2001.

Currently, Lally-Green is chair of the UPMC Mercy Hospital Board of Directors; is chair of the Cardinal Wuerl North Catholic High School Board of Directors; and is a member of the board of directors of Saint Vincent College and of the board of regents of Saint Vincent Seminary.

Lally-Green earned both a B.S. in secondary education (mathematics, 1971) and her J.D. (1974) from Duquesne University.