Brendan Bertig serves as the interim Executive Director for the Commission, directing the implementation of the recommendations contained in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Committee’s 2003 study on racial and gender bias in the justice system. Before stepping into this role, he served as the Commission’s staff attorney for five years, where he researched legal questions for, tracked legislation related to, and drafted reports on various Commission initiatives.
A member of the LGBTQ community, Brendan is dedicated to furthering the Commission’s goal of eliminating bias in the Pennsylvania justice system. Attorney Bertig serves as the Co-Vice-Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s LGBTQ+ Rights Committee, as well as a member of the PBA’s Civil and Equal Rights (CERC) Committee.
Before joining the Commission, Brendan interned for a number of governmental and non-profit organizations in law school. After clerking for the Allegheny County Public Defender’s Office his 1L summer, he completed an externship with Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services in the fall of his 2L year. That spring, he clerked for United States Senator Dick Durbin in Washington D.C., drafting legislation and preparing memoranda for the Senator’s Judiciary Committee staff. After his time in D.C., Brendan returned to Pittsburgh to clerk with JFCS Immigration Legal Services as an Allegheny County Bar Foundation Summer Fellow. He also volunteered for Reed Smith’s Name Change Pro Bono Project during his 3L year, assisting indigent transgender individuals in Allegheny County as they navigated the name change process.
Brendan graduated cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2020. At Pitt, Brendan received CALI Awards in Legal Writing and Environmental Justice Law Seminar. He also served as a Pitt Law Ambassador and member of the school’s Moot Court Board. Prior to law school, Brendan attended Duquesne University. He graduated summa cum laude in 2017 with a B.A. in Political Science and received the Top Student Award for the school’s Law & Politics concentration. In his free time, Brendan enjoys hiking, reading, traveling, and attending concerts.