A Day on Real Estate West 2023

Frank Kosir, Jr., is a partner with Meyer, Unkovic & Scott LLP in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and is a member of the firm’s Real Estate and Lending, Litigation and Dispute Resolution, Construction Law, and Energy and Mineral Rights Groups. He has significant civil litigation and general practice experience in all areas of real property law, and acquired extensive experience in all facets of real estate development, sales, construction, and leasing prior to entering the practice of law. Mr. Kosir represents clients in a wide range of matters including commercial and residential real estate tax assessment appeals, commercial and residential sales and leasing, oil and gas lease negotiations, title defense, commercial and residential landlord-tenant proceedings, and zoning and land use issues. He is a frequent lecturer at continuing legal education programs. Mr. Kosir was recognized five times as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® Rising Star® in real property law, and has been recognized five times as Pennsylvania Super Lawyers® Super Lawyer. Mr. Kosir has also twice been recognized in Best Lawyers in America. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Allegheny County Bar Association, and the Washington County Bar Association. Mr. Kosir received his B.A. from Washington & Jefferson College in 1998, and his J.D. from the Duquesne University School of Law in 2001. He resides in Peters Township, Pennsylvania, where he formerly served as a member of the Township Planning Commission and is now in his ninth year as an elected Township Councilman.

Mr. Yarsky received a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Dayton (1970) and his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law (1976). He is a shareholder and director of Sherrard, German & Kelly, P.C. in Pittsburgh and Chair of the firm’s Real Estate Practice Group. Mr. Yarsky’s practice focuses on all aspects of real estate, business and banking, estate planning, estate administration, creditors’ rights and civil litigation, including contract, construction and title insurance litigation. His real estate practice with developers, investors and lenders includes acquisition, development, construction, finance, leasing and zoning. Mr. Yarsky has lectured on real estate law for the Allegheny County Bar Association, the Community College of Allegheny County, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and various other providers of continuing legal education. He is a member of the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and American Bar Associations, has held various offices in the Real Property Section of the Allegheny County Bar Association and chaired that section in 1996. Mr. Yarsky is a past member of council of the Real Property Probate and Trust Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. He served on the Landlord-Tenant Advisory Rules Committee of the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County. Mr. Yarsky is admitted to practice before all Pennsylvania courts, the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Amy Coco is a shareholder at the Pittsburgh law firm of DiBella Weinheimer, where she has focused her practice on Professional Responsibility for more than 30 years. She represents lawyers, judges, and law students in matters involving ethics, licensure, professional responsibility, risk management, and law practice management counseling. Amy is the current President of the Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA) and previously served six years on its Board of Governors. Within the ACBA, she has chaired the Nominating Committee and By-Laws Committee, the Professional Ethics Committee (where she continues to serve as a Duty Officer), and the Lawyers Insurance Committee. She has also served on the Council of the Solo and Small Firm Section and chaired subcommittees within the Women in the Law Division. At the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA), Amy is Co-Chair of the Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee. She served as the PBA’s Woman At Large Governor (2021–2024) and chaired its Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Team from 2022 to 2024. She is also the Director of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law’s Incubator Program, mentoring lawyers as they establish solo practices. In addition, she is a member of the Washington County, Philadelphia County Bar Associations, as well as the American Bar Association and its Center for Professional Responsibility and the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL). A frequent lecturer and writer on professional liability, diversity and inclusion, and ethics issues, Amy has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America for Ethics and Professional Responsibility Law since 2024 and has been named a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer annually since 2018. In 2022, she was recognized as one of Pittsburgh’s Top 50 Lawyers. She earned her J.D., magna cum laude, from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1994, and her B.A. in Journalism from Indiana University Bloomington in 1989.

Mr. O’Keefe co-chairs Metz Lewis Brodman Must O’Keefe LLC’s banking and financial services group. He is a member of the Pennsylvania, District of Columbia and Allegheny County Bar Associations. Mr. O’Keefe’s practice is concentrated in the areas of secured lending, commercial loan documentation, creditors’ rights, workouts, bankruptcy, commercial litigation, real estate and other business transactions. He received his B.S. in Business Administration and Finance from LaSalle University in 1979 and his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law in 1982. 

Ms. DiPaolo is a partner in the property tax law firm of Siegel Jennings, Co., L.P.A. where she is a member of the Leadership Team and manages the firm’s Pennsylvania practice.  For 50 years, the law firm of Siegel Jennings has had a singular focus in representing commercial taxpayers on property tax issues; the firm has an practices in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois and nationally. Sharon is the Western Pennsylvania representative to the American Property Tax Counsel (“APTC”), a national organization of property tax attorneys of which Siegel Jennings is a founding member. For over a decade Sharon has been a member of the APTC’s planning committee for its signature event, the Annual Client National Conference.  She was the National Conference Chair for six years. She is the 2023 Vice Chair of the Conference. In 2021, Sharon was awarded the CRE® (Counselor of Real Estate) designation by The Counselors of Real Estate®, an international group of high-profile real estate professionals who provide expert advisory services to clients on complex real property and land-related matters.  Only 1,000 professionals in all disciplines of real estate hold the CRE credential in the United States and 20 additional countries.   Ms. DiPaolo represents taxpayers in assessment appeals throughout Pennsylvania’s 67 counties at the administrative, trial court and appellate levels. She has handled thousands of assessment appeals and trials for national and regional owners and tenants of commercial properties including major office buildings, shopping malls, fast food restaurants, big box retailers, pharmacies, strip-style shopping centers, apartment buildings, affordable housing complexes and industrial facilities. Prior to joining Siegel Jennings, Ms. DiPaolo was a partner at Reed Smith LLP and a partner at Pepper Hamilton LLP. Ms. DiPaolo graduated magna cum laude from Duquesne University in an honors curriculum and cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 1994 where she was Managing Editor of the University’s Journal of Law and Commerce. Ms. DiPaolo is a member of the Real Property Section of the Allegheny County Bar Association, the Institute for Professionals in Taxation (IPT) and Commercial Real Estate Women (CREW) Network.

Ms. Wohlfarth is an attorney at Papernick & Gefsky, LLC, in Pittsburgh. She represents financial institutions, borrowers, real estate developers and community associations and their boards. Ms. Wohlfarth’s primary areas of practice are commercial and real estate finance, commercial real estate, formation and governance of community associations, and general corporate law. She has represented commercial lenders, developers, landlords, property owners, association boards of directors, declarants and managers. Ms. Wohlfarth is a frequent lecturer in the areas of real estate transactions and associations law, including participating in programs and seminars sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the Allegheny County Bar Association and the Community Associations Institute, Keystone Chapter (CAI-Keystone). She is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association (past chair of the Real Property Section); and CAI-Keystone and its Legislative Action and Western Pennsylvania Steering committees. Ms. Wohlfarth received her B.S. in Accounting from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, her MBA from the University of Pittsburgh Joseph M. Katz Graduate School of Business and her J.D. from the Duquesne University School of Law, where she was managing editor of the Duquesne Law Review. She is admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania and before the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Supreme Court.

Mr. Boring is a Senior Associate and a member of Sherrard, German & Kelly firm’s Real Estate and Energy and Natural Resources practice areas. His practice focuses on zoning, land use, real estate development, and all aspects of local governance. He is a skilled advocate for real estate developers, leveraging his extensive background as a municipal solicitor to effectively navigate complex laws and regulations, and facilitate the necessary approvals for major land development projects. His unique insights, combined with his meticulous approach and in-depth knowledge, make him a trusted legal advisor in the realm of real estate and land use controls. In addition to representing private clients, he has represented numerous municipalities and municipal authorities throughout Southwestern Pennsylvania and continues to serve as the municipal solicitor to Carnegie Borough, Reserve Township, and Sewickley Borough.  He received his J.D. from Duquesne University School of Law, 2015, his B.A.’s in Political Science and Sociology, The Pennsylvania State University, 2011.