Riley, Hewitt, Witte & Romano, P.C.
A Professional Corporation
A World of Experience with Local Trust
Mary Kate Coleman
Mary Kate Coleman joined Riley, Hewitt, Witte & Romano, P.C. in 2001. She brings to the firm a wide range of litigation experience.
Over the years, Mary Kate has handled asbestos, toxic tort, personal injury, property damage, employment discrimination, auto, UM/UIM, civil rights, medical malpractice, breach of contract, and product liability cases. Mary Kate has tried cases in state and federal courts and has been responsible for appeals in both court systems. She is admitted to the practice of law in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio.
In addition to her work as a civil litigation attorney, Mary Kate serves as a mediator and arbitrator, privately and for various organizations and panels, and often lectures on ADR-related topics. Mary Kate is past Chair of the Allegheny County Bar Association’s Alternate Dispute Resolution Committee and frequently writes about ADR topics for the ACBA’s Lawyers Journal.
Mary Kate is active in the Pennsylvania Bar Association, having served as a member of its House of Delegates for many years. Mary Kate is the former Co-Chair of the PBA’s Commission on Women in the Profession. She also served as Chair of the PBA ADR Committee (2020-2021) and currently serves as Co-Chair of the Committee (2021-2022, 2022-2023, 2023-2024, and 2024-2025).
Mary Kate is a Master of the Bench in and Past President of The W. Edward Sell American Inn of Court, n/k/a the Hay-Sell Pittsburgh American Inn of Court. She is the recipient of the Inn’s 2011 Eric W. Springer Professionalism Award. In 2013, Mary Kate was elected to a four-year term as the Third Circuit Trustee on the American Inns of Court Foundation Board of Trustees. In 2017, she was re-elected to a three-year term as a Trustee. She is the former Chair of the Editorial Board of The Bencher, the magazine of the American Inns of Court.
Mary Kate performs pro bono work as a volunteer with Uptown Legal Clinic. She also represents plaintiffs in protection from abuse actions and claimants in unemployment compensation claims through Neighborhood Legal Services Association. Mary Kate is a volunteer pro se attorney in Housing Court. She is an Emeritus Fellow with the Allegheny County Bar Foundation.
As a Senior Staff Member of the St. Louis University Law Journal, Mary Kate published “The Impaired Physician: An Old Problem Creates the Need for New Legislation,” 26 St. Louis U.L.J. 727 (1982). She authored “West Virginia As a Model: The Value of Mediation Training,” published in The Pennsylvania Lawyer (March/April 2003). She also authored “Mediator Ethics: A Primer for Attorneys and Judges,” published in The Bencher (March/April 2010) and reprinted in The Bencher (September/October 2024) as well as “Victim Offender Dialogue: A Benefit to Youth and Society,” published in The Bencher (September/October 2016). Mary Kate co-authored “Mediating a Case That Involves a Deaf Participant,” published in the Lawyers Journal (January 10, 2014). She was a contributing author to the Pennsylvania Bar Institute’s Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Civil Practice Manual, 11th, 12th and 13th Editions, Chapter on ADR.
In May, 2018 the Allegheny County Bar Association Women in the Law Division honored Mary Kate with its Carol Los Mansmann Helping Hand Award.
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In May, 2022 Mary Kate was the recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee's 2022 Sir Francis Bacon Dispute Resolution Award.
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In 2018 and 2019, she was appointed Chairperson of Merit Selection Panels to consider the reappointment of two United States Magistrate Judges in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
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Education
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B.A. Vanderbilt University, 1979
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J.D. St. Louis University, 1982
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M.B.A. University of Pittsburgh, 1983
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Certificate Holder from the June 2004 Mediation Workshop and June 2005 Negotiation Workshop offered through Harvard Law School’s Program of Instruction for Lawyers
Bar Admissions
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Pennsylvania, 1982
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West Virginia, 2000
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Ohio, 2007
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U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania, 1982
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U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 1987
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U.S. District Court, Southern District of West Virginia, 2000
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U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit, 1995
EMAIL: mkcoleman@rhwrlaw.com