Associate Attorney
Barbara L. Valaw is an associate attorney at Grace Legal Offices whose background includes family law representation, employee benefits law, and public service. Her experience spans advocating for survivors of domestic violence and sexual assault, advising employers, and overseeing programs serving older Pennsylvanians.
Before joining Grace Legal Offices, Barbara served as a staff attorney at Transitions of PA, representing clients in divorce and custody matters in Union, Snyder, and Northumberland counties. Her work included court hearings and conciliation conferences, preparing legal pleadings, researching legal issues, and negotiating settlements. Through this role, she helped clients navigate family law matters during difficult and often vulnerable periods in their lives.
From 2015 to 2022, Barbara served as Director of the Bureau of Quality Assurance at the Pennsylvania Department of Aging. She oversaw regulatory compliance, program monitoring, and quality improvement efforts affecting services for older adults. Her responsibilities also included testifying before the Pennsylvania House Aging and Older Adult Services Committee on regulations affecting older adult daily living centers.
Earlier in her career, Barbara spent more than two decades practicing employee benefits law at Pittsburgh law firms, including as a shareholder at Tucker Arensberg, P.C. Her work included health and welfare plans, retirement plans, HIPAA compliance, and representing employers before federal agencies. She also taught in Robert Morris University’s Master of Taxation program and Duquesne University’s paralegal certification program.
Barbara earned her Juris Doctor from the University of Pittsburgh in 1984, where she served as an associate editor of the Journal of Law and Commerce. She later earned a Master of Public Health from the University of Pittsburgh in 2007. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Economics from Georgetown University in 1981 and has been admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania since 1984.
Education
- University of Pittsburgh, Master of Public Health, 2007
- University of Pittsburgh School of Law, Juris Doctor, 1984
- Georgetown University, Bachelor of Arts in Economics, 1981
Admitted to Practice
- Pennsylvania, 1984