The Name Change Project

The Pittsburgh office of Reed Smith LLP leads Pittsburgh's efforts in the Name Change Project, a pro bono initiative organized by the New York City-based Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund (TLDEF) that pairs volunteer attorneys with local transgender residents who wish to have their names legally changed to match their identities. To meet the Pittsburgh transgender community's strong demand for the project's services, Reed Smith expanded its efforts in many ways last year. In 2016, Reed Smith's 23 volunteers in Pittsburgh devoted over 1,000 hours to the project, successfully completing 33 name changes for clients in the local state court and bringing on 42 new clients throughout the year. Reed Smith's Project Chair, Kyle Bahr, recruited and trained the legal departments of longtime firm clients PNC Bank and Highmark (a Blue Cross and Blue Shield health insurer) to participate in 2016, joining BNY Mellon's in-house team, which partnered with the firm to bring the Name Change Project to Pittsburgh in 2013.