Duquesne Kline School of Law recognizes alumni with awards

Goodrich was recognized with the Distinguished Alumnus Award as an alumnus who graduated 20 years or more ago and has distinguished himself through achievements in the legal profession, the community, and to Duquesne Kline School of Law. Judge Clark was recognized for her service and commitment to Duquesne Kline School of Law and the Duquesne Kline Law Alumni Association with the Dr. John E. Murray, Jr. Meritorious Service Award. Williams was honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award, as an alumnus who has practiced law 19 years or less and who has distinguished himself through achievements in the legal profession, community, and service to Duquesne Kline School of Law. 

“We are extremely humbled to bestow these awards upon such deserving alumni. They have each demonstrated exemplary legal careers and tremendous service to the profession and their communities. We are grateful for their contributing and lasting ties to Duquesne Kline School of Law,” said Dean April Barton. 

William F. Goodrich

When young William F. Goodrich (Billy) was growing up in Penn Hills, he never dreamed that someday he would be one of Pennsylvania’s leading lawyers. Just before he was to begin undergraduate school, his father became ill and Goodrich had to keep working his part-time job at Kroger’s, casting doubt on his academic future. But Duquesne University came through for him, allowing him to start classes with a $500 downpayment. Four years later, when he wanted to go to law school, Duquesne came through for him again.

“I met with Dean John Sciullo and he allowed me to pay tuition by the month. It was the big break that I needed,” he says. “They gave me a chance. I love our school.”

For most of his legal career, Goodrich has headed his own firm, litigating civil cases involving negligence, civil rights, products liability, medical malpractice and criminal felonies and misdemeanors. He has litigated over 1000 civil cases to resolution and briefed and argued numerous cases before the Pennsylvania appellate courts. He has served as a special master on behalf of the courts and an arbitrator in both state and Federal court. He was elected to the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers association in 1988, and has served as parliamentarian, treasurer, secretary and president over the years.

Goodrich was elected to the Board of Governors of the Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, and has served as treasurer, vice president, president-elect and president. As a member of the Board of Governors of the Allegheny County Bar Association, he served on the Judiciary, Civil Litigation and Political Action Committees. In service to the bar and the community, Goodrich has been actively involved in the election of judges and other public officials across the Commonwealth as a member of political action committees. In 1996 he became a trustee of LawPAC, one of the largest PACs in Pennsylvania, for which he currently serves as the Statewide Executive Trustee.  

His many honors include: The Million Dollar Advocates Forum, Philadelphia Magazine PA Super Lawyer, Pittsburgh Magazine Best Lawyers, Best Lawyer in America “50 Best Lawyers”, Philadelphia Magazine Super Lawyer “Top 100 Lawyers in Pennsylvania.”

In addition to all of his professional activities, Goodrich remains active in his neighborhood as a member of the Brighton Heights Citizens Federation. A first-generation college and law school graduate, he continues to serve his alma mater by mentoring scores of law students and helping them find their place in the profession.

“It all worked out for a struggling kid from Penn Hills. My brother Jack is also a proud Duquesne lawyer, along with my daughter, my niece and my wife Beth’s nephew. “Duquesne was transformative for me and my family.” Because of Duquesne, there is no ceiling! 

The Honorable Kim Berkeley Clark

Judge Kim Berkeley Clark is a retired judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. Prior to her retirement, Judge Clark served as the President Judge of the 5th Judicial District of Pennsylvania (Allegheny County) from 2019 through 2023.  She is the first African American to serve as President Judge in Allegheny County. Judge Clark served as a judge of the Family Division, where she primarily hears Juvenile Court cases. Judge Clark served as the Administrative Judge of the Family Division from January of 2006 to January 2009 and from 2013 through 2017. As a retired judge, Judge Clark has continued her judicial service as a senior judge hearing all types of cases across the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.

Judge Clark currently serves as a member of the Pennsylvania Commission on Crime and Delinquency (PCCD) and as the Chairperson of PCCD’s Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Committee. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Juvenile Procedural Rules Committee and the American Bar Association Juvenile Justice Standards Task Force.

Judge Clark served as the Chairperson of the Pennsylvania Juvenile Court Judges’ Commission from 2015-2022, and the President of the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network from March 2020 until September 2022. She is a past President of the Pennsylvania Conference of State Trial Judges and the Allegheny County Bar Association. Judge Clark previously served as a member the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Domestic Relations Procedural Rules Committee; the Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission on Racial, Gender, and Ethnic Fairness; Governor Wolf’s Council on Reform; the Pennsylvania Juvenile Indigent Defense Action Network; Governor Wolf’s Juvenile Justice Task Force; co-chair of the Fatherhood Engagement and Visitation Workgroups and chair of the Dependency Benchbook Committee and the Dependent Children of Incarcerated Parents Workgroup for the Statewide Children’s Roundtable; the State Council for Interstate Juvenile Supervision; the Allegheny County Jail Oversight Board (Chair), and the Joint State Government Commission on Children of Incarcerated Parents.

Judge Clark is a frequent lecturer, speaker, and panelist on subjects such as juvenile law, trauma-informed courts, engaging incarcerated parents, implicit bias, servant leadership, judicial leadership, and procedural justice at universities and colleges and for organizations such as the American Humane Society, the North American Council on Adoptable Children, the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the National Council of Juvenile and Family Court Judges, the National Center for State Courts, the Georgetown University Center for Juvenile Justice Reform, the Association of Family and Conciliation Courts, Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, the Pittsburgh Pediatric Society, Pittsburgh Action Against Rape, Holy Family Institute, and many others. In 2011, Judge Clark was a keynote speaker for the first Canadian conference on Family Group Conferencing in Toronto.

Judge Clark has been the recipient of numerous awards including: the Drum Major of Justice Award from the Homer S. Brown Division of the Allegheny County Bar Association (2012), the Woman of Distinction in Law from the Girl Scouts of Western Pennsylvania (2012), the Judge Homer S. Brown Award from the Pittsburgh NAACP (2012), the Phillip Werner Amram Award from the Allegheny County Bar Association (2012), the Athena Award (2012), the Susan B. Anthony Award from the Women’s Bar Association of Western PA (2013), Woman of Legacy in the PNC Legacy Project (2015); the Ronald H. Brown Leadership Award from the Urban League of Greater Pittsburgh (2018); the Gwen’s Girls See the Best in Me Equity Award (2019), Carlow University Woman of Spirit (2020), the A. Philip Randolph Institute Bayard Rustin Award (2022), the Three Rivers Youth Nellie Leadership Award (2023), the Judge A. Leon Higginbotham, Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association (2023), the Judge Justin Johnson Award from Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts (2024), the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Onyx Woman Network (2024), the Lifetime Achievement Award from NEED (2024), the Judge Carol Los Mansmann Helping Hands Award from the Women in the Law Division of the Allegheny County Bar Association (2024) and the Gwendolyn J. Elliott Lifetime Achievement Award from the Shyne Foundation.

In June of 2013, Judge Clark had the honor of moderating a panel discussion on the needs of caregivers of children of incarcerated parents at the White House.

In November of 2017, Judge Clark received the William H. Rehnquist Award for Judicial Excellence. The Rehnquist Award, presented annually by the National Center for State Courts, is one of the nation’s highest judicial honors. This prestigious award honors a state court judge who demonstrates the outstanding qualities of judicial excellence, including integrity, fairness, open-mindedness, knowledge of the law, professional ethics, creativity, sound judgment, intellectual courage, and decisiveness and who are taking bold steps to address a variety of issues affecting their communities.

In June of 2023, Judge Clark received The History Makers Award in law from the Senator John Heinz History Center in association with the Smithsonian Institution. The History Makers Award is the highest award given by the History Center annually, honoring individuals with Pittsburgh roots/connections that have made a lasting influence and great impact on the region, the nation, and the world.

Joseph R. Williams

Joseph R. Williams is a 2009 graduate of Duquesne Kline School of Law. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Bethany College in 2006. Williams is a Partner at Pollock Begg in Downtown Pittsburgh, where his practice is focused on family law matters, including divorce and equitable distribution cases, custody and visitation, protection from abuse and support.

Since his graduation from the School of Law, Williams has been actively involved in the Law Alumni Association. He served on the Board for several years, including time as an officer. He served as President of the Law Alumni Association from 2018 to 2019. Williams has also sat on the Dean’s Advisory Board, serving under both Dean Lally Green and Dean Barton.

Williams has also been actively involved in the legal community. He served as President of the Allegheny County Bar Association from 2021 to 2022. Prior thereto, he held several leadership roles within the ACBA including a term on the Board of Governors, Chair of the Young Lawyers Division and a member of the Family Law Section Council. Williams is a Fellow of the Allegheny County Bar Foundation. He is involved in the Family Law Section of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, where he has served on the Council and Program Committee and spoken on a number of CLE panels.

In his private practice, Williams has consistently been recognized by his peers for excellence in the area of family law. In 2022 and 2024, Best Lawyers in America honored him as the “Lawyer of the Year for Family Law Arbitration.” Williams has been listed in the publication every year since 2018 in the areas of family law, family law arbitration and family law mediation. Super Lawyers magazine has recognized Williams since 2012, both as a Rising Star and as a Super Lawyer, a recognition bestowed on no more than 2.5% of lawyers in the jurisdiction.  In 2013, The Legal Intelligencer named Williams as a “Lawyer on the Fast Track” in Pennsylvania. He was also bestowed the “Outstanding Young Lawyer Award” by the Allegheny County Bar Association in 2016.