Weiss Burkardt Kramer LLC is pleased to announce that Annemarie Harr, Esq. has been named a shareholder of the firm and Lynne Sherry, Esq. has been appointed to the position of Chair of the Special Education Department. Attorney Harr joined WBK as an associate in October 2015 and since that time has represented clients in all aspects of education law including special education, student services, and school employment law. Before receiving her Juris Doctorate from Duquesne University School of Law, Harr received her Bachelor of Arts degree in English with minors in Theology and Philosophy from St. John’s University and then went on to receive her Master of Arts Degree in Theology with a focus in Social Justice. Attorney Sherry joined WBK in August 2018 and focuses her work on special education law and student services. Sherry is a graduate of Providence College, where she received her Bachelor of Arts degree in Social Work with a minor in Spanish, and from the University of Pittsburgh’s dual degree program in Law and Social Work.

Weiss Burkardt Kramer LLC has been named a Tier 1 firm in Pittsburgh for Educational Law by U.S. News – Best Lawyers® “Best Law Firms” in 2025. We are also proud to announce Ira Weiss and Jocelyn Kramer have been recognized in the 2025 edition of The Best Lawyers in America®.

Weiss Burkardt Kramer LLC has named Attorney Annemarie Harr Eagle  as the Chair of the firm’s Special Education Law practice. In addition to her role as an Associate Attorney , she will now lead a team of attorneys specializing in special education law. Ms. Harr Eagle joined WBK in 2015 and has focused on special education, student services and general solicitor assignments, including school employment law.

Ms. Harr Eagle also serves as the Solicitor for Career and Technology Centers and school districts across Western Pennsylvania where she routinely represents school districts in special education matters including Section 504  litigation, employment matters, and Federal Civil Rights litigation. She also serves as an adjunct professor of Special Education Law at Duquesne University School of Law.

“Annemarie has become one of the region’s leading counselors advising clients and litigating special education matters for the past seven years,” said Managing Partner Aimee Zundel. “While in law school, Annemarie supported our firm’s special education lawyers as a law clerk. Now, she will provide oversight and guidance to our team of attorneys who practice Special Education Law.”

Attorney Harr Eagle is admitted to practice in in the Courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Allegheny County Bar Association, and is Chair of the Allegheny County Bar Association’s School and Municipal Law Section.

Weiss Burkardt Kramer is widely acknowledged as one of Pennsylvania’s leading public sector law firms focusing exclusively on education and municipal law. The firm also operates a delinquent tax collection service for municipalities and school districts throughout Western Pennsylvania.

For many years, WBK has advised municipalities and school districts on matters relating to general school and municipal law, public sector finance, special education, labor and employment, zoning, real estate tax assessment litigation, construction litigation, legislative enactments and general litigation.

Weiss Burkardt Kramer LLC is pleased to announce that Michelle E. Gannon has joined the firm as an Associate. Michelle will focus her practice on a range of school and municipal law matters.

Gannon graduated Magna Cum Laude from Duquesne University School of Law in 2015, where she was 3^rd in her class.  Michelle earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Pittsburgh with dual majors in Psychology and Administration of Justice.

Michelle brings a wealth of experience from her prior practice of family law and positions with the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County where she served as the Child Custody Department Supervisor and a Domestic Relations Officer.

“We are very excited that Michelle has joined our firm.  Michelle’s experience and passion for public service make her uniquely capable to advise WBK’s clients,” said Managing Partner Aimee Zundel.

Gannon is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, and the School and Municipal Section.

Weiss Burkardt Kramer is widely acknowledged as one of Pennsylvania’s leading public sector law firms focusing exclusively on education and municipal law. The firm also operates a delinquent tax collection service for municipalities and school districts throughout Western Pennsylvania.

For many years, WBK has advised municipalities and school districts on matters relating to general school and municipal law, public sector finance, special education, labor and employment, zoning, real estate tax assessment litigation, construction litigation, legislative enactments and general litigation.

Weiss Burkardt Kramer LLC (WBK) has announced its Managing Partner, Janet Burkardt, will retire after a 22-year career at the firm, starting as an Associate and completing her tenure as the firm’s Managing Partner since 2014.

Ms. Burkardt’s second career as an attorney began with WBK, formerly the Law Offices of Ira Weiss, and during the past two decades she was instrumental in managing the firm’s growth to become one of the region’s top municipal and educational law firms. She led the firm’s name change resulting from it becoming a fully women-owned law firm staffed by over twenty-three professionals who are vital to the firm’s work.

“As I enter my next chapter and reflect on completing my legal career, I am grateful to my partners, including Jocelyn Kramer and founder Ira Weiss, for enabling our firm’s female-focused staffing orientation that has helped us attract many talented attorneys to our firm,” says Ms. Burkardt.

Attorney Annemarie Harr will be giving a legal update at the annual Pennsylvania Association of Career and Technical Administrators (PACTA) Summer Leadership Conference. The Conference will take place at The Penn Stater Conference Center and Hotel in State College, Pennsylvania on July 27-29. 2021.

Several WBK attorneys will be speaking at Tri-State’s Dr. Samuel Francis School Law Symposium and Special Education Workshop being held virtually on June 23, 2021.

• Attorneys Ira Weiss and Megan Turnbull: Legal Intersections: Employee Speech, Social Media and Schools After Carr v. PennDOT.
• Attorneys Jocelyn Kramer and Annemarie Harr: Disciplining Off-Campus Student Conduct: The Evolution of School Authority.
• Attorney Annemarie Harr: Can’t We Just Give Them a 504 Plan?
• Attorney Lynne Sherry: Education Through a Trauma-Informed Lens: Legal and Practical Implications.

Ira Weiss and Annemarie K. Harr spoke on “Current Legal Issues in Education” at the 2019 PACTA Summer Leadership Conference held at the Nittany Lion Inn in State College, Pennsylvania on July 24-26, 2019.  This presentation included information on Acts 39 and 44:  Changes to School Safety and Police Services, Charter School Students and Special Education Reminders, Legal Considerations In Outsourcing, and Employee Due Process.

Weiss Burkardt Kramer Welcomes Attorney Amanda B. Jewell to the Firm’s Municipal and School Law Practice

PITTSBURGH, May 28, 2019 – Weiss Burkardt Kramer LLC is pleased to announce that Attorney Amanda B. Jewell has joined the law firm as an Associate.  Attorney Jewell’s areas of law practice include: labor, employment, student discipline, special education, Right-to-Know, and general solicitor work.

Previously, Attorney Jewell served as a judicial law clerk in the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania where she served in the chambers of Senior Judge Dan Pellegrini. She is a member of the Allegheny County Bar Association, active in both the Young Lawyers Division, and the Municipal and School Solicitors sections of the ACBA.

Ms. Jewell received her Juris Doctor degree from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, a Master’s in Art History from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom, and her Bachelor of Arts from Transylvania University in Lexington, Kentucky where she studied both art history and theater.

“Amanda is a welcome addition to our expanding team of municipal and education legal advisors,” said M. Janet Burkardt, managing partner of Weiss Burkardt Kramer, LLC.

Weiss Burkardt Kramer, now women-owned, is widely acknowledged as one of Pennsylvania’s leading public sector law firms focusing exclusively on education and municipal law. The firm also operates a delinquent tax collection service for municipalities and school districts throughout Western Pennsylvania.

For four decades, the firm’s attorneys have advised municipalities and school districts on matters relating to public sector finance, real estate tax assessment litigation, special education, labor and employment, zoning, construction litigation, legislative enactments and general litigation.

By Centre County Gazette, Jessica Dirsmith, 3/14/18

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