Area of Emphasis
Steve Korbel is a shareholder in the Public Sector and Employment and Labor Services groups of Babst Calland. He is the past chair of the Firm’s Public Sector Group. Mr. Korbel has served as a municipal solicitor for more than 15 years and is currently Solicitor for Aspinwall Borough, Crafton Borough, Forest Hills Borough and the Town of McCandless’ Personnel Board. He also has served as special labor counsel to several municipalities, two counties and to the Pennsylvania Cyber Charter School. Mr. Korbel regularly counsels and represents the Firm’s municipal clients with respect to various municipal issues, including but not limited to issues related to general municipal issues, tax assessment appeals, municipal taxation, public bidding, Sunshine Act, the Right-to-Know Law, the State Ethics Act and general land use and zoning matters. He has extensive experience in code enforcement matters related to the Uniform Construction Code, the Property Maintenance Code and municipal zoning matters. Of particular note, Mr. Korbel has drafted intergovernmental cooperation agreements related to police, public works and utility services and has litigated code enforcement matters that have resulted in the condemnation of dangerous residential structures, the renewed maintenance of a stormwater retention facility and compliance with municipal mandatory sewer tap-in ordinances.
In addition to Mr. Korbel’s municipal law practice, he also counsels public and private employers in all aspects of the employment relationship, from hiring through termination. He advises clients on employment discrimination issues and rights, workplace harassment, disability accommodation, Family & Medical Leave Act compliance, employee handbooks, workplace investigations, disciplinary action, employment agreements, restrictive covenants, waivers and releases.
Mr. Korbel’s practice also includes the negotiation and enforcement of public and private sector collective bargaining agreements, Act 111 and Act 195 interest arbitrations and grievance arbitration. He represents clients before both the National Labor Relations Board and the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board in proceedings involving the defense of charges of unfair labor practices. Mr. Korbel has also litigated employment matters on behalf of employers before the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations and federal court. In addition, he also provides training for employers and their employees in the areas of workplace harassment, supervisory employees and employment law.
Background
Mr. Korbel is a 1999 graduate of West Virginia University where he earned a B.A. in Political Science and Economics. He earned his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2002. At the University of Pittsburgh, Mr. Korbel was the Lead Executive Editor of the Law School’s Journal of Law and Commerce. While attending law school, he served as a legal intern with the Honorable Donetta W. Ambrose of the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, the Honorable Carol Los Mansmann of the United States Third Circuit Court of Appeals and for Pittsburgh City Councilman, and current Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas Judge, Alan Hertzberg.
Memberships and Affiliations
Mr. Korbel was admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania in 2002. He is also admitted to practice before the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit and the United States District Courts for the Western and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania. Mr. Korbel is a member of the Allegheny County, Pennsylvania and American Bar associations.
Mr. Korbel currently serves as an elected Township Commissioner in Ross Township where he serves as President of the Board of Commissioners. As a Commissioner, he successfully leads the Township’s zoning and economic development. Mr. Korbel served as the president of White Oak Heights Civic Association, a homeowner’s association in Ross Township in the North Hills of Allegheny County from 2008-2012. He was appointed as the Chairperson of the North Hills School District’s Act 1 Tax Study Commission in September 2006. Mr. Korbel is a board member of Allegheny County & Western Pennsylvania Association of Township Commissioners (AC&WPATC). He is a past president of the board of directors of the Pittsburgh Human Resources Association.
Mr. Korbel has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Litigation – Labor and Employment since 2024. He was also selected to the Pennsylvania Rising Stars list (Thomson Reuters) in 2013-2016.
Publications/Presentations
Mr. Korbel regularly speaks and writes on numerous municipal law and employment and labor issues on behalf of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and other public and private organizations. Additionally, he participates in the Local Government Academy, CONNECT and other instructional programs for local government officials.
