Attorney at Law

Serving Westmoreland, Washington & Fayette Counties

Mark J. Shire was associated with the former Shire, Bergstein & Galper firm from 1987 until the establishment of the Shire Law Firm in 1999. He has served as a law clerk for the Honorable David W. Craig of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania. From 1999 through 2003, he served as an Assistant Public Defender in Westmoreland County and Court-Appointed Criminal Conflict Counsel in Westmoreland  County for 16 years and in Washington County in 2018. He served as solicitor of the City of Monessen from 2004 through 2008, and from 2010 through 2013. He has served as the Solicitor of the Rostraver Township Zoning Hearing Board since 2003 and the Borough of Fayette City since 2018. He was elected to the Westmoreland Academy of Trial Lawyers, which recognizes excellence in litigation. Mark is a graduate of Monessen High School, Tufts University, and a 1985 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where he served as an editor of the Law Review.

He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and its Plain Language Committee, and the Westmoreland and Washington County Bar Associations. He has served as a member and president of the Monessen School Board, and was a former member of the Advisory Board of the Salvation Army-Monessen Citadel, and is a current member of the Monessen-Rostraver Rotary Club.


Mark and his wife, Gerrie, reside in Monessen.

Man In Suit — Monessen, PA — Shire Law Firm

Bernard S. Shire, Esquire, Retired

Bernard S. Shire is a graduate of Monessen High School, and the Ohio State University and its law school. In addition to his private practice, he served as Special Assistant Attorney General for the Pennsylvania Worker's Compensation Appeal Board, and as Solicitor to the City of Monessen, Monessen Redevelopment Authority, Rostraver Township and its Sewage Authority. He is a past president of the Westmoreland Academy of Trial Lawyers and the Western Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association. He was a member of the Pennsylvania and Westmoreland Bar Associations.


He continues to reside in Monessen.

MARK J. SHIRE, ESQ.

1711 Grand Boulevard, Park Centre

Monessen, PA 15062-1955

(724) 684-8881

shire@shirelaw.com

  • PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

    SHIRE LAW FIRM: Principal, August 1999 - Present.  Areas of practice: Personal Injury and General Civil Litigation, Criminal Defense, Estate Planning and Administration, Municipal and Zoning Law, and Real Estate.


    ROSTRAVER TOWNSHIP ZONING HEARING BOARD 

    Solicitor August 2003 - Present 


    CITY OF MONESSEN Solicitor

    July 2004 - December 2008; January 2010 - December 2013


    FAYETTE CITY BOROUGH SOLICITOR

    January 2018 - Present


    WASHINGTON COUNTY CRIMINAL COURT-APPOINTED CONFLICTS 

    COUNSEL

    March 2017 - February 2018


    WESTMORELAND COUNTY PUBLIC DEFENDER

    Assistant Public Defender (part-time), Courthouse Square, Greensburg, PA April 1999 - August 2003


    SHIRE, BERGSTEIN & GALPER, Attorneys-at-Law, Monessen, PA

    Associate, 1987 to 1999

    Areas of Practice:  Personal Injury and Civil Litigation,

    Criminal Law, Workers’ Compensation, Administrative Law,

    Family Law, Real Estate


    WESTMORELAND COUNTY Criminal Court-Appointed 

    Counsel, 1990 - 1994; 1997 - 1999; 2003 - 2012


    COMMONWEALTH COURT OF PENNSYLVANIA, Pittsburgh,

    PA, Law Clerk to Honorable David W. Craig, 1985 - 1987

    Researched and assisted in drafting appellate opinions: zoning, environmental, municipal, eminent domain law, public labor law, workers’ compensation, probation and parole, unemployment compensation, and state and local taxation 


    AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION, Pittsburgh, 

    PA, Cooperating Attorney and Legal Committee 

    Member, 1987 - 2005; Law Student: Summer 1983


    BASKIN & STEINGUT, P.C., Pittsburgh, PA; Summer Clerkship 1984

  • EDUCATION

    UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF LAW   J.D. 1985

    University of Pittsburgh Law Review

    Volume 46: Topics Editor                Volume 45: Staff


    TUFTS UNIVERSITY, Medford, MA; B.A. cum laude in English and Classical Studies, 1981


    TUFTS UNIVERSITY IN LONDON, London, England, 1979-80

    Concentration in Literature, Medieval History, and Political Science     


    MONESSEN HIGH SCHOOL Class of 1977

  • ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE

    FARRAR, STRAUS & GIROUX, Book Publishers, New York, 

    NY, Assistant to Director of Publicity, 1981-82


    PLENUM PRESS, New York, NY

    Assistant Production Editor, 1982

    Oversaw editing and preparation of college and graduate level

    Physics and Chemistry texts.


    PENNSYLVANIA LEGISLATURE, Harrisburg, PA 

    Intern for House Majority Leader, James J. Manderino, Summer

    1978


    UNITED STATES HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, 

    Washington, DC

    Intern for Honorable Austin J. Murphy, Summer 1977

  • AFFILIATIONS

    Admitted to practice: Supreme Court of the United States; Supreme Court of Pennsylvania; U.S. District Court, Western 

    District of Pennsylvania; U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit


    Pennsylvania Bar Association, Committee Member , Plain Language


    Westmoreland County Bar Association: Committees - Elder Law and Orphans’ Court,  Real Estaste, Fee Dispute; Ned Nakles Inns of Court (2010-2012)


    Westmoreland Academy of Trial Lawyers March 2017 - Present


    Washington County Bar Association: Committees - Pro Bono and Fee Dispute


    Monessen-Rostraver Rotary Club: President 2012-2013, Member 2004-present


    Salvation Army, Monessen Corps., Advisory Board Member : January 2008 - 2013


    Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association, 1987 - 1999


    Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, 1993 - 2009


    Westmoreland Bar Journal, Case Editor, 1988-90.


    School Board Member: Monessen City School District, 1989-1993, 

    President, 1992-93


    Monessen Community Development Corporation, 1988-91

    Board Member

To speak with our attorneys for our any of our practice areas or to schedule an appointment, call us today at (724) 684-8881 in Monessen, Pennsylvania.