Penguins soon-to-be general counsel seeks to reinstate law license
The Penguins newest legal advisor can’t practice law in Pennsylvania, yet.
Kevin Acklin, who is scheduled to start next month as a senior vice president and general counsel for the hockey team, said he filed to have his license placed on inactive status in 2014 because he was no longer practicing law as chief of staff for Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto.
Acklin, 42, of Point Breeze, was Peduto’s chief of staff until December. He had served since January as chief legal officer for Peoples Gas.
He said he will not act as an attorney for the Penguins until his license is reinstated.
“This is not a situation where I did anything wrong,” Acklin said. “I’m following the law. I’m following the rules.”
On Tuesday, Acklin petitioned the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Disciplinary Board to have his license reinstated, according to the board’s website. Acklin said he’s completed the continuing education courses required to be reinstated and has submitted necessary paperwork to the board.
His license is classified as inactive.
“Inactive is not a disciplinary status,” said Paul J. Burgoyne, the board’s deputy chief disciplinary counsel. “You go on inactive status voluntarily when you no longer want to pay the (annual $200) attorney registration fee. You haven’t been disciplined. You’re just not allowed to practice law by your own choosing.”
Acklin said he served in an advisory position at Peoples as “in-house counsel,” but never appeared in court or served an active role as a lawyer. Other attorneys working for the company handled legal affairs, he said.
Morgan O’Brien, Peoples’ president and CEO, did not return calls seeking comment.
The Penguins announced on Oct. 8 that Acklin had accepted a position as senior vice president and general counsel and would begin his new duties on Nov. 1.
The Penguins issued a statement describing Acklin as “an excellent attorney with vast legal experience.”
“He voluntarily went ‘inactive’ while he was working for the Mayor’s Office,” the statement said. “He has completed the normal process of being re-activated and his petition to do so has already been submitted. It does not impact his work as general counsel.”
Attorney’s contacted by the Tribune-Review said companies would typically require a chief legal officer to be a licensed attorney, but the person could legitimately serve in an advisory role.
“To me its not a perfectly clear cut issue,” said Bruce Antkowiak, a law professor at Saint Vincent College. “If you ask me is it usual or unusual, I’d say it’s unusual that a company would have somebody fulfilling that role who is not is not a licensed attorney. I suppose in that context as long as you’re not representing yourself as being a lawyer, and somebody wants to pay you for legal advice, I guess that would be up to them.”
Bob Bauder is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Bob at 412-765-2312, bbauder@tribweb.com or via Twitter @bobbauder.
