Stephen M. Otto

I am a Pennsylvania lawyer who focuses his practice in the areas of consumer bankruptcy and consumer litigation. I am amember of the National Association of Consumer Bankruptcy Attorneys (NACBA), National Association of Consumer Advocates (NACA) and the
American Association for Justice.  I serve most of the western Pennsylvania region.  I am licensed to practice before the United States Federal District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, all Pennsylvania state courts including the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania,
and the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

I received my undergraduate education from Grove City College; I graduated with a B.A. in literature and religion in 1994. In 1997, I received a Juris Doctorate degree from the Duquesne University School of Law.  For approximately one year following graduation from law school, I worked for Tarasi & Tarasi, P.C. in Pittsburgh.  Shortly thereafter, I was given the opportunity to work for Neighborhood Legal Services Association (NLSA) as a Staff Attorney — which had been my goal since commencing law school, as I felt it was consistent with some of the activities I had involved myself with while in college, e.q.,
assisting with the construction of homes sponsored by Habitat for Humanity through a college program called Inner City Outreach.

After spending about three years with NLSA, I decided it was time to enter into a private practice of my own.  In January 2004, I founded my eponymous law firm — Law Office of Stephen M. Otto LLC.  My practice is almost exlusively consumer oriented.  I am a member of the National Association of Consumer Advocates, an origanization which requires its member attorneys to sign a “Pledge” to avoid the representation of any interests which conflict with consumers.

In January 2007, my friend and colleague, Jay Fleischman and I founded an organization called Bankruptcy Law Network LLC.  Since that obscure Saturday afternoon when I registered the domain name, “bankruptcylawnetwork.com”, the organization has grown to embrace 25 co-founder, co-owner consumer attorneys.  The goal of the organization is to educate consumers through a network of legal blogs (”blawgs”).  Readership has grown dramatically over the past year, and the network sites now receive thousands of unique visitors per day.

I grew up, live and work in the small town of Sewickley, Pennsylvania.  Sewickley is just twenty minutes outside of Pittsburgh and is about fifteen minutes from the Pittsburgh International Airport.  I am a Christian.

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