Jessica Durkin

Jessica is the operations manager and legal secretary in CJP’s Pittsburgh office. As a trained communications specialist, she also assists with the firm’s media relations and social media accounts.

Jessica is a past newspaper reporter and worked at daily newspapers in New England and Scranton, PA. She left newspapers during the industry’s retraction as it went from print to all-digital, and for a few years studied independent online news start-ups, local media ecosystems and media policy for a Washington, DC think tank. Before joining CJP, Jessica worked in the social justice movement in Pittsburgh on the communications team of a hospital worker organizing campaign.

Jessica entered the legal industry with a paralegal certification after a longtime interest in access to justice (A2J) when she saw a largely unmet need for legal representation among low-income communities and individuals.

Jessica is on the board of the Pittsburgh Paralegal Association and is that group’s regional representative for the National Federation of Paralegal Associations. She is interested in policy around paralegals providing mutual aid in pro bono work to remove the cost burden on low-income clients.

In 2021, Jessica was part of a CJP team of attorneys and several tenant groups to be given the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Award for Excellence for their collaborative work on eviction prevention in Allegheny County during the COVID-19 lockdown.

Jessica received a bachelor’s degree in communications-journalism from Cal Poly Pomona, and has a paralegal certificate from the Community College of Allegheny County. She spent a year in AmeriCorp VISTA on assignment with a community economic development firm in Pittsburgh’s South Hills.

Jessica is a South Texas native.