Attorney Christine T. Elzer has a wide range of experience in employment litigation and counseling. She regularly presents on advanced employment law topics to local and national audiences of attorneys for the National Employment Lawyers Association (NELA), the Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI), and the Allegheny County Bar Association (ACBA). Her writing on employment law issues has been published by PBI, NELA, The Georgetown Journal of Gender and Law, The University of Pittsburgh Law Review, and The Pittsburgh Business Times.

In an era when only about 2% of civil cases make it to trial, Christine stands out as an experienced trial lawyer. She is a member of the Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County, a prestigious group of "civil trial lawyers who have exhibited excellence and the highest level of ethical standards and professionalism." The Academy undertakes a rigorous selection process and caps membership at 250 attorneys. Christine has also participated in NELA's Trial Boot Camp, an intense three-day seminar taught by some of the best employee-side trial lawyers in the country, which culiminates in a mock trial of a real employment case. In 2019, she attended Trial Boot Camp an advocate. In 2022, she returned as a co-team leader and presenter.

Ms. Elzer is heavily involved in the workers' rights legal community. She is serving her second three-year term on the Board of NELA, as the only attorney from Western Pennsylvania on this national Board. She has been a member of NELA's Judicial Nominations Committee since 2014, and worked on its Annual Convention Committee in 2020 and 2021. She is the Co-Chair of NELA's Amicus Advisory Council, and serves on other NELA committees as well. She served as the Chair of the Western Pennsylvania Employment Lawyers Association (WPELA), a NELA affiliate, for four years, as the longest-serving, youngest, and first woman Chair. She continues to serve as WPELA's Amicus Committee Chair, where she coordinates the submission of appellate briefs in support of workers' rights issues in Pennsylvania.

Christine is also a trained mediator, and is active in the Western Pennsylvania mediation community. She served on the Board of Directors of the Mediation Council of Western Pennsylvania for six years, where she held officer positions. She appears on the approved list of neutrals for the Western District of Pennsylvania's ADR program. She has spoken to audiences several times on Early Neutral Evaluation (ENE) as a form of alternative dispute resolution. She also provides mediation services pro bono for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the Pittsburgh Commission on Human Relations. Additionally, she serves as a mediator and arbitrator for Allegheny County's Housing Court, and as an arbitrator for Allegheny County's arbitration program.

Ms. Elzer was selected by Best Lawyers in America for 2025, and by Pennsylvania Super Lawyers in 2023 and 2024. Prior to that, she spent twelve consecutive years on Pennsylvania Super Lawyers' Rising Stars list. This honor is awarded to no more than 2.5% of the attorneys in the state. She has a perfect rating on Avvo.com, where her clients have described her as "a knowledgeable attorney who has your best interest at heart,” and whose “professionalism and attention to detail is extremely meticulous.” She is admitted to practice before all Pennsylvania state and federal courts, the US Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the US Supreme Court.

EDUCATION

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH SCHOOL OF LAW
Juris Doctor, magna cum laude, 2008

Honors

Order of the Coif
Dean’s Scholarship
CALI Awards (Highest Grade)
- Legal Analysis and Writing; Gender and Law; Spanish for Lawyers 2

Activities

University of Pittsburgh Law Review: Senior Topics Editor
Teaching Assistant: Legal Analysis and Writing

UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH
Bachelor of Arts, summa cum laude, 2005
Majors: Sociology and Spanish

Certificate: Latin American Studies

Honors

University Scholar Award for Top 2% of Class
V.F. Rodriguez Award, Best Research Proposal for Study Abroad
Robert W. Avery Award for Top Sociology Major

PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS

National Employment Lawyers Association: Board Member, 2020-present; Amicus Advisory Council Co-Chair, 2023-present; Judicial Nominations Committee Member, 2014-present; Member, 2010-present

Western Pennsylvania Employment Lawyers Association: Chair: 2018-2022;

Vice Chair: 2016-2018; Amicus Committee Chair: 2012-present

Mediation Council of Western Pennsylvania: Board Member, 2018-2024; Vice President, 2023-2024; Information Officer: 2020-2022

Academy of Trial Lawyers of Allegheny County: Member, 2022-present; Vice Chair, Federal Practice Committee, 2024-present

Wendell G. Freeland Society: Fellow, 2024-present

NELA-Eastern Pennsylvania: Member, 2015-present

Allegheny County Bar Association: Member, Labor and Employment Section, 2008-present, Federal Court Section, 2023-present

AWARDS

Best Lawyers in America: 2025

Pennsylvania Super Lawyers: 2023-2024

Pennsylvania Super Lawyers: Rising Star, 2011-2022