Jesse A. Torisky, Esquire
Jesse was born in Monroeville, PA, and currently lives in the North Hills area with his wife and family. Jesse obtained a B.A. in Communications in 1982 from Penn State University. In 1985 he obtained a J.D. from Duquesne University. Jesse is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Ohio, as well as the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.
Jesse began his legal career in 1985 as a prosecutor for the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office. For ten years, Jesse worked as an Assistant District Attorney, and was responsible for investigating and prosecuting virtually every type of crime, including rape, robbery, theft, narcotics, and homicides. During his tenure at the District Attorney’s Office, Jesse tried over sixty jury trials.
In 1995, Jesse was recruited by a civil defense firm, which focused on First and Third Party defense as well as insurance fraud investigations. His practice also included representing insurance companies in UM/UIM cases, and serving as Guardian ad litem on behalf of the Orphan’s Court Division of Allegheny County. After three years as an associate, Jesse became partner in 1998. During his tenure there, Jesse tried the first insurance fraud jury trial in Allegheny County, and obtained a favorable verdict on behalf of his client. Jesse handled over 250 insurance fraud investigations for various insurance companies.
In 2001, Jesse formed his own firm, and continued to provide insurance defense in all phases of litigation, First and Third Party, UM/UIM, and insurance fraud investigations. Jesse also obtained guardianships for private clients and continued to serve as Guardian ad litem upon request by the Orphan’s Court Division.
In 2007, Jesse became the Managing Attorney for an in-house law firm for AIG, responsible for assigning and reviewing cases, in addition to handling a caseload of Property, Casualty, Professional Liability, Auto, Commercial Trucking, Subrogation, and Premises Liability cases in litigation. In 2014, Jesse left AIG and worked for a year as a partner at Segmiller & Mendicino, handling both insurance defense as well as general civil litigation. In 2015, Jesse became a partner at Ciao, Torisky and O'Connor, LLC.
In addition to his legal practice, Jesse has worked as an adjunct faculty member for the Allegheny County Community College for the past 27 years, teaching Legal Research and Writing, Advanced Legal Research and Writing, Constitutional Criminal Procedure and Criminal Law. Jesse is also an adjunct professor at Point Park University, where he teaches Criminal Law, Constitutional Criminal Procedure and the History of Organized Crime. Jesse was also an instructor at the Allegheny County Police Academy for Criminal Law and Search and Seizure. Jesse has presented numerous seminars through Cape Institute and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute to fellow lawyers and claims adjusters on a variety of subjects, for CLE and CE credits.
Jesse is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Autism Society of Pittsburgh, Inc., and is past Chairman, of Umbrella Services for Advancing Autistic Children, Inc., the service-providing arm of the Autism Society of Pittsburgh.
Jesse knew Marty for more than 20 years and, while in private practice, worked with him over the years consulting in a variety of matters. Jesse is proud to continue the legacy of The Law Office Of Martin Lazzaro and will focus his practice on all personal injury, construction, contract litigation and subrogation, continuing the tradition of excellence begun by Marty.