Elizabeth L. Hughes is Senior Associate Counsel for UPMC, which is an integrated global nonprofit health provider and insurer and the largest non-government employer in Pennsylvania. Elizabeth serves as the primary legal advisor to the U.S. News and World Report’s #8 ranked UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, UPMC Mercy, which includes the state-of-the-art UPMC Mercy Pavilion, and UPMC Magee-Womens Hospital. Elizabeth is also the legal resource for UPMC's pediatric service line systemwide, which includes 40 hospitals and over 60 UPMC Children’s Community Pediatrics primary care offices.
Elizabeth grew up in Penn Hills, Pennsylvania and is a graduate of Clarion University and a proud alumna of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, where she was President of her class. Upon graduation, she clerked for the late Honorable Justin M. Johnson of the Superior Court of Pennsylvania. Prior to her tenure at UPMC, she was an associate at Raphael, Ramsden & Behers, P.C. and worked as an Assistant Solicitor for the County of Allegheny, representing the Office of Behavioral Health and the Office of Intellectual Disabilities. Elizabeth was an adjunct professor at Duquesne University School of Law, providing legal instruction to students in the Civil and Family Justice Clinic. She is a graduate of the 2023 cohort of The Advanced Leadership Institute (TALI) Executive Leadership Academy and was selected as one of only 32 women from around the globe to participate as a 2021-22 International Women’s Forum Fellow, attending executive leadership modules at INSEAD in Fontainebleau, France and Harvard Business School.
Elizabeth sits on the University of Pittsburgh School of Law Board of Visitors and is a past president of the University of Pittsburgh Law Alumni Association. She also served the Allegheny County Bar Association as its 111th president. Elizabeth is a Senior Hearing Committee member for District IV of the of the Pennsylvania Disciplinary Board, and she volunteers with the Allegheny County Family Division Pro Se Legal Clinic where she serves unrepresented clients. She is an Allegheny County Bar Foundation Ambassador Fellow and currently serves on the board of Achieva Family Trust. Elizabeth is one of a group of five all-women co-authors of the children’s book, “Black Lawyers of the Burgh: An Anthology”, which features profiles of 28 local Black attorneys and judges. The book was written with the aim of driving more children of color to consider legal careers. Elizabeth is a Life Member of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated and a lifelong, diehard fan of the Pittsburgh Steelers.