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Additions

Meyer, Unkovic & Scott added Amanda M. Daquelente as an associate in the firm's corporate and business law, real estate and lending, and private clients' practice groups.

Daquelente previously worked for Blumling & Gusky.

Daquelente focuses primarily on a range of business and corporate transactions, including counseling clients on entity formation and structuring of business transactions, corporate governance, mergers and acquisitions, reorganizations and the purchase and sale of businesses, as well as business succession planning.

Her work also focuses on all aspects of real estate transactions, including real estate acquisition and disposition, leasing and financing, and the representation of individuals and closely held companies in a broad range of general corporate and real estate-related transactions.

As part of the firm's private clients' group, Daquelente works with clients to develop estate-planning objectives, including business succession, planning to minimize estate and inheritance tax liability, preserving family assets, supporting charitable interests, and providing for minors and individuals with special needs.

In addition, she assists executors and trustees in the administration of a decedent's estate or trust.

Daquelente earned her Juris Doctor from Duquesne University School of Law.

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Thomas, Thomas & Hafer announced the hiring of G. Richard Murphy.

Murphy will be working out of the firm's Pittsburgh office.

He joins Thomas Thomas from a commercial litigation firm where he concentrated on complex commercial and business litigation, which included experience involving products liability, business contracts, intellectual property, securities, arbitration, insurance, real estate, financial services, technology and employment law.

In addition to his litigation experience, Murphy handles cases of a complex technical nature, using knowledge from his science background in astronomy and astrophysics.

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McAndrews Law Offices hired Jillian Zacks as a member of its estates and trusts department. Zacks is an estate planning attorney in Pennsylvania with a subspecialty in special needs planning and brings 25 years of legal experience to the firm.

She will be working primarily in the firm's Pittsburgh office and will also handle matters across Pennsylvania.

Zacks has experience in estate planning/administration matters, special needs planning and guardianships.

She was the director and co-chair of an estates and trusts practice group at her previous Pittsburgh firm and serves on the committees of numerous professional associations.

Zacks is involved in the disability and nonprofit communities in Pittsburgh. She is the chairperson of the board of directors of the Arc of Greater Pittsburgh, is a member of the board of directors of Achieva, and serves on boards of several other nonprofit community organizations in Pittsburgh.