Jana Volante Walshak

Practice Areas

Combining legal skill and practical business knowledge, Jana serves as a trusted adviser to companies and individuals, addressing their legal challenges in a consistent and comprehensive manner to help them eliminate obstacles, reduce risk and seize opportunity.

She is well versed in white collar criminal defense and compliance, including the intricacies of conducting internal investigations and the nuances of serving as pool counsel. She also is a skilled commercial litigator with extensive trial experience.

Beyond litigation, Jana serves as outside general counsel to a large health care provider. She manages a full range of legal matters involving real estate, labor and employment, medical staffing issues, compliance with HIPAA and other health care regulations, data privacy, civil litigation and nonprofit/corporate governance issues.

White Collar Criminal Defense & Government Investigations

When businesses need clarity on allegations of in-house wrongdoing, Jana conducts meticulous internal investigations to uncover misconduct and identify the parties involved, the scope of their misdeeds and the methods used to perpetuate and conceal them. Using that information, she helps clients take corrective action, make voluntary disclosures, cooperate with external investigators, recover funds and make changes to mitigate the risk of similar conduct in the future.

Over the years, she has conducted internal investigations for nonprofits, public companies and closely-held private companies, as well as businesses that operate across state and international borders. She also helps clients draft, improve and implement corporate compliance programs.

Career

Jana grew up in a family that owns funeral homes and a wholesale produce business. She worked at her family’s wholesale produce business throughout high school and college, learning firsthand what it takes to operate such a business on a daily basis and giving her unique insight into the challenges facing businesses, in particular small and family-owned businesses, and a better understanding of how to overcome those challenges.

Additionally, Jana is a former intern for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, where she served on the Drug Task Force. She also served as an intern for the Honorable Terrence McVerry of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. At Harvard Law School, Jana was a teaching assistant to Professor Bruce Hay, worked on the Journal on Legislation and volunteered with the Harvard Defenders.

Jana is actively engaged in the community. She is president of the Grove City College Alumni Council, and previously served as Vice President and Chair of its Nominating Committee. She is also a member of the Women’s Leadership Council of the United Way of Southwestern Pennsylvania and the Board of Directors of Goodwill of Southwestern Pennsylvania. She is immediate past Chair of Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania’s Young Professionals Board, which focuses on teaching students work-readiness, entrepreneurship and financial literacy skills.

Jana is a graduate of Leadership Pittsburgh, Inc.'s Leadership Development Initiative, Class XXI. She is also a founding member of the Pittsburgh Chapter of the Women's White Collar Defense Association and a former member of the Pittsburgh Regional Board of Strong Women, Strong Girls.

Additionally, Jana speaks and writes on a variety of legal topics including eyewitness testimony; restitution; internal investigations; drafting, revising and implementing corporate compliance programs; and the particular legal challenges facing funeral homes.

Professional Memberships

Allegheny County Bar Association: Federal Court Council, Federal Court Section (Criminal Practice Subcommittee) | Pennsylvania Bar Association | American Bar Association | Women's While Collar Defense Association (Chapter Leader) | Grove City College: Board of Trustees: Alumni Council (Past President) | Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania: Board of Directors, Young Professionals Board (Past Chair) | Goodwill of Southern Pennsylvania, Board of Directors (former).

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Bar Admissions: Pennsylvania

Education