Area of Emphasis
Max Junker is a shareholder in the Public Sector, Energy and Natural Resources, and Employment and Labor groups of Babst Calland. He is currently the chair of the Firm’s Public Sector Group and is on the Firm’s Board of Directors. Mr. Junker has served as a municipal and school district solicitor for several years, and he is currently the solicitor for the Borough of Franklin Park, Borough of Bell Acres, and O’Hara Township Zoning Hearing Board. He is also the solicitor for the Allegheny County Schools Health Insurance Consortium and is an assistant solicitor for the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority. Mr. Junker counsels and represents the Firm’s municipal clients on general municipal issues, including tax assessment appeals, municipal taxation, public bidding, the Sunshine Act, the Right-to-Know Law, the State Ethics Act, general land use and zoning matters, and code enforcement. His work in the Employment and Labor Group involves collective bargaining, Act 111 and Act 195 interest arbitrations, grievance arbitrations, and civil service issues. Mr. Junker counsels and represents the Firm’s energy clients on local government issues and land use matters. He also counsels private clients in land use matters.
Background
Mr. Junker received his Bachelor of Arts degree in 2001 from the University of Virginia and his Juris Doctor in 2005, cum laude, from Duquesne University School of Law, which he attended on a full merit scholarship. He served as Executive Recent Decisions Editor for the Duquesne Law Review and was a published author. Mr. Junker also served as a legal research assistant to Dean John Rago. He was a member of several moot court teams, one of which reached the national quarterfinals of the Academy of Trial Lawyers Association (ATLA) Student Trial Advocacy Competition. Mr. Junker received the International Academy of Trial Lawyers Student Advocacy Award from the faculty and was elected to the Order of Barristers.
Mr. Junker joined Babst Calland after working for another Pittsburgh firm concentrating on municipal law, education law, and property tax assessment law. In that position, he also served as an Assistant Solicitor to the School District of Pittsburgh overseeing all matters involving the Charter School Law, Right-to-Know Law, and pending legislation.
Memberships and Affiliations
Mr. Junker was admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania in 2005. He is also admitted to practice before the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Junker is a member of the Allegheny County, Washington County, Pennsylvania, and American Bar associations. He served a two-year term as chair of the School and Municipal Law Section for the Allegheny County Bar Association and recently served a three-year term as a member of the ACBA Judiciary Committee.
House Democratic Leader Frank Dermody appointed Mr. Junker to represent the Pennsylvania School Board Association on the House of Representatives Task Force on Property Assessments in 2011. He has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America® for Land Use and Zoning Law Section since 2024 and Municipal Law since 2025. Mr. Junker was named the Best Lawyers® 2026 Municipal Law “Lawyer of the Year” in Pittsburgh, Pa. He was also selected to the Pennsylvania Rising Stars list (Thomson Reuters) in 2014-2018.
