Victoria Bechtold Kush

How Victoria Helps Clients

Business leaders seek out Victoria as their trusted counsel because of her unique combination of nearly two decades of legal experience, paired with her fresh ideas, know-how, and aggressive commitment to achieving the best results. With Victoria's broad industry experience and her commanding presence, clients trust Victoria to be their sharpest advocate in the courtroom and beyond. Having graduated at the top of her class from business school prior to law school, she blends business pragmatism with legal strategy. 

Victoria’s litigation prowess is paired with authenticity and credibility that drives successful outcomes to verdict for business entities, ranging from start-ups to Fortune 500 companies. With her broad experience in both state and federal courts and her roots in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, Victoria is equally comfortable appearing before rural Common Pleas Courts and representing clients in proceedings before the United States Supreme Court. Due to her active professional presence and involvement, she has forged a rapport with other jurists and judges who know her capability, commitment, and competence.

What Clients Can Expect

Victoria’s philosophy revolves around providing efficient, ethical, and effective advocacy for each client—no matter the size of the matter or the complexity of the dispute. Through active listening and prompt communication, she understands her client’s needs and drives outcomes to match their objectives. Victoria develops and implements cost-effective strategies to achieve those objectives, whether through negotiations and settlement; mediation or other appropriate alternative dispute resolution; or litigation.

Victoria's professional achievements have been recognized by both the legal and business communities. Victoria was a finalist for the 2023 ATHENA Award of Greater Pittsburgh. Prior to that, Pittsburgh Business Times named Victoria one of the 2018 Women of Influence, and NEXT Pittsburgh featured Victoria as one of the “16 Pittsburghers You Should Know.” She was also recognized as the 2016 Woman of Distinction in Government & Law by Girl Scouts Western Pennsylvania. She received a 2016 Pennsylvania Senate Citation, awarded by Senator Scott E. Hutchinson of the 21st Senatorial District, recognizing her dedication, excellence and leadership in the legal profession and her impact on the community. She is a Leadership Pittsburgh (XL) Graduate.

Victoria was recently selected as one of six “Women Shaping our Region” by the Pittsburgh Business Exchange. She has been recognized in The Best Lawyers in America^® in the Commercial Litigation category since 2024.

I deliver zealous and efficient advocacy to drive each client’s unique business goals, and will evaluate alternatives to litigation, wherever possible, to deliver cost-effective results.

Outside the Office

Victoria has been an Adjunct Professor at Duquesne University for over 8 years teaching “The Business Legal Environment” and "Management Business Ethics" to graduate business students. She served as a legal expert on WPXI's Pittsburgh Cable News Channel (PCNC) for over a decade, providing commentary on legal cases in the news, and she is active on numerous community boards.  

Victoria is also a classically trained soprano, who has appeared in concert across the eastern United States. Notable solo performances include those before United States Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Vice President Dick Cheney, and NAACP Chairman Julian Bond, among many others. She continues to lend her voice as a soloist and was honored to close the Installation Ceremony of Chief Justice Debra Todd as the first female Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Victoria is a former Miss Pennsylvania, a second-degree black belt in Taekwondo, and a Presidential Volunteer Service Award recipient.

Proof Points

• Won a $13.9M award in construction defect litigation on behalf of a commercial resort.
• Won a complete victory for a natural gas pipeline condemnor after a 3-day jury trial in an eminent domain matter in Washington County, and after the landowners took an appeal to the Commonwealth Court, succeeded in having the trial court’s verdict affirmed.
• Won a complete award in favor of a real estate management company in AAA arbitration to recover costs of construction repairs.
• Won summary judgment for an energy company in United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Plaintiff originally filed a 13-count complaint, but following a motion to dismiss and oral argument, the complaint was reduced to one count alleging a de facto taking under the Eminent Domain Code. After discovery, summary judgment fully resolved the matter in the client’s favor.
• Defended numerous condemnations initiated by roadway and transportation authorities on behalf of business entities to minimize impact and maximize just compensation.
• Won an appeal in the Commonwealth Court on behalf of a municipality for ordinance violations by a landowner after earning a judgment against the landowner in the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County.
• Obtained dozens of natural gas pipeline easements and natural gas storage easements via eminent domain on behalf of natural gas pipeline companies and effectively represented the companies at multiple court hearings and Board of View proceedings.
• Negotiated a $1.6M settlement in a condemnation action for a roadway where the condemnor claimed de minimis damages.
• Obtained dismissal of putative class action claims arising f.rom the theft of an employee’s laptop computer containing protected health information, on grounds that the court lacked subject matter jurisdiction because plaintiff failed to adequately allege injury-in-fact.
• Won multiple TROs in federal court on behalf of an energy company where landowners threatened interference with pipeline infrastructure.
• Successfully litigated and defended multiple veil piercing and alter ego claims involving multi-million-dollar business and commercial interests.
• Contributed as part of a team that counseled and obtained a $447M settlement for the world’s fourth largest aluminum smelter in a racketeering and fraud suit in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, which was the first case brought by a foreign business in a U.S. court to recover losses that resulted f.rom alleged corrupt activity by corporations and individuals in the U.S. and elsewhere.
• Selected by a consumer energy coalition as amicus curiae counsel before the United States Supreme Court and D.C. Circuit Court.
• Assisted in handling antitrust investigations and negotiating antitrust clearance in two 2012 Pennsylvania hospital acquisitions for a major health system.
• Assisted in a seven-week trial arising out of the design and construction of an events facility, where the Court of Common Pleas of Allegheny County returned a multimillion-dollar verdict in favor of the firm’s client.