Robert S. Whitehill is a senior counsel at Fox Rothschild LLP in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, specializing in immigration law. He is the former chair of the firm’s Immigration Group and has, for more than 25 years, served as the supervising attorney and co-director of the Immigration Clinic at West Virginia University College of Law.
Active in civic and community issues, Mr. Whitehill has trained volunteer lawyers to represent foreign nationals trying to secure U.S. citizenship; helped counsel Muslim individuals from 26 countries who were forced to register with the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service in the wake of 9/11; facilitated the integration of hundreds of former Russian citizens into U.S. society; and assisted the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society in formulating public policy.
Mr. Whitehill’s community service leadership roles are extensive. Among them, he is a former chair of the Pittsburgh chapters of the American Civil Liberties Union and the American Immigration Lawyers Association. He was a national board member and is a current emeritus board member of the Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society. Additionally, Mr. Whitehill is a former chair of the Allegheny County Bar Association's Immigration Practitioners Committee and a former chair and current board member of the Community Day School.
Mr. Whitehill is a past recipient of the Pro Bono Award from the Allegheny County Bar Association and the Levinson Award for Community Leadership from the United Jewish Federation. He is a Fellow of the Wexner Heritage Foundation and a founder of the annual Shore-Whitehill Award that recognizes individuals who advance the inclusion of the Greater Pittsburgh Jewish community.
Mr. Whitehill also participates in Carnegie Mellon University’s Project Olympus program, a startup incubator that encourages and supports student, faculty, alumni and staff entrepreneurship by helping to turn their research and ideas into business ventures.
Earlier this year, Mr. Whitehill was part of a team from the WVU Law Immigration Clinic that worked at a federal facility in Wisconsin to help Afghan citizens resettle in the U.S.
He earned his J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law (1972) and his B.A. from Tulane University (1968).
