Local Mom Lawyers, Leads & Loves the Outdoors

Alice Johnston and her husband, Joel, visited Pittsburgh during their second year of law school at Washington and Lee University in Lexington, Virginia.

It was then that they fell in love with the city. Two days after graduation, the couple moved to Shadyside, but always had Regent Square in mind.

“I remember getting lost in the city and always finding myself in Regent Square—I couldn’t wait until we could live there," she said.

Twenty-four years later, Johnston lives in her dream neighborhood as the mother of two teenage girls, an attorney at Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell and Hippel, and an avid supporter of the Girl Scouts and the outdoors.

This past summer, Johnston concluded 25 years with the Girl Scouts and is a lifetime member of Girl Scouts of the USA. Her dedication to the scouts developed during her early years of practicing law.

“When you’re a young lawyer, law fills your life—I needed a reason to leave the office,” Johnston said. “I wanted to get to know the community.”

She had a friend who was an assistant leader of a local Girl Scout troop. Johnston had been a Girl Scout herself and always wished she’d stuck with it. That’s when she first began troop leading. She continued when her girls, Rachel, 18, and Hannah, 15, began participating.

From Brownies all the way to her oldest daughter's graduation from the scouts this past summer, Johnston has been organizing canoeing excursions, caving trips, nature hikes and beach vacations for her girls.

“You really get to bond with the girls,” Johnston said. “They’re our family.”

Johnston and a friend led one of the only mixed-age Girl Scout troops in Pittsburgh, Troop 1444. The age range included both of her daughters and their friends.

“Now that the oldest girls have graduated, my youngest doesn’t want to do it without her sister,” Johnston said. “So, I’m looking for something to fill the hole left by Girl Scouts.”

She fills it by leading trips for Venture Outdoors , a non-profit that provides a variety of outdoor activities around the city. Her husband is also a leader and her daughter, Rachel, was one of the organization’s youngest group leaders. They guide people on kayaking trips, hikes and cross-country skiing expeditions.

Most recently, in July 2011, Johnston led a four-mile hike through Regent Square as a part of Venture Outdoors’ Neighborhood Night Hike Series. She got the opportunity to show off the neighborhood she loves to people from all over the city.

“I love being able to plan out adventures—it’s given me skills I wouldn’t have otherwise,” Johnston said. “I understand people better, I’m not just a one-sided law-machine—it’s enriched my life.”