Empower Erie Board Members

Ronald DiNicola is an Erie-based lawyer with a national law practice and broad experience in business, government, and public interest advocacy. He was born and raised in Erie, the son of an Italian immigrant bricklayer. He served in the U.S. Marines, graduated first in his platoon from boot camp at Parris Island and a year later won the All-Marine Corps Boxing Championship. He attended Harvard University on the G.I. Bill and earned a degree in government. After graduating from Georgetown Law School, he served as a law clerk to Chief U.S. District Judge Gerald Weber in Pittsburgh and Erie.

DiNicola joined the national law firm of Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp and is known for his representation of leading figures and entities from the worlds of business, entertainment, sports, and politics. A prominent democrat, DiNicola ran for Congress in his native Pennsylvania losing narrowly (51%-49%) and has twice served on the Democratic National Platform Committee.

Over the years, DiNicola has taken up various causes in the public interest serving in numerous capacities. He was an architect of and served as legal counsel to the Warren Christopher Commission in the aftermath of the Rodney King beating in Los Angeles. He represented thousands of laid-off Erie G.E. workers who were twice denied federal benefits by the U.S. Department of Labor. His appeal to the U.S. Court of International Trade led to a reversal of the government's denial freeing up millions of dollars in benefits for Erie workers and their families. He recovered over a million dollars for Amnesty International in a civil case in Long Beach, California. From 2010 to 2013, while maintaining his private practice, DiNicola served as Erie County Solicitor. Since 2014, DiNicola has co-chaired the Pre-K for PA campaign in Northwest Pennsylvania. He is a founder and Co-Chair of the Erie Police Athletic League. He is the recipient of the 2012 NAACP Spirit of the Community Award and the 2015 "Voice for Children Vision Award" of the Pennsylvania Association for the Education of Young Children.