Governor Corbett's Office of General Counsel Receives Prestigious Bar Association Award for Advancement of Women Attorneys in Pennsylvania

HARRISBURG, Pa., May 16, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Governor Corbett's Office of General Counsel (OGC) was named to the Pennsylvania Bar Association's 2014 Honor Roll of Legal Organizations Welcoming Women Professionals during the association's annual meeting held this week at the Hershey Lodge. 

"The Governor's office is honored to receive this award," General Counsel Jim Schultz said. "Our goal is to bring the highest quality attorneys into public service and I'm delighted this has resulted in a high recruitment, retention and promotion of women in our office and in the legal profession."

OGC received the award for being at the forefront of employing women attorneys in both leadership roles and overall staff complement.  Fifty three percent of the attorneys in OGC's main office that directly serve the Governor and his cabinet are women, 40 percent of the Chief Counsel positions in executive agencies under the Governor's jurisdiction are women, and 46 percent of the 470 staff attorneys throughout executive and independent departments and agencies of the Commonwealth are women. These numbers are all significantly higher than the 31 percent of women in the Pennsylvania Bar.

According to Lisa Benzie, co-chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on Women, the award recognizes OGC for its recruitment of women, support programs, flexible scheduling, pay equity and pro bono opportunities. Benzie also noted that the Honor Roll recognizes firms and legal offices providing innovative solutions that enable women lawyers to continue and advance in their careers including flexible work schedules, backup child care and networking events.

The Office of General Counsel is one of the largest legal enterprises in Pennsylvania, whose attorneys represent Governor Corbett, members of the Cabinet and 34 executive and independent agencies that manage the business of the Commonwealth.  OGC attorneys appear in every state court, federal court and administrative forum in the Commonwealth, while providing counsel on legal issues.

Media contact: Joshua M. Maus, 717-346-4463

SOURCE Pennsylvania Office of General Counsel