HARRISBURG (March 3, 2015) - The Conference of County Bar Leaders (CCBL) of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) has honored Barry M. Simpson, executive director of the PBA, with its 18th annual Arthur J. Birdsall Award. The award was presented to Simpson during the 49th Annual Seminar of the CCBL, Feb. 26-28, in Lancaster.

The award is presented to a bar executive who demonstrates professional excellence, who is committed to the success of his or her bar association and who significantly enhances the stature of his or her bar association. The award is named in honor of Arthur J. Birdsall, the PBA's county bar services director who retired after nearly 40 years of support to local bar associations.

Members of the Pennsylvania Association of Bar Executives and staff members of the PBA nominated Simpson for the award.

Currently in his 16th year of service to the PBA, Simpson is the longest-serving executive director in the 120-year history of the association.

During his tenure, Simpson has instituted a variety of programs and services to benefit lawyers and local bar associations and their staffs. Simpson led the creation of the association�s first free online legal research program for its members. He negotiated legal malpractice insurance plans for the benefit of PBA members. He spearheaded the PBA�s social media efforts.

Simpson has promoted diversity in the legal profession and throughout the organized bar community. He supported the hiring of the PBA�s first Diversity Officer and supported the efforts of the PBA Diversity Task Force and Diversity Team, as well as the PBA Women in the Profession, GLBT Rights, Minority Bar and Civil and Equal Rights committees.

Simpson created the statewide series of annual Presidents� Dinners to bring together the PBA leadership with the presidents and leaders of local bar associations to build the professional relationships between the state and local bars. He also supported the creation of a special program for local bar executives at the PBA Midyear Meeting, and he has continued to encourage funding and staff support for the Conference of County Bar Leaders and the PBA�s County Bar Services Department.

He is an active and supportive member of the Pennsylvania Association of Bar Executives, and he has served on working committees of the National Association of Bar Executives.

The CCBL, whose membership includes leaders from county bar associations throughout the state and from the PBA, organizes a yearly educational conference focusing on the exchange of innovative bar association projects and ideas and on the development of mutually-beneficial relationships among bar leaders that improve the legal profession.

Founded in 1895, the PBA strives to promote justice, professional excellence and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access to legal services; and serve the 27,000 lawyers who are members of the association.