Jacobs-Meadway

Field

HARRISBURG (March 24, 2011) - The Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession will present its annual Anne X. Alpern Award to Roberta Jacobs-Meadway of Eckert Seamans Cherin & Mellott, LLC, Philadelphia, and its Lynette Norton Award to Ann Thornton Field of Cozen O'Connor, Philadelphia. An awards ceremony will be held during the commission's 18th annual conference, "Essentials for Exceptional Client Service," May 5, at the Philadelphia City Center Hotel.

The Alpern Award is presented annually to a female lawyer or judge who demonstrates excellence in the legal profession and who makes a significant professional impact on women in the law. Established in 1994, the award was named for Anne X. Alpern, Pennsylvania's attorney general in 1959 and the first woman state attorney general in the nation.

Jacobs-Meadway joined Eckert Seamans in 2008 and she currently serves on the firm's Board of Directors and as head of the Intellectual Property Group in Philadelphia. Prior to joining Eckert Seamans, Jacobs-Meadway was a partner with Ballard Spahr for seven years, was partner and head of the trademark practice at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP and was a founding partner of Panitch Schwarze Jacobs & Nadel LLP.

Jacobs-Meadway serves on the Board of Directors of the American Civil Liberties Union, Greater Philadelphia Chapter. She is a past president and current member of the Board of Directors for the InterAct Theatre Company. She is a past president of the Society Hill Synagogue and chair of its Social Action Committee.

A breast cancer survivor, Jacobs-Meadway is president of the Board of Directors for Hope Afloat, USA, the state's first breast cancer survivor dragon boat racing team. Team members, who are breast cancer survivors from Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, practice along the Schuylkill River two to three times each week.

Jacobs-Meadway has served on the executive council of the PBA Commission on Women in the Profession, served as co-chair of the commission's retreat and the commission's Public Service Task Force, and served as a member of its Promotion of Women Subcommittee and Awards Subcommittee. She also is a member of the PBA's Intellectual Property Law Section.

Jacobs-Meadway is a regular contributor to the Commercial Damages Reporter and the World Copyright Reporter. She authored a chapter in the book, Inside the Minds: Understanding Trademark and Copyrights Developments for Online Content.

She is a frequent lecturer in the field of intellectual property in subjects such as ethics in licensing negotiations, the use of surveys in trademark litigation and use of alternative dispute resolution in intellectual property disputes.

Jacobs-Meadway holds degrees from Bryn Mawr College and Rutgers University School of Law.

The Norton Award was created in memory of Lynette Norton, a founding member of the PBA Commission on Women in the Profession who died in 2002. Norton was an advocate for young women in the legal profession and worked to promote literacy and women's rights. The award is designed to recognize and encourage female attorneys who excel in litigation skills and who are devoted to mentoring female lawyers.

Field is chair of the General Litigation Department, a member of the Management Committee and a member of the Board of Directors for Cozen O'Connor. She has been involved with the defense claims resulting from the bombing and crash of Pan Am Flight 103 in Lockerbie, Scotland, the defense of claims arising from the U.S. Naval Experimental V-22 Osprey Tilt Rotor Aircraft, the 1996 ValuJet accident and the 1996 TWA Flight 800 accident.

Field is co-founder of the Women's Initiative of Cozen O'Connor , which is the firm's mentoring program. She also encourages Cozen O'Connor attorneys and staff members to coordinate and present the Positive Images program for young girls at the Cozen Police Athletic Center.

Field is a member and former Board of Directors member of the International Association of Women in Aviation, a worldwide group of women in the aviation industry dedication to education and mentoring of other women in the field.

Currently, Field is serving as chairwoman of the Girl Scouts of Eastern Pennsylvania Board of Directors and as a member of the Board for the Philadelphia Police Foundation. She is a former member of the Board of Directors for the Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce's Arts and Business Council, the Freedom Valley Girl Scouts and the Literacy Action Project.

Field is a member of the Aviation Litigation Committee of the American Bar Association's Litigation Section and is co-chair of the Aviation and Space Law Committee of the ABA's Tort Insurance Practice Section. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's Aeronautical & Space Law Section and the Civil Litigation Law Section.

Field holds degrees from Samford University and the University of Houston Law Center. Last year, she received Samford's Alumnus of the Year Award.

The awards will be presented during a luncheon, which will feature a keynote speech by Fawn Germer. Germer is the best-selling author of five books and a popular speaker on leadership and performance. Her books, Hard Won Wisdom, Mustang Sallies and The NEW Woman Rules, include interviews on leadership and success with hundreds of the most accomplished women leaders and trailblazers of our times. Her book, Finding the UP in the Downturn, examines how to find success even in difficult times. Germer is a four-time Pulitzer-nominated journalist who worked for The Miami Herald, Denver's Rocky Mountain News and other newspapers.

Details and registration information for the PBA Commission on Women in the Profession conference are posted on the Pennsylvania Bar Association's website at www.pabar.org.

Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association 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 29,000 lawyers who are members of the association.