HARRISBURG (April 24, 2015) - The Pennsylvania Bar Foundation will present the 2015 Louis J. Goffman Award to the Dauphin County Bar Association for its Incubator Program that encourages young lawyers to assist low-income clients of MidPenn Legal Services.

The award will be presented May 6 during the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Annual Meeting Awards Luncheon in Philadelphia.

The Goffman Award is named for a late PBA president and recognizes individuals and organizations committed to pro bono support and service.

The Incubator Program, a first of its kind in Pennsylvania, is a partnership between the Dauphin County Bar Association and Widener University School of Law. Participating lawyers, who are recent Widener University Law School graduates, are offered office space at the bar association and assist MidPenn staff attorneys by screening clients and handling pro bono cases. The new lawyers receive guidance and support from the association's public services coordinator and a Widener Law associate clinical professor.

The goals of the program are to help MidPenn Legal Services satisfy previously unmet legal needs of low-income residents and help new lawyers learn the practice of law in a challenging legal job market.

The Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, improves the public's understanding of the law and its appreciation of democracy and strives to ensure that citizens, particularly Pennsylvania's most vulnerable, have full access to our legal system. The foundation accomplishes its mission by making grants, seeking financial support from individuals and organizations both within and outside of the legal community, and encouraging bar members to donate their time, talent and expertise in service to the public.