HARRISBURG (Dec. 8) -- The Pennsylvania Bar Association today honored Heidi B. Hamman Shakely, Esq., as its first recipient of the Government Lawyer of the Year Award.

A Camp Hill resident, Shakely currently is chief counsel at the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. She has worked in the Insurance Department's Legal Division since 1988, where she also served as a hearing examiner for the Department from October 1983 until January 1986.

"Heidi's legal skills and her skills as a manager and motivator are of the highest caliber," said Paul A. Tufano, general counsel to Governor Tom Ridge and supervisor of all attorneys within the Executive Branch. "She is responsible for one of the most complex and sophisticated practices within our 'law firm' and has achieved some incredible accomplishments over the past four years," Tufano said. "Heidi is the consummate professional," Tufano added.

A graduate of Wesleyan University (Connecticut), Shakely earned her juris doctorate from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington, D.C. After working as a law clerk in judicial, government and private offices during the summers of 1972-79, Shakely served as a student attorney at the Criminal Justice Clinic at Georgetown from August 1979 until May 1980. She then served as a law clerk for Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Richard B. Wickersham from June 1980 until December 1981.

The award was created by the PBA's Government Lawyers Committee and honors government lawyers who have made either a significant singular contribution or have a career dedicated to outstanding service to the profession for the benefit of the public or a governmental entity.