HARRISBURG (Feb. 24, 2015) � Catherine Contino, a third-year law student at Villanova University School of Law, has received the award of distinction in the Workers� Compensation Centennial Essay Contest. The contest, sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association�s Workers� Compensation Section, was open to all students enrolled at accredited Pennsylvania law schools.

Contino�s work, "Modernization and Reevaluation: The Historical Development of the Compensability of Mental Stress Causing Mental Disability in Pennsylvania,� placed second in the essay contest. Contino will receive $2,000 for her entry and has been invited to attend the section�s Workers� Compensation Centennial Gala Reception and Dinner on June 1 in Hershey.

June 2, 2015 will mark the 100th anniversary of the enactment of the Pennsylvania Workers� Compensation Act, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association�s Workers� Compensation Section is spotlighting the centennial with the essay contest, the gala celebration, educational sessions and commemorative keepsakes.

"The Pennsylvania Workers' Compensation Act addressed the epidemic of uncompensated work injuries and deaths occurring in Pennsylvania at that time,� said R. Burke McLemore, chair, Pennsylvania Workers� Compensation Centennial Committee of the PBA Workers� Compensation Law Section. "The passage of the act, often referred to as �The Grand Bargain,� was a pivotal event in the protection of the common worker and also in the practice of law.�

For more information, go to this website address: http://wc100pa.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 27,000 lawyers who are members of the association.