HARRISBURG (March 18, 2014) - The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Conference of County Bar Leaders (CCBL) recently honored Butler lawyer Marion Laffey-Ferry with its Chief Justice John P. Flaherty Award. PBA Young Lawyer Division Zone 10 Chair and Butler County Bar Association (BCBA)Young Lawyers Chairperson Kelley Harley presented the award to Laffey-Ferry during the 48th Annual Seminar of the Conference of County Bar Leaders in State College.

The Flaherty Award honors the work of an association member for supporting and promoting the projects and purposes of the CCBL and for efforts to improve the legal profession, the justice system and the community.

Laffey-Ferry is the Zone 10 governor on the PBA Board of Governors. She has served in the PBA House of Delegates since 1996. An immediate past chair of the PBA Solo & Small Firm Practice Section, she also is a member of the PBA Family Law Section and the PBA Commission on Women in the Profession. She also served on the PBA Planning Committee and the House of Delegates Reform Task Force. She has been an active participant in and supporter of the CCBL and, as PBA Zone Governor, she has fostered greater communication among the bar associations of Zone 10.

"Laffey-Ferry, who is a major advocate for pro bono service, has educated the Butler County legal community on the importance of pro bono service through both her direct service and her passionate advocacy of such service," said BCBA Executive Director Janis Hackett in her nomination of Laffey-Ferry for the Flaherty award. She was the recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation's Louis J. Goffman Award in 2006 and received PBA Pro Bono awards in 1999, 2000, 2004 and 2006. Laffey-Ferry has served 800 clients since 1998 through the Neighborhood Legal Services Pro Bono/Reduced Fee Referral Service. She is a Commonwealth member of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation and served on its board of directors from 2004 until 2010.

Laffey-Ferry was BCBA president from 1999 until 2001. She chaired the BCBA Judiciary Committee and the BCBA Family Law Committee and Section. She served on the BCBA Public Service Committee. She received BCBA Pro Bono awards in 1999 and 2000. She also is a member of the Women's Bar Association of Western Pennsylvania, which honored her this year with its "Pioneering Champion of the Cause" award.

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.