HARRISBURG (March 22, 2006) � The Pennsylvania Bar Association Conference of County Bar Leaders (CCBL) honored Johnstown lawyer John J. Bagnato for his long history of service and dedication to Pennsylvania�s legal community. Bagnato received the 2006 Chief Justice John P. Flaherty Award during the 40th annual seminar of the CCBL March 3 in State College. Bagnato is a partner in the Johnstown law firm of Spence, Custer, Saylor, Wolfe & Rose.

The Chief Justice John P. Flaherty Award, which is named for the former chief of justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, is presented to an individual who has been active in the CCBL and has worked to improve the legal profession, the justice system or the community. The award is not intended to be an annual accolade.

�This award is designed to recognize those individuals who have gone above and beyond in the promotion of Pennsylvania�s legal profession,� noted PBA President William P. Carlucci. �The Pennsylvania Bar Association is pleased to honor John Bagnato for his outstanding dedication to the CCBL, his local bar association and to the legal community as a whole.�

Bagnato is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) House of Delegates and is a past zone governor on the PBA Board of Governors. He is a past president of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the continuing legal education arm of the PBA, and is a former member of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation Board of Directors

Bagnato is a graduate of Washington and Jefferson College and the Franklin Thomas Bachus School of Law at Case Western Reserve University.