HARRISBURG (April 1, 2015) - The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Commission on Women in the Profession will present its annual Lynette Norton Award to Lynne Z. Gold-Bikin, a partner in the Norristown office of Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires & Newby LLP.

An awards ceremony will be held during the commission's 22nd annual conference, "Pathways to Success: Building Blocks and Stumbling Blocks," May 7, at the Sheraton Philadelphia Downtown Hotel, Philadelphia.

The Norton Award was created in memory of Lynette Norton, a founding member of the PBA Commission on Women in the Profession who died in 2002. Norton was an advocate for young women in the legal profession and worked to promote literacy and women's rights. The award is designed to recognize and encourage female attorneys who excel in litigation skills and who are devoted to mentoring female lawyers.

Gold-Bikin is a nationally-known family law attorney. She has been interviewed about domestic issues by major television networks, newspapers and magazines.

In addition to serving on a number of editorial boards, Gold-Bikin authored Divorce Practice Handbook and The Divorce Trial Manual.

She has served as an adjunct professor in the Trial Advocacy Institute at the University of Houston, has been a presenter at seminars offered by the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the education arm of the PBA, and has lectured at Villanova University Law School, Rutgers University Law School and various bar associations throughout the country.

Gold-Bikin developed The PARTNERS Program, an educational program of the American Bar Association (ABA) Family Law Section that teaches relationship skills to teens. Gold-Bikin has been co-chair of the ABA Commission on Domestic Violence and a member of the ABA House of Delegates and the ABA Board of Governors.

She has been a member of the Board of Governors of the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers and an advisor to the Family Law Project of the American Law Institute.

Gold-Bikin has served on a variety of committees for the PBA Family Law Section. Last year, the PBA Family Law Section presented Gold-Bikin with its Eric Turner Memorial Award, which honors a lawyer dedicated to the practice of family law and who serves as a mentor and teacher to fellow lawyers.

She is a long-time member of the PBA Commission on Women in the Profession. She also has been a member of the PBA Judicial Administration Committee and the PBA Children's Rights Committee. She served as a Pennsylvania member of the ABA House of Delegates.

Gold-Bikin has served on the board of directors and the bench bar committee of the Montgomery Bar Association.

She has been a board member of the National Adoption Center and the Philadelphia Education Fund.

She holds degrees from Albright College and the Villanova University School of Law.

The award will be presented during the May 7 luncheon, which also will include a keynote presentation by Nikki Johnson-Huston, who overcame childhood poverty and homelessness to become an award-winning young tax attorney in Philadelphia. Details and registration information for the PBA Commission on Women in the Profession conference are posted on the PBA's website at www.pabar.org.

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.