HARRISBURG (Sept. 15, 2015) - The Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Business Law Section will present its fourth annual W. Edward Sell Business Lawyer Award to E. Carolan Berkley, partner, Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young LLP, Philadelphia, for her extraordinary contribution to the practice of business law in Pennsylvania.

The late W. Edward Sell was a driving force behind the enactment of business corporation law in Pennsylvania. Sell served as chair of the Title 15 Task Force of the PBA Corporation, Banking and Business Law Section. From 1966 to 1977, Sell was dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He was then appointed Distinguished Service Professor of Law, a position he held until assuming emeritus status in 1994.

The recipient of the Sell Business Lawyer Award must have contributed to the practice of business law at the highest level, either through the practice of law or through teaching; must have contributed to the statutory development of business law in Pennsylvania; and must have contributed to the PBA by working in leadership roles in the Business Law Section.

Berkley concentrates her practice in the areas of investment management, derivatives, finance, secured transactions, general corporate law and third party legal opinions. She represents investment management companies, open-end and closed-end investment companies, and registered advisers in a range of matters.

Active in the organized bar, Berkley is a member of the PBA Business Law Section Council and a member of the section's Title 15 Drafting Committee. She chaired the section's Article 9 Task Force, which prepared the revised Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code for adoption in Pennsylvania. She co-chaired the Joint Task Force of the American Bar Association and the American College of Commercial Finance Lawyers on Revised Article 9 Enactment Process, which was a national effort to ensure adoption of the revised Article 9 in all jurisdictions. More recently, she was a member of the Drafting Committee on Amendments to Uniform Commercial Code Article 9.

Berkley is the author of Bloomberg BNA Corporate Practice Portfolio Series No. 82, "Third Party Legal Opinions." She served as a member of the drafting group for the Pennsylvania Legal Opinion Deskbook and as co-author for the ABA's reports on Closing Opinion of Inside Counsel.

Berkley is a frequent lecturer on opinion practice issues.

She graduated with honors from Tufts University and the Temple University Beasley School of Law.

The Sell Business Lawyer Award will be presented to Berkley during the two-day Business Lawyers Institute, Nov. 4 and 5, at The CLE Conference Center in the Wanamaker Building, Philadelphia. More information about the institute is available at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute's website at www.pbi.org.

The PBA Business Law Section consists of approximately 1,300 licensed Pennsylvania lawyers supporting the advancement of business practice through practical legal education, legislative drafting, and communication and networking within the bar.

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.