HARRISBURG (May 6, 2021) — Montgomery County attorney Jennifer DiVeterano Gayle, a partner at Mannion Prior LLP in King of Prussia, will receive the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section 2021 Trailblazer Award for probate and trust law virtually at an awards ceremony during the PBA Virtual Annual Meeting, May 19-21.
The section created the Trailblazer Award to annually recognize young lawyers practicing in the real property and probate and trust areas of law. Honorees must demonstrate excellence in the practice of law, professionalism through bar association activities and a commitment to pro bono legal services.
One nominator applauded Gayle’s stellar reputation as an Orphans’ Court litigator in Pennsylvania, as well as her ability to find time to serve in leadership positions within various bar associations and her conviction to pro bono work while managing a busy caseload.
At Mannion Prior, her practice focuses on litigation involving trusts, estates, guardianships and powers of attorney, including all forms of estate and trust disputes, will contests, surcharge and removal actions, interpretation issues, and other fiduciary matters before the Orphans’ Court Division of the Court of Common Pleas and the Register of Wills. These matters have frequently included complex business issues related to business interests owned by estates and trusts. Gayle has a particular expertise with respect to electronic discovery and the fiduciary exception to the attorney-client privilege.
Gayle devotes 150 to 200 hours annually to pro bono matters. Currently, she serves as a child advocate with the Montgomery Child Advocacy Project volunteering her time to advocate for child victims of abuse, neglect and trafficking in the courts and social services agencies. Gayle was also recognized and awarded the 2011 Citizen’s Crime Commission Award of Merit II for her prior pro bono representation of the Montgomery County district attorney to obtain a guardianship in the case of abuse and neglect. She participates as a pro bono attorney and as a mentor to pro bono attorneys for the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program in trust and estate litigation matters.
Gayle is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel (ACTEC), and she serves as a frequent author and panelist on various trust and estate topics, including the utilization of experts in Orphans’ Court litigation, surcharge litigation and the removal of fiduciaries, representing clients with diminished capacity, the attorney-client privilege and the collection of Orphans’ Court judgments.
Mentorship is also important to Gayle. She is her firm’s designated mentor for new associates and female attorneys. She also helps conduct the firm’s on-campus interviews for summer and full-time associates program.
Gayle is a member of the Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Montgomery and American bar associations. Her current leadership positions consist of the serving on the Philadelphia Bar Association Probate and Trust Law Section Executive Committee and as co-chair of the Montgomery Bar Association Pro Bono, Community Service and Access to Justice Committee.
She earned a J.D., cum laude, from Villanova University School of Law and a B.A. from Ursinus College.
For more information on the PBA Virtual Annual Meeting, visit https://www.pabar.org/pdf/2021/2021AnnualMeeting.pdf.
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 of legal services; and serve the lawyer members of the state’s largest organized bar association.