PENNSYLVANIA RECORD

The Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network will be honoring attorney Merril L.

Zebe, the public interest coordinator for the Philadelphia Bar Association, during the PBA’s 2014 Excellence Awards Dinner scheduled for March 18 in Harrisburg.

Zebe, who received degrees from Temple University in Philadelphia and the University of Santa Clara Law School, is an experienced public interest lawyer who worked as a legal advocate for Community Legal Services Society Inc. in Wilmington, Del. for 13 years before joining the Philadelphia Bar Association as a staffer back in 2003, according to the PBA.

During the upcoming event, Zebe will be one of a number of civil legal aid professionals and friends of civil legal aid across the commonwealth who will be recognized for their efforts in support of the clients served by the civil legal programs offered by the Pennsylvania Legal Aid Network.

Zebe also previously worked as a director of development for several nonprofit social services agencies in the greater Delaware Valley area, according to the PBA.

At the PBA, Zebe is primarily charged with providing staff with support for the group’s Delivery of Legal Services Committee, which is comprised of executive directors from 30-plus nonprofit public interest law firms in addition to law school representatives, leaders of the bar association and the private bar, law firm pro bono coordinators, judges and foundation directors who meet each month to leverage their abilities to offer legal services and advocacy for low-income and underserved individuals and families in Philadelphia, according to the PBA.

Zebe also staffs the Civil Legal Justice Coalition, which is a statewide group co-chaired by representatives from the Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Bar Associations and the Allegheny Bar Association in western Pennsylvania.

The coalition members – Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Ronald Castille serves as the honorary chair – include stakeholders and public interest and private law firm leaders who work to improve access to justice across the commonwealth.

Others who will be honored during the PBA’s March 18 dinner in Harrisburg include, but are not limited to, State Sen. Stewart Greenleaf, a suburban Philadelphia Republican who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee; David Hill of Philadelphia Legal Assistance; Harvey Strauss, of Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania; York County Common Pleas Court Judge John Uhler; and John Whitelaw, of Community Legal Services.