Erie County Bar Association (ECBA) rings in 2014 by welcoming new President Edwin W. Smith of Shapira, Hutzelman, Berlin, Ely Smith and Walsh in Erie, PA. Attorney Smith has over twenty nine years of legal experience and concentrates on civil matters including personal injury, workers’ compensation, Social Security Disability, and real estate.

His goals as President for the coming year include increased participation in EBCA events by reaching out to in-house counsel staffs and broadening the memberships of minority attorneys.  Smith looks forward to encouraging more interaction with the Young Lawyers Division and increasing event participation so that members take advantage of educational opportunities and mutual support for a stressful professional workload. During his tenure, Attorney Smith also proposes to complete the second round of strategic planning for the ECBA.

Smith attended Penn State University ’81 (earning a B.S. in Health Planning and Administration) and Duquesne University School of Law ‘84. Ed and his wife Jennifer Smith have two children Wesley and Chelsea.  He is a former instructor at Penn State Behrend College paralegal program, having taught Civil Litigation. During law school Attorney Smith clerked with the Allegheny County District Attorney’s Office, Homicide Division. He has also served as a Hearing Officer with the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania.

Attorney Smith is admitted to practice in all Pennsylvania Courts, the U. S. Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, and the Third Circuit Court of Appeals. He is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the Erie County Bar Association where he has served as Former Chairman of the Workers Compensation Section. He currently serves as a board member of the Erie Home for Children and Adults (most recently as immediate past President) and has also served on the boards of the United Way of Erie County, Second Harvest Food Bank, the Community Shelter Services, and Boys and Girls Clubs of Erie.  Ed is the recipient of the 1997 United Way “Spirit of Erie” Award and the 2001 United Way Volunteer of the Year

Smith will maintain an active local practice while serving as ECBA President.  “My thanks and appreciation go out to the membership for entrusting me to this position. I consider it an honor and a privilege to serve as the Erie County Bar Association President.”