The American College of Trial Lawyers has announced that the Older & Wiser program of the Neighborhood Legal Services Association of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is the winner of the 2010 Emil Gumpert Award. The $50,000 first-place prize is funded by a grant from the Foundation of the American College of Trial Lawyers.

The program invites and leverages the support and participation of state legislators to provide legal information and resources to senior adults and their caregivers throughout Pennsylvania. The Emil Gumpert Award recognizes and provides funds for an expansion of the existing program to serve as a model for replication in other states and provinces.

The Emil Gumpert Award recognizes programs, whether public or private, whose principal purpose is to maintain and improve the administration of justice. The award honors the late Honorable Emil Gumpert, Chancellor and Founder of the American College of Trial Lawyers. Through his dedication to the legal profession for more than 50 years, Judge Gumpert’s legal career encompassed that of eminent trial lawyer, California State Bar president and trial judge.

Previous Emil Gumpert Award winners have included Pro Bono Law Ontario of Ottawa, Ontario (2009); And Justice For All of Salt Lake City, Utah (2008); The National Center for Refugee and Immigrant Children of Washington, D.C. (2007); Legal Aid University of Boston, Massachusetts (2006); and Dakota Plains Legal Services of Mission, South Dakota (2005).

Each year’s recipient is chosen from a wide field of applicants seeking grants to continue projects of global application with potential for replication in other locations. Neighborhood Legal Services Association’s Older & Wiser program meets all the College’s criteria through its ability to duplicate, encourage and extend its services beyond the jurisdiction of the Older & Wiser program in Pittsburgh.