McNees Attorney Crystal H. Clark Appointed as CCAP Corporate Counsel
November 23, 2015
Press Releases
LANCASTER, PA (Nov. 23, 2015) – McNees Wallace & Nurick LLC together with the County Commissioners Association of Pennsylvania (CCAP) announced today that Crystal Clark, has been appointed as Corporate Counsel. Her appointment was approved at the meeting of the CCAP Board of Directors on Saturday, November 21, 2015. As Corporate Counsel, Clark’s role will be to advise CCAP staff and the Board on general legal matters, monitor litigation and legislative actions of importance to Counties, identify and represent CCAP in litigation as amicus curiae where appropriate, and coordinate CCAP’s communications and training programs for county solicitors statewide.
“Crystal’s breadth of experience in support of counties makes her an ideal choice for this role,” said CCAP President and Lancaster County Commissioner Craig Lehman. “She will be a tremendous asset to our leadership team.”
CCAP executive director Douglas Hill agreed, noting that Clark had the opportunity to work with former CCAP counsel Robert Knupp (Smigel, Anderson & Sacks, Harrisburg) who, at his recent retirement, had served in the role for more than 30 years. According to Hill, “Crystal worked well with Bob, and from him understands the breadth of issues counties deal with on a daily basis and the importance of building strong relationships among those who provide them legal advice.”
Clark most recently served as the County Solicitor for the County of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. Appointed by the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners as the County’s chief legal adviser, she was generally responsible for all suits brought by or against the County, and provided day-to-day legal advice on all manner of issues faced by the County.
Clark, Of Counsel with the law firm of McNees Wallace & Nurick, practices in the firm’s Labor & Employment Practice Group. She has over ten years of legal experience. Her litigation practice over the years has run the gamut of employment and civil rights issues, including: sexual harassment; age, gender, race, and disability discrimination; unemployment compensation; equal protection; First Amendment rights; prison and law enforcement matters; and numerous other matters. A large portion of her pre-Solicitor litigation practice was as defense counsel for CCAP’s Pennsylvania Counties’ Risk Pool (PCoRP), which provides property, liability, automobile and other related insurance coverages to Pennsylvania counties and county related entities.
Commenting on the appointment Clark, Esquire, said: “I have had the privilege of working with CCAP over nearly my entire legal career, first as defense counsel and more recently as a CCAP solicitor-member. In both roles, CCAP staff and members have always impressed me as wonderful people committed to representing and improving the lives of Pennsylvanians. They recognize the importance and impact of local government on the lives of their constituents, a sentiment that has always appealed to me. While I was exceedingly happy in my role as the Lancaster County Solicitor, I am thrilled at this unique opportunity to put my experience, and that of all of the talented attorneys at McNees, to work on behalf of CCAP and all 67 Pennsylvania Counties.”
Clark is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, the United States District Courts for the Middle and Eastern Districts of Pennsylvania, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Judicial Circuit, and the United States Supreme Court.
Clark earned her law degree from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University and her undergraduate degree from the University of Michigan.
CCAP, founded in 1886, is a statewide, nonprofit, bipartisan association representing the commissioners, chief clerks, administrators, their equivalents in home rule counties, and solicitors of Pennsylvania’s 67 counties.
The Association promotes the common interests of counties by encouraging both a dialogue among county elected officials and a better understanding of county government by federal, state and local elected officials as well as by private citizens.
For more information about Pennsylvania’s counties and CCAP, log on to www.pacounties.org.
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McNees is a full-service law firm based in central Pennsylvania with more than 130 attorneys representing corporations, associations, institutions and individuals. The firm serves clients worldwide from offices in Harrisburg, Lancaster, State College and Scranton, PA; Columbus, OH; and Washington, D.C. McNees is also a member of the ALFA International Global Legal Network. www.mwn.com | @McNeeslaw | LinkedIn
