PORTLAND, OR – Portland labor and employment law firm Bullard Smith Jernstedt Wilson proudly announced today that Maryann Yelnosky-Smith, a shareholder with the firm, will receive the Harpole Attorney Award at the Thirteenth Annual Joyce Harpole Reception & Awards ceremony. The event, sponsored by Lewis & Clark Law School, will be held April 5 at 5:30 p.m. at the Oregon Historical Society.

Each year, the Joyce Ann Harpole Committee presents the Harpole Attorney Award to a lawyer who is dedicated to the pursuit of justice while maintaining a sense of balance among career, family and community. Award nominations are received from the community at large.

Maryann Yelnosky-Smith was chosen as the thirteenth Harpole Attorney Award recipient because she possesses many of the qualities that made Joyce Harpole, the award's namesake, such a unique and well-regarded person. The selection committee noted that Yelnosky-Smith "is an excellent lawyer who advocates vigorously for her clients but who also strives to resolve matters in fair and reasonable ways. She keeps her balance and sense of humor even in the tense circumstances that practicing lawyers often encounter on a daily basis."

Lewis & Clark Law School student Nellie Barnard also will be honored at the event. She will receive the Harpole Memorial Scholarship, which is awarded to a third-year law student who demonstrates a sense of balance between scholarship, fellow students and personal life.

For more than 20 years, Yelnosky-Smith has helped health care providers and other Pacific Northwest employers prevent and resolve employment disputes. She specializes in litigation defense, including discrimination, employee management and employee training. She is a frequent speaker on employment law topics, and she has served as an adjunct professor at the University of Oregon School of Law.

To learn more about Maryann Yelnosky-Smith, view her profile.

For additional information about the 13th Annual Harpole Reception & Awards, visit the Lewis and Clark Harpole Awards website.