President

1885, and now represents more than 2,100 legal professionals in the county.

Like most trade organizations, the bar association started as a networking outlet, “lawyers helping lawyers, but now it has really gone so far beyond that, helping the community on various topics,” noted Pugh, who explained that membership is not mandatory.

“If you’re in Montgomery County and you’re not a part of it, then you’re really doing a disservice to yourself. To practice in Montgomery County and not be a part of the bar association would really be foolish because it’s such a wonderful resource, not only for services but the ability to network with colleagues and the educational opportunities. Being a member, you kind of get a comfort level when you walk into a courtroom that you’re not walking into a foreign world.”

Also on the agenda at the Jan. 19 luncheon will be the announcement of the bar association’s new Horace Davenport award, in honor of the late Montgomery County judge who passed away last year at the age of 98.

Pugh, who lives in Erdenheim with her husband, allowed that among the organization’s priorities the last few years has been an attempt to forge more paths that lead to justice for those who may otherwise have been detoured permanently due to an inability to afford legal counsel.

“What came out of that,” she said, “is a collaboration with the county and a nonprofit organization, Your Way Home, called the EPIC (Eviction Protection Intervention Coalition) program to address homelessness in Norristown where underserved are being displaced from their homes due to landlord-tenant issues. It’s an unbelievably great program, where a trained lawyer donates their time every two weeks to represent tenants who have been evicted to try to garner an agreement where they don’t lose their home.”

Pugh said the Montgomery Bar Association isn’t overly concerned about patting itself on the back, but it should learn how to be less modest about its achievements.

“We need to brag about these things for two reasons … to let the public know that the programs are available, and to let the lawyers know that it’s available as an opportunity for them to give back,” she said.

Another somewhat unheralded program touted by Pugh and co-sponsored by the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division is Wills for Heroes, which offers free basic estate planning documents to first responders and military veterans in Pennsylvania.

The free service, staffed by lawyer volunteers and offered to first responders at meeting halls and police and fire stations, provides police, fire, emergency medical personnel and military veterans the information needed to prepare for the future.

“It really helps you feel good about giving back for first responders who put their lives on the line every single day. Those are just a few of the ways the bar association has given back,” noted Pugh, who earned her law degree in 1986 from Villanova University, where she met her husband.

Pugh was drawn away from the world of medical malpractice litigation after volunteering for MCAP in 2005.

“I became a child advocate and loved working with children and being a child’s voice when they are in a terrible situation,” she said. “Then I became the first executive director of MCAP in 2006 and that has been my full-time job, representing children and running the day to day operations.”

Committed to preventing child abuse and neglect, MCAP provides legal services, advocacy and education in a variety of settings, including courtrooms and classrooms.

The practice oversees 125 lawyers in Montgomery County who give their time and their expertise to helping kids pro bono.

“I’d love to say that in 2020 we’re closing our doors because we’re no longer needed,” said Pugh, the mother of four girls. “But if anything, there are more kids than ever that need to be represented.”

Unlike her husband, Pugh said she hadn’t always dreamed about being a lawyer.

“I came at it a different way, but I really fell in love with law once I started representing children,” she said. “That’s been the highlight of being a lawyer for me, to make a difference for kids and let them know that their voice is being heard.”