Crystal West Edwards, an attorney at Schenck Price Smith & King, LLP, has been named President of the Garden State Bar Association. She was installed at a ceremony at the Madison Hotel in Morristown on Oct. 4.

The Garden State Bar Association is the largest professional organization for African-American judges, lawyers and law students. The organization seeks to improve the administration of justice in the State, the elimination of discrimination based on race and ethnicity, and advance the economic well-being of all the State's residents.

Ms. Edwards will serve a one-year term as President. She previously served as Vice President of the organization and, before that, as Treasurer, Secretary and a Member of the Board of Directors.

"I am honored and humbled that my peers have entrusted me with the privilege of leading the Garden State Bar Association as its president," Ms. Edwards said in remarks to her colleagues during the Oct. 4 ceremony. "With your help and support, we will accomplish much this year."

An attorney with Schenck Price since 2010, Ms. Edwards focuses her practice on elder law, special needs planning and advocacy, estate planning and estate administration. She assists seniors, individuals with special needs, and families with issues pertaining to complex estate and tax planning, asset preservation, eligibility for means-tested government benefits, fiduciary appointments and representation and advocacy. She also assists financial institutions and corporate fiduciaries with judicial and administrative accountings and counseling regarding initial or continued means-tested government benefits eligibility for its trust beneficiaries. Ms. Edwards is a Certified Elder Law Attorney by the ABA Accredited National Elder Law Foundation. She is Immediate Past President of the New Jersey chapter of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys and is a member of the Elder and Disability Law Section of the New Jersey State Bar Association.

"Crystal has consistently demonstrated her dedication to the needs of her clients as well as her ability and talent for leadership within the Firm," said Schenck Price Managing Partner Gary F. Werner. "The Garden State Bar Association could not have chosen a finer individual to take the helm."

Ms. Edwards' goals for the GSBA during her tenure include utilizing the organization's members to educate and empower a generation of future members of the bar through active participation in mentorship programs; providing legal representation to individuals facing charges for involvement in non-violent social protests over systematic racism that has plagued the community, and offering continuing legal education to the organization's members. John Kahn, Immediate Past President of GSBA said, "I have worked with Crystal over the past several years with the GSBA and have witnessed her legal expertise and exemplary leadership. With Crystal's vision for the future of the GSBA, I am confident that the organization will have an outstanding bar year."