Attorney Margaret T. Lucas has announced her candidacy for Mercer County Common Pleas Judge.

"I believe that with my professional experience, community involvement and proven leadership abilities, I will bring a hardworking, new perspective to the bench that will benefit all the citizens of Mercer County," Ms. Lucas said.

A long-time resident of Mercer County, Lucas and her family moved to the Shenango Valley when she was a child. She graduated with honors from Sharon High School in 1976, attended Pennsylvania State University, Shenango Valley Campus and University Park, and graduated from Thiel College in 1980.

Ms. Lucas earned her law degree from Duquesne University School of Law in 1983. While at Duquesne, she was a member of the Phi Alpha Delta legal fraternity.

After graduation, Ms. Lucas joined the office of Halliday & Halliday in Greenville, where she practiced for two and a half years. She the joined the Sharon firm of Routman, Moore, Goldstone & Valentino in 1987. After working as an associate for seven years, she became a partner in the firm until its dissolution in 2000.

Ms. Lucas has her own practice in Mercer which includes areas of business, real estate, bankruptcy, personal and business reorganization and family law. She has argued cases before common pleas courts in many western Pennsylvania counties, the U.S. Bankruptcy courts in Youngstown, Erie and Pittsburgh, and in the Pennsylvania appellate courts.

Ms. Lucas is a member of the American, Pennsylvania and Mercer County bar associations. She is the chairperson of the Mercer County Bar Association Family Law Committee. She is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Family Law Section and serves on its executive council.

She also is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Commission on Women in the Profession. She has written and lectured for the Pennsylvania Bar Institute in the areas of bankruptcy and family law. She has presented seminars for the local police departments on the interplay of family law in the criminal area.

Ms. Lucas was the first president of the Penn State Shenango Campus constituency society and was a member of the Penn State Alumni Association for three years, serving for one year on the executive committee. She serves on the boards of trustees for the UPMC Horizon hospital system, the UPMC Horizon Hospital Foundation and the Children's Center of Mercer County. She is a member of the Community Advisory Council for the Hermitage School District and helped create its new strategic plan.

She lives in Hermitage with her husband, David, and sons Ian, 13, and Connor, 8.