Philadelphia Bar Association | Today's News

Chancellor Scott Cooper Interviewed on CBS3

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Click here to see Chancellor Scott F. Cooper's interview with Pat Ciarrocchi on CBS3's "Newsmakers." Cooper talked about current legal issues in the news and his agenda for the year.

Volunteers Needed for Earth Day Event

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The Philadelphia Bar Association will mark the 40th anniversary of Earth Day by planting trees on the morning of Saturday, April 24.

Please join the Green Ribbon Task Force in helping make Philadelphia greener. We will be planting root trees at one or more locations in Philadelphia and no experience or heavy lifting is necessary. You and your family and friends are all welcome and encouraged to participate. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Kim Jessum at kjessum@stradley.com or call 215-564-8165. More details about exact locations and times will be forthcoming.

Sandra Day O'Connor Award Nominees Sought

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The Women in the Profession Committee is seeking nominations for the 2010 Sandra Day O'Connor Award. Deadline for nominations is Monday, March 22.

The award is conferred annually on a woman attorney who has demonstrated superior legal talent, achieved significant legal accomplishments and has furthered the advancement of women in both the profession and the community. The award presentation will be made during the June Quarterly Meeting.

The committee established the award in 1993 to recognize the important contributions that women attorneys in Philadelphia have made to the legal profession. Click here to download a nomination form. Please send nominations to the attention of Dawn Petit, Philadelphia Bar Association, 1101 Market St., 11th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107.

Soccer Program with Philadelphia Union to Launch New Bar Association Academy, March 29

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

On March 29, be there for the launch of the brand-new Philadelphia Bar Association Academy by joining Philadelphia Union President Tom Veit for an exclusive look at Philadelphia's newest sports franchise and its first-ever major league soccer team.

The free event takes place at The CLE Conference Center on the 10th floor of the Wanamaker Building, Market and Juniper streets, from 12 to 1:30 p.m. Attendees will get a virtual preview of the Union's new 18,500-seat stadium in Delaware County and learn the basics of soccer. Nick Sakiewicz, CEO & Operating Partner of the Philadelphia Union and Keystone Sports and Entertainment LLC, will also present.

The Philadelphia Bar Association Academy, launched this year by Chancellor Scott F. Cooper, is a new civic and cultural education series for members of the Association that aims to better connect members with the city's most vibrant institutions through exclusive, behind-the-scenes access.

CLICK HERE to register for the program. Lunch is available for $15 for those members who pre-register.

Sharon Pinkenson, Executive Director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, to Speak at YLD Annual Meeting, March 31

Fri, 5 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

On March 31, hear from the woman who has helped bring more than 200 film, television and video productions to the City of Philadelphia. Sharon Pinkenson, executive director of the Greater Philadelphia Film Office, will share her inside knowledge of the film industry and discuss new projects slated for the city at the Annual Meeting of the Philadelphia Bar Association's Young Lawyers Division (YLD), to be held at Table 31 in the Comcast Center, 1701 JFK Boulevard, at 12 p.m.

The event also features remarks from the 2010 Chair of the YLD, Albertine DuFrayne of Petrelli Law, P.C., and the presentation of three YLD community service awards to Lloyd Freeman of Archer & Greiner, P.C, Djung Tran of Smith & McMaster, P.C. and Ace Reporters, Inc.

Pinkenson has served as the Greater Philadelphia Film Office's Executive Director since 1992. Among her responsibilities is marketing the City of Philadelphia and its surroundings to the film, video, and television industry. The Greater Philadelphia Film Office also coordinates day-to-day production and location details, ensures the hiring of local cast and crew while directing local goods and services to productions, and develops financial incentives while enhancing the region’s reputation internationally. Pinkenson also publishes the “Greater Philadelphia Film & Video Guide” and the popular website www.film.org as well as advocates for the growth of Philadelphia's indigenous film community through the Greater Philadelphia Filmmakers program.

In 2004, Pinkenson's tenacity resulted in the passage of the $75 million Pennsylvania Film Production Tax Credit program that caught the attention of the entire film industry. As a result, a surge of new production business took place throughout the state, resulting in 2000 new jobs and $500 million for the regional economy in 2009 alone according to the Greater Philadelphia Film Office.

Highlights of Pinkenson's credits include the films "Philadelphia," "12 Monkeys," "Beloved," "The Sixth Sense," "Signs," "Invincible," "Rocky Balboa," and "The Lovely Bones," and the television series' "Cold Case," "Hack" and "It's Always Sunny in Philadelphia."

Lloyd Freeman, an associate at the law firm of Archer & Greiner, P.C., will be awarded the Craig M. Perry Award, presented annually to a young lawyer who has devoted substantial time and energy to community-oriented activities. Freeman concentrates his practice in commercial litigation and began volunteering his legal skills while a student at Rutgers University School of Law, where he participated in three pro bono clinics and spent a year teaching constitutional law to high school students in Camden, N.J. He currently volunteers as a guest lecturer for Camden County Technical High School on topics such as business life skills and career exploration and, through the Burlington Camden Kappa Foundation, chairs a program for high school males that trains them in etiquette, fiscal responsibility and college preparation. In 2008, Freeman received the Young Urban Leader Award given by the Urban League of Philadelphia and, in 2007, the Rutgers Law School Mary Philbrook Student Public Interest Award.

Djung Tran, an associate at the law firm of Smith & McMaster, P.C., will be awarded the F. Sean Peretta Service Award, presented annually to an individual who has devoted substantial time to an innovative or non-traditional program that serves the community. Tran concentrates her practice on municipal representation, including land use and development. She has worked in family law, including protection from abuse cases, and immigration representation with the legal assistance program of A Woman's Place, a Bucks County nonprofit organization that provides assistance to victims and survivors of domestic violence. Tran is also the editor of the Bucks County Law Reporter, a member of the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of Pennsylvania, where she takes part in community outreach activities and young lawyer programs, and is a member of the Philadelphia School District's Task Force on Racial and Cultural Harmony.

Ace Reporters, Inc., a full service court reporting agency, will be awarded the Young Lawyers Division Vision Award, presented annually to an organization that has provided outstanding support to the YLD in the fulfillment of its mission.

The cost of the YLD Annual Meeting is $35 for Philadelphia Bar Association members and $50 for non-members. CLICK HERE to register online; CLICK HERE for a downloadable form to mail in with payment.

Ginsburg Writing Competition

Mon, 1 Mar 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Entries are now being accepted for the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Eighth Annual Legal Writing Competition in honor of the Honorable Ruth Bader Ginsburg, associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.

The co-chairs of the competition are Kathleen D. Wilkinson, partner at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman and Dicker LLP and Secretary of the Association and Diane Penneys Edelman, assistant dean for international programs and professor of legal writing, Villanova University School of Law.

The Bar Association recognizes the importance of excellence in legal analysis and writing skills, and seeks to award a student enrolled in an American Bar Association-approved or provisionally approved area law school for authoring a top-quality competition submission.

“This competition was created eight years ago. It gives law students the opportunity to show off their legal writing talents. The winner is invited to the October Quarterly Meeting to be recognized and presented with the award,” said Wilkinson. “This is an excellent way for a law student to distinguish oneself.”

“We are thrilled that the Bar Association has demonstrated a strong commitment to the development and recognition of excellent legal analysis and writing abilities among Philadelphia-area law students. These skills have always been important to a lawyer’s success, and have become even more crucial in this economy,” said Edelman.

This competition is open to full- and part-time law students who are in their second or third year of study during the 2009-2010 academic year at one of the following six institutions: Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Rutgers University School of Law – Camden, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Villanova University School of Law and Widener University School of Law (Delaware Campus).

Part-time law students in their third or later year of study are also eligible. Students must be in good standing at their institutions. The submission may not have been published previously, although it may have been prepared in connection with a law school course or for a law journal. The submission also may not have been submitted for any other competition during the time when it is under consideration for this competition, until after the time when awards are announced. The submission must be the work of one author alone (joint submissions will not be considered), and the author must certify that the submission has been prepared without substantial editing from others.

Candidates may submit a law review quality submission on any topic relating to rights, privileges and responsibilities under federal law. Entries must be received by Monday, May 10 at 4 p.m.

The author of the winning submission will receive a cash award of $2,500, the publication of the winning submission on the Bar Association’s Web site and/or in an appropriate Bar Association publication. The winner will be presented with the award at the Association’s Quarterly Meeting in October.

Competition Rules

FJD Training Session on E-Filing Rescheduled for April 22

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The First Judicial District training session on electronic filing scheduled for Wednesday, Feb. 17 has been postponed and rescheduled for Thursday, April 22.

Electronic filing of all civil matters became mandatory in January 2009. This program will provide in-depth instruction on the use of the electronic filing system. It was designed to allow for the filing of all civil cases and legal document via the Internet from anywhere at any time. The system currently provides attorneys and litigants with unlimited online access to all papers and legal documents filed in their cases.

The faculty for the program includes President Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe, Administrative Judge D. Webster Keogh, Supervising Judge William J. Manfredi, Deputy Court Administrator Charles A. Mapp Sr., Prothonotary Joseph H. Evers, and Deputy Prothonotary Deborah E. Dailey, along with Harold Palmer, director of application systems development and Steven Wulko from quality assurance.
The program begins at 9 a.m. in Conference Room 380 of City Hall. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. Click here for an electronic fillable registration form. Completed registration forms can be e-mailed to Kara.behlau@courts.phila.gov. The cost of the program is $125 and includes and electronic version of the e-filing manual. The program has been approved for 3 substantive CLE credits.

Bar-News Media Committee Lunch Program April 22

Tue, 9 Feb 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The Association' s Bar-News Media Committee program “How and When to Share Your Opinion with the Press – Submitting to Editorial Pages” will take place April 22.

Members will hear from editorial page editors from several area newspapers. Panelists will include Bernard Dagenais, Editor of the Philadelphia Business Journal; Hank Grezlak, Associate Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Legal Intelligencer; Lisa Hostein, Executive Editor of the Jewish Exponent; Irv Randolph, Managing Editor of The Philadelphia Tribune; and Guy Petroziello, Editorial Page Editor, Bucks County Courier Times. Additional panelists will be announced.

The program will take place from 12 to 1:30 p.m. at Bar Association headquarters, 1101 Market St., in the 11th Floor Conference Center. Click here to register. For more information about the Bar-News Media Committee, contact Committee Chair Gina Furia Rubel at Gina@furiarubel.com.

CNN's John King to Speak at March 17 Quarterly Meeting

Tue, 26 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

On the heels of being announced as host of CNN's new primetime news program "John King, USA," CNN Chief National Correspondent John King will address Bar members at the Association's Quarterly Meeting and Luncheon on Wednesday, March 17. At the event, Immediate-Past Chancellor Sayde J. Ladov will be presented with a gold box, an exact replica of the one presented to Andrew Hamilton for his defense of John Peter Zenger in 1735.

Save the Date for Bench-Bar and Annual Conference 2010

Mon, 25 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

The Philadelphia Bar Association’s popular Bench-Bar and Annual Conference is returning in 2010, moving back to The Borgata in Atlantic City, N.J. for the weekend of Oct. 15 and 16.

Chancellor Scott F. Cooper has tapped Vice Chancellor John E. Savoth and Board of Governors Vice Chair Regina M. Foley to chair the conference.

“I am thrilled about the conference returning to The Borgata. We just completed the Bar’s Leadership Retreat at The Borgata and it is a top-tier venue. I think our attendees will be amazed at the facilities and the level of service. It is the perfect location for a conference of this caliber,” Cooper said.

The Association’s Bench-Bar Conference traditionally features a large selection of continuing legal education seminars for practitioners in a variety of specialty areas. There is always ample opportunity for attorneys to mingle and network with their colleagues and members of the bench.

The Borgata last hosted the Bench-Bar Conference in 2004. Since then, the event has been held at the Tropicana, Bally’s and Harrah’s.

Visit philadelphiabar.org for more details about the 2010 Bench-Bar Conference as they become available.

Haiti Relief Effort Donation Resources

Fri, 15 Jan 2010 00:00:00 -0500

Click here for a list of donation resources to support humanitarian relief efforts currently underway in Haiti.