ONE WEEK AWAY: Garcia to Outline 2011 Plans at Dec. 7 Annual Meeting

The Philadelphia Bar Association's Annual Meeting Luncheon, featuring inaugural remarks from incoming Chancellor Rudolph Garcia of Buchanan Ingersoll & Rooney PC, will be held next Tuesday, Dec. 7, at 12 p.m. in the Grand Ballroom of the Hyatt at The Bellevue, Broad and Walnut streets.

The event will also feature the presentation of the Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Distinguished Jurist Award and the Wells Fargo Fidelity Award. U.S. Magistrate Judges L. Felipe Restrepo and Timothy R. Rice will receive the Brennan Award for their work presiding over the Supervision to Aid Re-entry Program. Attorneys Mitchell L. Bach, Edward G. Biester III, Gregory H. Mathews, Darryl J. May and Marc J. Sonnenfeld, who worked to make Philadelphia's Commerce Court become a reality, have been named the recipients of the Fidelity Award. Click here to purchase tickets.

Election of officers and members of the Board of Governors will also be held on Tuesday, Dec. 7, from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. on the Ballroom Level of the Hyatt at The Bellevue. Officers to be elected are Vice Chancellor, Secretary, Treasurer, Assistant Secretary, Assistant Treasurer and five members of the Board of Governors for three-year terms.

Ballots will be mailed on Thursday, Nov. 18, and must be received at the offices of the Philadelphia Bar Association, 1101 Market St., 11th Floor, by 10 a.m. on Thursday, Dec. 2.

Candidates for office are: Kathleen D. Wilkinson, Vice Chancellor; Sophia Lee, Secretary; Joseph A. Prim Jr., Treasurer; Kim R. Jessum and Jacqueline G. Segal, Assistant Secretary; Wesley R. Payne IV, Assistant Treasurer; Brian S. Chacker, Nikki Johnson-Huston, Angus Love, Scott W. Reid, Gina Furia Rubel and Marc J. Zucker, Board of Governors (elect five).

YLD Holiday Party Dec. 16 at Home of Mutter Museum

This year's YLD Holiday Party takes place at The College of Physicians of Philadelphia - home of the Mutter Museum - on Dec. 16 from 6-9 p.m. The always-popular event includes open bar, heavy hors d'oeuvres, entertainment and access to the Museum's many medical curiosities. Tickets range from $25 to $40.

Click here to register.

Also during the Holiday Party, the YLD will host a Holiday Drive, in which items will be collected for local children and teens who receive services through Support Center for Child Advocates and People's Emergency Center. Some suggested donations are: gift cards to department, clothing, food, electronics and book stores, gift cards to restaurants and entertainment venues, warm clothing, alarm clocks and clock radios, art supplies, costume jewelry, disposable cameras, dolls, games, Lego blocks, playing cards, puzzles, sports equipment, toiletries, toys, wallets and purses, and watches.

TODAY: Pathways to Leadership With Women Chancellors

The Women in the Profession Committee will host the five women Chancellors of the Philadelphia Bar Association for a discussion on effective leadership skills today, Nov. 30, at 12 p.m.

The speakers include Deborah R. Willig, Doreen S. Davis, Audrey C. Talley, Jane Leslie Dalton and Sayde J. Ladov. The meeting begins at 12 p.m. in the 10th floor Board Room of Bar Association headquarters, 1101 Market St. Lunch is available for $8. CLICK HERE to RSVP.

'Tis the Season to Join the YLD of the Andrew Hamilton Circle

In 2001, the YLD partnered with the Philadelphia Bar Foundation to launch the Young Lawyers Division of the Andrew Hamilton Circle, a group of young lawyers who pledge to donate to the Bar Foundation for at least 3 years. The contribution goes to benefit local public interest agencies including Support Center for Child Advocates, Philadelphia VIP, SeniorLAW Center and Juvenile Law Center, among others.

Over the past 9 years, the YLD/AHC has had just just 35 members. But efforts to promote the program led to 11 new young lawyers signing up this year! The YLD hopes to increase this number, ideally even double it. In addition to the charitable donation, donors receive publicity on the Foundation's website, in the print version of the Annual Report, and in Bar Association publications. More information is available HERE.

TOMORROW AND THURSDAY: "Starting a New Business" Workshop

PBI is presenting a brand new, 12-credit CLE seminar, "Starting a New Business: A Practical Guide for Attorneys and Their Clients Exploring Starting a New Business, Practice or Franchise" tomorrow and Thursday, Dec. 1 and 2, at The CLE Conference Center, Wanamaker Bldg., 10th Floor, Ste. 1010. The first-time ever event features 12 distinct programs and 26 speakers over two full days.

Focusing on pragmatism, not theory, this innovative event features an all-star cast of entrepreneurial thought leaders, who take participants through the 12 Key Steps to succeed in a new business or practice. Day 1 runs 9 a.m. to 4:45 p.m; Day 2 runs 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

CLICK HERE for details and pricing information. For more on the concrete, actionable tips that set this event apart, please contact the Event Leader and Planner, Art Bousel, at abousel@law2law.com.

Public Interest Law Day, Dec. 9

The Public Interest Section will present its annual Public Interest Law Day CLE Program and hold its annual Public Interest Section Awards Ceremony and Reception on Thursday, Dec. 9.

The Public Interest Law Day CLE program will take place from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at the PBI CLE Conference Center, Wanamaker Building, 10th Floor, Suite 1010, Juniper Street entrance. The program "Good News: Despite the Recession, We Are Making Progress!" features a distinguished faculty of judges and public interest law experts and offers a total of six CLE credits, including one ethics credits. Click here for more information about the program. To register for Public Interest Law Day CLE program, contact PBI at 1-800-932-4637 or register online at www.pbi.org.

Public Interest Law Day will be followed by the Public Interest Section's Annual Awards Ceremony and Reception at Loews Philadelphia Hotel, 1200 Market St. The Awards Ceremony will begin at 5:30 p.m. followed by a reception featuring beer, wine and hors d'oeuvres and the presentation of the 2010 Andrew Hamilton Award for distinguished public service advocacy toLen Rieser, executive director of the Education Law Center. Rieser has dedicated his professional career to expanding and enforcing the educational rights of Pennsylvania's schoolchildren.

This year, the awards ceremony will also feature the selection winner of the Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Scholarship to subsidize the hiring of a law student for the following summer as well as the presentation of the Section's third annual Law Student Awards, which recognize a third-year law student from each of the six Philadelphia-area law schools who has demonstrated a strong commitment to public interest work. The Awards Ceremony will also feature the presentation of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation's Shuster Fellowships.

Tickets for the Public Interest Awards Ceremony and Reception are $40 for public interest and government attorneys; $55 for section members; and $65 for non-section members ($10 increase will be charged for walk-ins purchasing tickets at the event). Click here to purchase tickets. Proceeds from this event fund the Higginbotham Scholarship program.

Chancellor's Reception Jan. 5 at Bellevue

All members of the Philadelphia legal community are invited to attend a complimentary reception on Wednesday, Jan. 5 from 5 to 7 p.m. in honor of Rudolph Garcia, 84th Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

The Chancellor's Reception will be held in the Grand Ballroom at the Hyatt at The Bellevue, Broad and Walnut streets. No reservations are necessary.

This is the event at which even the city's busiest and most successful legal luminaries patiently wait in line to wish their leader and each other good luck in the year ahead.