Personal Branding in Workplace July 29

In today's attention-deficit culture, it's not enough to be memorable. It's a good first start, but you need more. You need a personal brand which is your "promise" of high value and consistent quality to your targeted audiences.

Building a personal brand reflects the essence of why someone should retain you and what they will receive when they do. Join Kimberly Alford Rice for "Personal Branding in the Workplace and Beyond" at the Tuesday, July 29 meeting of the Women in the Profession Committee.

The meeting begins at 12 p.m. in the 10th Floor Board Room at the Philadelphia Bar Association, 1101 Market St. Lunch is available for $8 for members of the Philadelphia Bar Association and $12 for non-members. Cancellations require 24 hours notice. Click here to register for lunch.

Applicants Sought for Board Observer Program

The Philadelphia Bar Foundation, in partnership with the Young Lawyers Division and the Delivery of Legal Services Committee, has developed the Board Observer Program.

This initiative that gives young lawyers practicing in Philadelphia the opportunity to learn more about local public interest legal services organizations and to develop leadership skills necessary to serve on the boards of such organizations as well as succeed in their careers.

Applications for the 2014-15 program are now being accepted and must be submitted by Sept. 26, 2014. For the Board Observer overview and application, please visit philabarfoundation.org/about.

Applicants Sought for FJD Judicial Fellowship Program

Philadelphia judges are seeking to host law school graduates as judicial fellows to provide the graduates with substantive legal experience while benefitting the court system with additional legal talent, as part of the First Judicial District's Judicial Fellowship Program. Now entering its fourth year, the Judicial Fellowship Program was created in 2011 to address the difficult hiring climate for lawyers that many recent law graduates were facing.

The Judicial Fellowship Program aims to provide high-caliber law graduates with substantive experience in the law, and to support the Court in carrying out key functions. Fellows volunteer their time, have the same responsibilities as regular paid judicial law clerks, and gain the benefit of training by judges in the Philadelphia courts. Judicial fellows' service helps our high-volume court system maintain its superior quality of service to the Philadelphia community. Judges help judicial fellows by mentoring and providing legal experience that will enhance their competitiveness for paid employment as new lawyers.

Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Lisa M. Rau developed the program with help from Professor Chapin Cimino of the Drexel University School of Law as well as faculty and administrators from career services offices at the University of Pennsylvania's Law School and Temple's Beasley School of Law. The Judicial Fellowship Program quickly expanded and now welcomes graduates from law schools from across the country. The Philadelphia Bar Association is a supporter of the Judicial Fellowship Program.

The application process is streamlined and selective. Prospective judicial fellows apply directly via email to judges with whom they are interest in working. Judges select judicial fellows from those applicants who apply to them directly. The list of judges with available positions for judicial fellows is provided on the Judicial Fellowship Program's website. Each judge and fellow team designs a flexible schedule (minimum of 20 hours per week) that ensures reliable service to the judge but permits the fellow to seek a paid position elsewhere. Judicial fellows do not commit to any length of service enabling them to leave the fellowship with two weeks' notice to their judge upon obtaining paid employment.

During the first three years of the program, more than 50 judges volunteered to host judicial fellows and the Court hosted 149 judicial fellows from 30 different law schools. As of February 2014, the vast majority of judicial fellows (approximately 84 percent) who left their fellowship departed for paid jobs using their legal skills.

For additional information and fellowship application forms, please visit www.courts.phila.gov/jfp

Volunteer Judges Needed for IP LawMeet in Oct.

The IP LawMeet is the premier lawyering competition for students contemplating a transactional practice focused on IP. It is a transactional "moot court" - a live, interactive, educational competition designed to give law students a hands-on experience to develop and hone their transactional lawyering skills. This year the East Coast Regional Meet will be in Philadelphia at the University of Pennsylvania Law School on Oct. 17. Students will compete in teams to draft, mark-up and then fly in to Philadelphia from all over the country to negotiate a client deal around an IP issue. This year's issue is a copyright license between a movie studio and an online gaming company.

Being a judge allows you to have an impact in a very direct way on the IP practitioners of tomorrow. These students have very few similar opportunities to get unvarnished, constructive feedback on their drafting and negotiating skills that will not impact their grades or their career. We are looking for practitioners that will be able and willing to offer advice on ethics, strategy and performance that will help young practitioners serve their future clients and the profession well. Click here for more information or contact dahl@law.upenn.edu.

Helping Global Companies Avoid Money Laundering Aug. 22

Money laundering, integrating the proceeds of crime into the legitimate financial system, has been grabbing headlines over the past year. Attorneys, whether operating in firms or as in-house counsel, are considered to be a class of people who may be "facilitators" of money laundering in the international policy realm.

In addition to risks for companies and corporate counsel, the legal profession is under considerable pressure from both domestic and international sources to implement effective risk-based measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. In 1989, the world’s major industrialized nations created an intergovernmental body known as the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). In 2008, FATF adopted risk-based guidance for the legal profession.

The program begins at 12:30 p.m. at The CLE Conference Center on the 10th Floor of the Wanamaker Building, Market and Juniper streets. Click here to register.

Philadelphia Bar Foundation Seeks Nominees

The Philadelphia Bar Foundation is accepting nominations for its two annual awards - The Philadelphia Bar Foundation Award and the Pro Bono Award. The deadline for nominations is Friday, Sept. 26.

The Philadelphia Bar Foundation Award, originally established by the Apothaker family in honor of Louis D. Apothaker, recognizes a public interest attorney who is dedicating his or her life to promoting equal access to justice for all by working in the nonprofit legal services community. A $2,500 stipend is presented in recognition of excellence in providing direct legal services to the poor and the underprivileged in Philadelphia.

The Pro Bono Award is presented annually to a Philadelphia law firm or corporate legal department that demonstrates outstanding volunteer efforts in providing legal services to those in need. Guidelines and nomination forms for both awards can be found at www.philabarfoundation.org.

YLD Needs Donations for Annual Back to School Supply Drive

The Young Lawyers Division is once again holding a Back to School Supply Drive to obtain donations for students in economically challenged areas of the city.

We are collecting backpacks, notebook paper, pens/pencils/highlighters, notebooks, composition books, rulers, dictionaries, folders, binders, pencil cases and anything else you think might be useful at designated donation centers across Philadelphia through Aug. 21. All supplies will be distributed to local schools and recreation centers in Philadelphia.

Locations where donations are currently being accepted include (see below to volunteer to be a donation drop off location):

Martin LLC
Contact: Maria Bermudez
1818 Market St., 35th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103

Kolsby, Gordon, Robin, Shore & Bezar
Contact: Prince Holloway
2000 Market St., 28th Floor
Philadelphia, PA 19103

As part of the drive, the YLD will host a happy hour and will be accepting donations on Thursday, Aug. 21 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at Marathon Grill, 1818 Market St. The happy hour is being co-sponsored by the Workers' Compensation Section and Robson Forensic.

There are a number of ways that you can contribute to this very worthy cause.

• We are looking for additional drop off locations in different areas of the city. If you agree to be a drop off location, please arrange to have all donations brought to our central location site at 19th and Market on or before Friday, Aug. 22.

• We need drivers to deliver supplies to various local schools and recreation centers.

• Spread the word - via email, fax, phone, flyer - whatever you prefer. We are accepting donations from anyone willing to give!

For more information or to register as a donation drop off location please contact Maria Bermudez at mbermudez@ssdisabilityfirm.com, Teresa Rodriguez at trodriguez.esq@gmail.com or Prince Holloway at pholloway@kolsbygordon.com.