Five Outstanding Local Law Students to be Recognized at YLD Diversity Scholarship Reception, June 16

The co-president of the Latin American Law Students Association at Drexel University's Earle Mack School of Law; a member of the 2010-11 Temple American Inn of Court; the business and marketing editor for the Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion; the recipient of the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses Foundation's Scholarship; and one of Pennsylvania's first South Asian emergency medical services chief officers will each be honored at the YLD's sixth annual Diversity Scholarship Reception, Thursday, June 16 at Kokopelli Restaurant and Tequila Bar (Upstairs), 1904 Chestnut St., from 5:30-7:30 p.m.

Click here to register for this free event, which includes food and drinks.

Each year, the Young Lawyers Division presents a $500.00 scholarship to select local law students in recognition of their excellence in academic achievement, community service and commitment to the Philadelphia area. The YLD Cabinet and YLD Executive Committee liaisons to Philadelphia's minority bar associations select the scholarship winners from submitted applications.

This year's scholarship winners are (pictured above from upper left): Tanishka V. Cruz, nominated by the Hispanic Bar Association; Sammetria L. Goodson, nominated by the National Bar Association, Women Lawyers Division, Philadelphia Chapter; Jacquie T. Huynh-Linenberg, nominated by the Asian Pacific American Bar Association of PA; Sean-Tamba Matthew, nominated by the Barristers' Association of Philadelphia; and Muthuramanan "Ramana" Ramaswaran, nominated by the South Asian Bar Association of Philadelphia.

Tanishka V. Cruz is a third-year law student at the Earle Mack School of Law at Drexel University, where she serves as co-president of the Latin American Law Students Association and a lead editor of Drexel Law Review. She is also a full-time law clerk for the Sachs Law Group, LLC in Philadelphia and previously served as a judicial intern in the chambers of the Honorable M. Teresa Sarmina of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas. Taniska is committed to community service and recently volunteered with the 2011 Pennsylvania Migrant Farm Workers Tax Clinic and as a Fellow with the Marshall Brennan Constitutional Literacy Project. She intends to pursue a career in immigration law with the goal of specializing in deportation defense cases.

Sammetria Goodson is a recent graduate of Temple University Beasley School of Law, where she served on the Executive Committee of the Black Law Students Association, as a member of the ABA Client Counseling Competition Planning Committee, and as a student member of the Faculty Hiring Committee. Sammetria was also an Academic Core Enrichment Counselor to first year students, a BLSA mentor to lower-division students, a member of the 2010-11 Temple American Inn of Court, and a member of the Christian Legal Society. Sammetria served in Temple's Elderly Law Project Clinical program and as an official poll watcher, a student marketing liaison for the North Philadelphia Arts & Culture Alliance, and a member of the Sharon Baptist Church Legal Ministry. Sammetria interned at Philadelphia Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and the City of Philadelphia Law Department.

Jacquie Huynh-Linenberg is a third-year law student at Rutgers School of Law-Camden. She earned a B.S. in Management Information Systems and International Business from Drexel University and an M.B.A in New Ventures and Entrepreneurship from Pennsylvania State University. Jacquie is heavily involved with diversity initiatives and, during the 2010-11 school year, served as the president of the Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, the Environmental Law Society, and as an auction co-chair for the Association for Public Interest Law at Rutgers. She currently serves as the Business and Marketing Editor for the Rutgers Journal of Law and Religion and provides pro bono services to the Financial Literacy Project and Voters' Rights Project. This summer, Jacquie will be a legal intern with PricewaterhouseCoopers in Philadelphia.

Sean-Tamba Matthew recently completed his first year at Temple University Beasley School of Law. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a B.A. in Political Science. While at Penn, Sean worked as a summer intern for Penn's Fox Leadership Program where he co-developed the Big Brother Big Sisters/St. Francis DeSales Financial Literacy Program. Sean spent two years working at Big Brothers Big Sisters Southeastern PA as a Fellow and has continued his participation with Big Brothers Big Sisters at Temple as a Mentor. He is active in the Black Law Student Association, the Student Public Interest Network, and will serve as the co-vice president of the Business Law Society next year. Last year, Sean was a recipient of the Congressional Black Caucus Spouses Foundation's Scholarship. This summer, he will work as a Summer Law Clerk at Regional Housing Legal Services.

Muthuramanan "Ramana" Rameswaran recently completed his first year at Temple University Beasley School of Law and is currently a summer associate with Page, Wolfberg, & Wirth in Mechanicsburg, Pa. At Temple Law, he serves on the executive boards of the South Asian Law Student Association and the Health Law Society. He also serves as the student representative to the law school's Faculty Curriculum Committee. Prior to law school, Rameswaran attended medical school, worked at two local Fortune 100 pharmaceutical companies and served as one of the commonwealth's first South Asian emergency medical services chief officers. Rameswaran is a long-time resident of the Philadelphia region who continues to serve as a merit badge counselor for his old Boy Scout troop, as well as Parliamentarian of his local ambulance company.

Click here to register.

NEXT TUESDAY: Help Prepare Dinner at the Ronald McDonald House

Please join the YLD for a guest chef dinner at the Ronald McDonald House located at 3925 Chestnut Street next Tuesday, June 7 beginning at 4 p.m.

The Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House is a home-away-from-home for families and their seriously ill children who are being treated at area hospitals. What makes the Philadelphia Ronald McDonald House special is its caring environment where families find physical and emotional comfort through one another and through volunteers like you.

Volunteers are asked to cook a full meal for the 80-90 residents of the house. Meal preparations begin at 4 p.m., and is to be served at 6 p.m.

We are seeking 15-20 volunteers to share in this valuable experience. It is a fun way to spend your afternoon, and it will certainly be a rewarding opportunity to give back to your community.

Please contact Matthew Laver if you are interested in volunteering or if you require further information.

NEXT TUESDAY: Women's Images and Issues of the 20th Century, Co-sponsored by the YLD and WIP Committee

Catherine Gourley, an award-winning author and National Women's History Project affiliate, will present "Women's Images and Issues of the 20th Century: An Interactive Program on how Popular Culture Portrayed Women Throughout the 20th Century," a program co-sponsored by the Young Lawyers Division and the Women in the Profession Committee next Tuesday, June 7 at 12 p.m. at Bar Association headquarters, 1101 Market St., 11th Floor.

Stories of women who either exemplified conventional behaviors or changed them will be presented in a fascinating slide show. With a focus on primary-source photographs, illustrations and moving images, this program will examine the influence of popular culture on our perceptions of women and women's issues in the 20th century.

Click here to register for this free program (excluding lunch).

NEXT MONDAY: Brennan Award Nominations Due

Nominations are being accepted for the Philadelphia Bar Association's prestigious Justice William J. Brennan Jr. Distinguished Jurist Award. The award will be presented at the Association's Quarterly Meeting in September 2011.

The award recognizes a jurist who adheres to the highest ideals of judicial service. Any member of the state or federal bench, whether active or retired, who has made a significant, positive impact on the quality or administration of justice in Philadelphia is eligible for consideration. Examples of accomplishments worthy of nomination include innovations in court administration, implementation of pioneering case management techniques, assumption of a leadership role in areas affecting the administration of justice, publication of a significant opinion, article, or other scholarly work, or the like.

Maria Feeley is chairing this year's Brennan Award Committee. Nominations for the Justice Brennan Distinguished Jurist Award should be forwarded to: Brennan Award, Attn: Dawn Petit, Philadelphia Bar Association, 1101 Market St., 11th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. All nominations should include the full name, address and telephone number of both the nominee and the person submitting the nomination, a summary of the nominee’s accomplishments, and any pertinent supporting material the committee should consider.

All nominations must be received no later than next Monday, June 6, 2011.

Philadelphia VIP's 16th Annual Summer Pro Bono Program, June 17

Philadelphia VIP, the hub of pro bono legal services in the city, will host its 16th annual Summer Pro Bono Program on Friday, June 17 from 8:45 a.m.-1 p.m. at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. The program is geared specifically to law students at the start of their careers to educate them about issues of poverty in Philadelphia and to promote an ethic of service to address those issues through pro bono work.

Participants in the Summer Pro Bono Program will:

• Attend a training on VIP's work with the City of Philadelphia's Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program, an innovative program that provides thousands of homeowners an opportunity to negotiate face to face with lenders’ representatives to save their homes from foreclosure.
• Discuss the importance of pro bono with judges from the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia Bar Association leaders and VIP Board Members during a complimentary luncheon.
• Shadow a volunteer attorney or housing counselor assisting a client at a conciliation conference during the summer months.

Registration ends Wednesday, June 8. Registration forms can be found at www.phillyvip.org underneath the "Events" heading. Questions can be directed to Bailey Andersen at jvolunteer@phillyvip.org or (215) 523-9567.

Chief Judge Lippman to Speak; Judge Rufe to Be Honored, June 27

The Association will also present the Sandra Day O'Connor Award to U.S. District Court Judge Cynthia M. Rufe at the event and honor the newest members of its Year Clubs, attorneys who have been practicing law for more than 50 years. The O'Connor 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.

As New York's chief judge, Lippman has championed equal access to justice issues and taken an active leadership role in identifying permanent funding streams for civil legal services, strengthening the state’s indigent criminal defense system, addressing the systemic causes of wrongful convictions, and reforming New York's juvenile justice system, among many other areas. Judge Lippman's four decades in the courts have been marked by a commitment to fostering a justice system that is independent, open, accountable and responsive to the people it serves.

Judge Rufe was nominated to the Eastern District by President George W. Bush on Jan. 23, 2002. She was confirmed by the Senate on April 30, 2002, and received her commission on May 3, 2002. She received her B.A. from Adelphi University and received her J.D. from State University of New York at Buffalo Law School.

Judge Rufe began her professional career as an assistant and coordinator in the Juvenile Division of the Bucks County Public Defender's Office in 1977. She was a deputy public defender with the Bucks County Public Defender's Office from 1980 to 1981. She served as solicitor for the Bucks County Children and Youth Social Services Agency from 1984 to 1988. She served as a judge on the Bucks County Court of Common Pleas from 1994 to 2002.

We will also welcome Hon. Bruce W. Kauffman to join us in saluting the distinguished careers of our senior members of the Bar Association as we induct new members into the 50-, 60-, 65- and 70-Year Clubs. Our two new 70-Year Club members, Albert Konefsky and George Ovington, will receive special recognition for their extraordinary record of service.

Tickets for the event, to be held at the Hyatt at The Bellevue, Broad and Walnut streets, are $55 for members and $65 for non-members. Click here to purhcase tickets.

NEXT MONDAY: Judicial Activism Reconsidered

The National Constitution Center will present a discussion examining the history of judicial activism and the current debate over the role of judges and their influence over public policy through their decisions and decrees next Monday, June 6 at 6:30 p.m. Federal Judge Kent Jordan and 2010-2011 Visiting Scholar Geoffrey Stone will join the discussion, which will include an opportunity for the audience to ask questions and interact with the panelists.

This event is free if you call 215-409-6700 to make your reservation. Reservations are required. To reserve online or for more information, click here.

Registation Now Open for Bench-Bar at Harrah's, Oct. 14 & 15

Registration is now open for the 2011 Bench-Bar & Annual Conference Oct. 14-15 at Harrah's Resort Atlantic City. Click here to register.

The Bench-Bar & Annual Conference provides attendees with the opportunity to earn CLE credit while networking with colleagues and members of the bench.

(Check out the brand-new website for the event here, where you can learn how to win an iPad 2.)

Registration for members is $349 if booked by Sept. 16. For non-members, registration is $399. Members of the Young Lawyers Division and public interest and government attorneys can attend for $199. For those wishing to attend only the Grand Reception at The Pool at Harrah's on Friday, Oct. 14, tickets are $150 for all members and $175 for non-members. Tickets will be an additional $25 if purchased at the door.

For those wishing to attend Friday's session only, tickets are $299 for members, $149 for the Young Lawyers Division and government or public interest attorneys and $349 for non-members. Members and guests wishing to attend without receiving CLE credit will pay $200. For non-members, the cost is $225. Admission includes all sponsored meals and events. Those wishing to attend programs on Saturday, Oct. 24 will only pay $229, while YLD members and government and public interest attorneys can attend for $79 and $279 for non-members. Click here to register.