Volunteers Needed for Law Week April 28 - May 2

The Young Lawyers Division of the Philadelphia Bar Association seeks volunteers for Law Week events. Law Week is a series of programs that place Philadelphia lawyers of any age and law students in the community to educate the city's youth and public about the law through direct interaction.

Some of our Law Week activities include:

Lawyer in the Classroom - Volunteer lawyers and law students will visit different schools throughout the week to address students' concerns about the law and the legal issues that affect them as they enter adulthood and answer questions about the legal profession. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Kelly Gastley or Josh Ryan.

Legal Advice Live! - A free, daylong ask-a-lawyer event spanning across Philadelphia. On Wednesday, April 30, dozens of Philadelphia attorneys will gather on Independence Mall to provide free, in-person legal advice from noon to 2 p.m. in Center City. Attorneys will provide answers to legal questions on a broad range of topics, including landlord/tenant law, divorce and child custody matters, wills and estate planning, real estate law and employment law. If you would like to volunteer, please contact Abbie DuFrayne.

Also on Wednesday, April 30, volunteer attorneys will go into the community and give free legal advice at select Free Library of Philadelphia branches. Volunteers are needed at the South Philadelphia Branch at Broad and Morris Streets and the Tacony Branch at Torresdale Ave. and Knorr Street from 1 to 3 p.m. To volunteer contact Abbie DuFrayne.

Legal Line - As part of Legal Advice Live! on Wednesday, April 30, from 5 to 8 p.m., area residents can call lawyers at 215-238-6333 and have their legal questions answered free and confidentially. The lawyers will staff a phone bank at the headquarters of the Philadelphia Bar Association, 1101 Market St., 11th floor. If you would like to volunteer for Legal Line (either April 30 or a future date), please contact Stephanie Mensing.

The Trials of Goldilocks and the Big Bad Wolf - On Thursday, May 1 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., volunteer attorneys will use the facts of the well-known fairytales, Goldilocks and The Three Little Pigs, as the basis for criminal trials. Volunteers act as prosecutors, defense attorneys and witnesses in the criminal trials, which include opening statements, examinations and cross-examinations of witnesses, closing arguments, and instructions to the juries. At the conclusion of each trial, the students are given the role of the jury and determine whether the Big Bad Wolf or Goldilocks are guilty of a crime. To volunteer please contact Heather Herrington.

Lawyer for a Day - Volunteer attorneys, law students and judges pair with high school students and take them into the courts to learn more about the process of the judicial system as well as the role lawyers, judges and juries play in our community. Several city courtrooms will be open to allow the participants to observe proceedings. This program starts at 8:30 a.m. on Friday, May 2 at the Philadelphia Bar Association, and all participants are invited back to the Association’s 11th floor Conference Center at noon for a concluding lunch, which includes a keynote by a guest speaker. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact Carey Chopko or Corey Davis.

If you would like to volunteer or know of someone who can, please contact us or forward this information to them. With your help, we look forward to a week of successful events.

The Rites of Spring by Jeff Lyons

There are certain things you can count on every spring. Flowers bloom. Songbirds returns. And the Flyers disappoint in the playoffs.

We have a team that led their Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series against the Washington Capitals by a 3-games-to-1 margin. The Flyers had momentum on their side. And then just as quickly as a robin slurps a worm from the ground, the momentum was gone. The Caps outplayed and outworked the Flyers in Washington on Saturday to force a sixth game in the best-of-seven series. And things looked, well, promising on Monday night.

Mike Richards gave the Flyers an early first-period lead and Danny Briere added to the lead with a power-play goal early in the second period. The Flyers had the momentum and seemingly, a trip to the next round of the playoffs.

I can't really pinpoint just exactly when the momentum shifted. Maybe it was when Braydon Coburn was whistled for interference nearly six minutes into the second period. The Caps went on the power play and absolutely dominated in the offensive zone. They fired six shots on goalie Martin Biron in the next 90 seconds and the Flyers were on their heels. They survived the power play but gave up a goal by Nicklas Backstrom two minutes later. Momentum gone.

The Flyers, on their heels, managed just two more shots on goal in the second period. The Caps came at the Flyers in waves and tied the game when Alexander Semin scored on a rebound off a John Erskine shot. The Flyers two-goal lead was gone and their tenuous series lead was in jeopardy.

The Caps kept swarming in the third period and the Flyers had no answer for Alexander Ovechkin, who scored twice. The Caps scored four unanswered goals and forced a seventh and deciding game tonight in Washington.

This series was the Flyers' for the taking. The Caps were done like dinner. But the effort didn't appear to be there. The Caps looked hungrier and more desperate. They got to the pucks before the Flyers did. They won the scrums in the corners and they were able to make the passes that led to the scoring opportunities.

The Flyers can beat the Caps. They've done it three times in the past week. But they need to play 60 solid minutes of hockey, something they haven't been able to do in the last two games.

This season was a remarkable turnaround for the Flyers. They won 20 more games then they did in 2006-2007. But this series was there for the winning, and so far, the Flyers haven't been able to close the deal. The momentum is gone and belongs to the Caps. We'll find out tonight if they can get it back.

Jeff Lyons, senior managing editor of the Philadelphia Bar Reporter and Bar Reporter Online, is a fanatical Philadelphia fan who is sick and tired of playoff disappointments. His e-mail address is jlyons@philabar.org.