September 9, 2008

Jayne Navarre on Social Media Sept. 22

Jayne Navarre, managing director of LawGravity LLC, will present "Community and Social Media – Use It or Lose" at the Tuesday, Sept. 22 meeting of the Bar-News Media Committee.

For those new to community and social media and its powerful potential in building relationships, this presentation will give you basic background. For those who've already tested or plunged into the social computing waters, you may find Navarre's prospective as a veteran in-house legal marketer and Web strategist helpful in adding new ideas to your social-networking tool kit.

The meeting begins at 12 p.m. in the 11th floor Conference Center of Bar Association headquarters, 1101 Market St. Lunch is available for $7.50 for those members who register in advance. Click here to RSVP for this program.

Register Today for the 2nd Annual phiLAWpalooza Oct. 2

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Join the YLD on Thursday, October 2 at JC Dobbs (304 South Street) from 6:30-10:30 p.m. to listen to local bands A Band Called M, Class Action and many more. The cost is $12 for members and $15 at the door; $15 for non-members and $18 at the door for non-members.

The cost includes drink tickets, heavy hors d'oeuvres and drink specials. If you are an attorney musician and would like to perform, please contact Stephanie Mensing.

Registration is available here.

Diversity Discussion Kicks off Conference

Vernā Myers will lead a multimedia and interactive discussion on diversity in the legal field to kick off the Association's Bench-Bar and Annual Conference on Friday, Sept. 19.

A film will be shown and used as the basis for beginning the discussion. First-person examples from a variety of different perspectives will be shared to illustrate how diversity contributes to professionalism, followed by a panel discussion with diverse participants. The goal of this session is to generate positive discussions regarding the variety of diversity issues in the workplace and to increase professionalism in the legal community.

Myers will be handling the first and third hours of this session as the solo panelist. Hour one will focus on barriers to inclusion and acceptance. Audience members will be asked to respond to questions posed by standing up if they agree. Panelists for the program include Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Nitza I. Quinones Alejandro, Philadelphia Municipal Court Judge Lydia Y. Kirkland, J. Gordon Cooney Jr.,Bernard W. Smalley, City Solicitor Shelley R.Smith and Stacey Sobel.

The three-day conference at Bally's Atlantic City features 24 CLE seminars with 13 CLE credits available. Click here for more information on the conference.

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Liebenberg to Receive O'Connor Award Oct. 20

Roberta D. Liebenberg, a member of Fine, Kaplan and Black, R.P.C., has been announced as the recipient of the 2008 Sandra Day O’Connor Award.

Liebenberg, former co-chair of the Women in the Profession Committee, will receive the award at the Association’s Oct. 20 Quarterly Meeting and Luncheon.

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.

The Women in the Profession Committee established the award in 1993 to recognize the important contributions that women attorneys in Philadelphia have made to the legal profession.

Tickets are $55 for members and $60 for non-members. Click here to purchase tickets for this event, which begins at 12 p.m. at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue.

Phils Still Hard to Figure by Jeff Lyons

I still can't get a handle on the Phillies, even 144 games into the season. They're 1.5 games behind the Mets for the National League East lead and 3 games behind the Brewers for the wild card. And I have no freaking clue what's going to happen.

The Phils had a chance to pull even with the Mets on Sunday night, but Cole Hamels was very un-Hamels like and got smacked around a little bit. Never has taking two out of three from the Mets felt so empty. Instead of being tied for the division lead, they left New York in second place.

The offense has been maddeningly inconsistent since June 13, the night the Phillies obliterated the Cardinals, 20-2. Jimmy Rollins is finally playing like last year's MVP after scuffling for most of the season. Chase Utley has warmed up again after six weeks of mediocrity. Pat Burrell, who carried the team in the first half of the season, has been benched because of a prolonged slump. And even though Ryan Howard leads the National League in home runs and RBIs, he's hitting just .239 and he's struck out 186 times. The Phillies Forrest Gump "box of chocolates" offense is too unpredictable to count on. But starting pitchers Jamie Moyer, Brett Myers and Hamels have kept the team in the race to this point. Moyer, 45, has been remarkable, dazzling and confounding hitters with "fastballs" clocked in the low 80-mph range as well as change-ups and breaking pitches. Myers is a different pitcher since his return from baseball's Elba. He's won each of his last four starts, including 8 brilliant shutout innings against the Mets on Friday. In those starts, he's allowed just two runs and struck out 35 in 31 innings. The bullpen has shown cracks lately, but closer Brad Lidge has yet to blow a save this season. And the Phillies have not lost a game this year that they have led after 8 innings.

So what's going to happen? Your guess is as good as mine. They have two more games with the Marlins this week and then host the Brewers for four over the weekend. Then they hit the road for series against the Braves and Marlins before closing out the season at home against the Braves and Nationals. Realistically, the Phillies should be able to win at least 12 of these games. They've handled the Braves all season and the Nationals are just terrible. Meanwhile, the Mets have six games left with the Nationals, six with Atlanta, four with the National League leading Cubs and three with the Marlins. My prediction? The Phils and Mets finish the season tied with 91 wins and slug it out in a one-game playoff for the division crown. After that, my crystal ball gets fuzzy.

Jeff Lyons, senior managing editor of the Philadelphia Bar Reporter and Bar Reporter Online, is a fanatical Philadelphia sports fan. Email him at jlyons@philabar.org.

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