MSNBC's Barnicle to Speak at Quarterly

Award-winning print and broadcast journalist Mike Barnicle, a frequent contributor and occasional guest host on MSNBC's popular "Morning Joe" and "Hardball with Chris Matthews" will be the keynote speaker at the Bar Association's Wednesday, March 28 Quarterly Meeting and Luncheon with special guest Edward G. Rendell, 45th governor of Pennsylvania

Barnicle, who can also been seen regularly on NBC's "Today Show," has written more than 4,000 columns collectively for the Boston Herald, New York Daily News, and The Boston Globe, where he rose to prominence with his biting, satirical, and at times, heart-wrenching columns that closely followed the triumphs, travails and ambitions of Boston's working and middle classes. He has also written articles and commentary for Time magazine, Newsweek.com, The Huffington Post, ESPN the Magazine and Esquire, among others.

The Bar Association will also present the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Diversity Award at the program. The award publicly acknowledges, recognizes and honors an individual or entity that has demonstrated a strong commitment, and has made a substantial contribution, to diversity and promoting full and equal participation and inclusion in the legal profession.

Also at the event, Immediate-Past Chancellor Rudolph Garcia will be presented with a gold box, an exact replica of the one presented to Andrew Hamilton for his defense of John Peter Zenger in 1735. The gold box is presented annually to the immediate-past Chancellor and is inscribed with the message "acquired not by money, but by character."

The inaugural Justinian Society Comisky-DiBona Award will be presented to retired Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas Judge Edward J. Bradley at the event.

Barnicle's award-winning documentaries include "Armed and Dangerous," which examined the proliferation of guns in the U.S., and "Justice on Trial," an expose on the Massachusetts judicial system.

Click here to purchase tickets to the March 28 Quarterly Meeting and Luncheon.

Lawyer Profiles to Help Members Promote Practices

Association members can now showcase their professional profile on the website of the oldest association of lawyers in the United States.

"Philadelphia Bar Lawyer Profiles" is a new premium advertising opportunity available exclusively to members of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Members can enhance their business development efforts by having their full professional profile displayed on the Philadelphia Bar Association's website at philadelphiabar.org.

Additionally, "snapshots" of each profile with attorney photo, firm name and practice synopsis rotate directly on the homepage of the Association's website, linking to the attorney's full profile. All profiles are searchable by attorney name or firm name.

As a bonus, participants also receive a customized link to their Lawyer Profiles full-profile page, which they can use for promotional purposes on their website, blog, social media and other marketing vehicles.

Profiles can be created in just a few easy steps, and are instantly posted to the Association's website for immediate viewing by colleagues, friends, family and potential clients everywhere.

Association members can join Philadelphia Bar Lawyer Profiles for only $150 a month, with a three-month minimum at signup. After that, the member's credit card will be automatically billed on a monthly basis.

Alternatively, members can join for one year at the special rate of $1,495 and save more than 15 percent off the regular price of $1,800. After the three-month minimum period, members may cancel their Lawyer Profiles subscription at any time without penalty.

To enroll in Philadelphia Bar Lawyer Profiles visit lawyerprofiles.org, or contact Matt Hartman, account manager at ALM, at 215-557-2393, or mhartman@alm.com.

Don't delay: to maintain exclusivity, only 300 profiles are available.

Google and the End of Privacy April 11

Has Google destroyed your Internet privacy? How do companies follow you across the Web with targeted advertisements? Can you do anything to regain some of your online privacy? These questions will be addressed in this Wednesday, April 11 presentation by Dan Giancaterino, Education Services Manager at Jenkins Law Library.

The meeting of the Law Practice Management Committee begins at 12 p.m. in the 11th floor Conference Center of Bar Association headquarters, 1101 Market St. Lunch is available for $8 for members of the Philadelphia Bar Association and $9.50 for non-members. Cancellations require 24 hours notice to receive a refund. Click here to register.

Sandra Day O'Connor Award Nominees Sought

Click here to download a nomination form.

The Women in the Profession Committee is seeking nominations for the 2012 Sandra Day O'Connor Award.

Deadline for nominations is Monday, April 2, 2012.

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

That year, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O’Connor presented the first award to U.S. District Court Senior Judge Norma L. Shapiro. The award has since been presented to the late Juanita Kidd Stout, former justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court; Deborah R. Willig, first woman Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association; Professor Marina Angel, of the Temple University Beasley School of Law faculty; Third Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Dolores K. Sloviter (former Chief Judge); U.S. District Court Judge Anita B. Brody; Leslie Anne Miller, first woman president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association; Lila G. Roomberg of Ballard Spahr Andrews & Ingersoll, LLP; the late Judge Judith J. Jamison; Ellen T. Greenlee, chief defender of the Defender Association of Philadelphia; former Chancellor Audrey C. Talley; U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Marjorie O. Rendell; former Pennsylvania Superior Court Judge Phyllis W. Beck; Roberta D. Pichini of Feldman, Shepherd, Wohlgelernter, Tanner, Weinstock & Dodig; Lynn A. Marks, executive director of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts; Roberta D. Liebenberg of Fine, Kaplan and Black, R.P.C.; JoAnne Epps, dean of Temple University Beasley School of Law; Stephanie Resnick of Fox Rothschild LLP and Judge for the United States District Court Eastern District of Pennsylvania, Cynthia M. Rufe.

Please send nominations to the attention of: Dawn Petit, Philadelphia Bar Association, 1101 Market Street, 11th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107 by email to dpetit@philabar.org.

Bar Accepting Ginsburg Writing Competition Entries

Entries are now being accepted for the Philadelphia Bar Association's 2012 Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Pursuit of Justice Legal Writing Competition.

The co-chairs of the competition are Bar Association Chancellor-Elect Kathleen D. Wilkinson, partner at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman and Dicker LLP, and Diane Penneys Edelman, Assistant Dean for International Programs, Associate Professor of Legal Writing, Villanova University School of Law.

The Bar Association recognizes the importance of excellence in legal analysis and writing skills, and seeks to award a student enrolled in an American Bar Association-approved or provisionally approved Philadelphia-area law school for authoring a top-quality competition submission. Entries must be received by Wednesday, May 9 at 4 p.m.

This competition is open to full- and part-time law students who are in their second or third year of study during the 2011-12 academic year at one of the following six institutions: Drexel University Earle Mack School of Law, University of Pennsylvania Law School, Rutgers  University School of Law – Camden, Temple University Beasley School of Law, Villanova University School of Law and Widener University School of Law (Delaware Campus). Part-time law students in their third or later year of study are also eligible. Students must be in good standing at their institutions. The submission may not have been published previously, although it may have been prepared in connection with a law school course or for a law journal. The submission also may not have been submitted for any other competition during the time when it is under consideration for this competition, until after the time when awards are announced. The submission must be the work of one author alone (joint submissions will not be considered), and the author must certify that the submission has been prepared without substantial editing from others.

Candidates may submit a law review quality submission on any topic relating to rights, privileges and responsibilities under federal law. Entries must be received by Wednesday, May 9 at 4 p.m.
The author of the winning submission will receive a cash award of $2,500, the publication of the winning submission in The Philadelphia Lawyer, on the Bar Association's website and/or in an appropriate Bar Association publication. The winner will be invited to a Quarterly Meeting of the Bar Association, at which time the award will be presented.

All entries should be sent to Dawn Petit, c/o Philadelphia Bar Association, 1101 Market St., 11th floor, Philadelphia, PA 19107. For more information, contact Petit at 215-238-6367 or email dpetit@philabar.org.

Federal Court Rule 16 Conferences: A View from the Bench, March 21

CLE Program Sponsored by the Federal Courts Committee & YLD

Course Planners:

Ellen Meriwether, Esq.
Cafferty Faucher LLP

Stephanie J. Mensing, Esq.
Mensing Law LLC

Featured Panelists:

Honorable Legrome D. Davis
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of PA

Honorable Mitchell S. Goldberg
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of PA

Honorable Timothy J. Savage
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of PA

Moderator:

Stephanie J. Mensing, Esq.
Mensing Law LLC

Judges Davis, Goldberg and Savage will offer their views on Rule 16 conferences in federal court highlighting their procedures and preferences; what is expected of counsel in preparing for and handling Rule 16 conferences; as well as, advice for practitioners, including tips for young lawyers.

The judges will also address e-discovery cost shifting, including the recent decision in Aspartame Antitrust Litigation, and cost-shifting issues attorneys should be prepared to discuss at the Rule 16 conference.

The program has been approved for 1.0 Substantive CLE credit. Participants wishing to receive the CLE credit will be required to pay a fee of $25.00 for members of the Philadelphia Bar Association admitted for more than five years and $20.00 for members of the Philadelphia Bar Association admitted for less than five years.

This program will take place on Wednesday, March 21 in the Philadelphia Bar Associaiton 11th Floor Conference Center. Click here for more information and to register.

---

New Revel Resort to Host Bench-Bar in October

Revel, Atlantic City's newest beachfront resort, will host the Bar Association’s 2012 Bench-Bar & Annual Conference on Oct. 5-6. The Bench-Bar & Annual Conference provides attendees with the opportunity to earn CLE credit while networking with colleagues and members of the bench. Hundreds of attorneys and judges are expected to attend.

The website for the conference, benchbar.philadelphiabar.org, is now up and registration is open.

Maria A. Feeley, a partner at Pepper Hamilton LLP, is chair of the Bench-Bar & Annual Conference. Molly Peckman, director of professional development at Dechert LLP, is programming chair of the Bench-Bar & Annual Conference. Jeffrey S. Gross, a principal with Batt & Gross, is serving as sponsorship chair and Jennifer Segal Coatsworth, an associate with Margolis Edelstein, is sponsorship vice chair. Regina Foley of Raynes McCarty is chair of the scholarship subcommittee.

Revel, with more than 1,800 guest rooms and suites filling 47 floors and more than 6 million square feet of space, officially opens on Memorial Day Weekend.

Among Revel's features is Revelry, located 61 feet above sea level and named for its energetic and vibrant atmosphere, which showcases 12 restaurants, 46 retail shops, nightclubs, dayclubs, an intimate performance space for 700 and 150,000-square-foot casino. The $2.4 billion glass Revel is located on 20 beachfront acres on the Boardwalk between South New Jersey and South Connecticut Avenues.

For sponsorship information, please contact Aimee Cirucci at 215-238-6342 or via email at acirucci@philabar.org. Learn more at benchbar.philadelphiabar.org.

Pyramid Club Offers Special Promotion for YLD Members

The Pyramid Club is offering a special membership promotion for Philadelphia Bar Association YLD members. The benefits of being a Young Executive member of the Pyramid Club include casual Young Executive events that make building relationships easy and Monthly Member Mixers (each member gets two free drink tickets and each of their first two guests get two free drink tickets). These are great resources for building your business or social connections.

Philadelphia Bar Association YLD members are invited to join the Pyramid Club in the following special Young Executive Membership categories with a $200 Initiation Fee:
Associate Member, 29 years of age and younger $66 current monthly dues
Senior Associate Member, 30 to 35 years of age $86 current monthly dues
Young Executive, 36 to 39 years of age $107 current monthly dues.

This special invitation expires March 16th, 2012. Please contact Maureen Coyle, Membership Director at 215-979-3131 or Maureen.Coyle@ourclub.com to take advantage of this offer.

Support Center for Child Advocates CLE, How to Handle a Child Abuse Case March 15

Advocacy for children who have been abused or neglected represents a commitment to the present needs and future development of society's most vulnerable members. We stand to confront the lasting harms of maltreatment, which some children suffer, first in the places they know—home, school, or play—then in a justice system that fails to protect or provide services to safeguard them.

The Support Center for Child Advocates is founded on the belief that trained professionals and an educated community working together can make a difference in the lives of child victims.

This course provides certification for eligibility to receive court appointments for dependency cases in Philadelphia County. Join the Support Center for Child Advocates for this volunteer workshop and hear experts in the field of child advocacy explain how you can make a difference in the lives of child victims. Click here for more information and to register.

NASBA Convention June 28 - 30, 2012

NASABA's Annual Convention is the place for attorneys of South Asian descent and attorneys interested in issues facing South Asian-Americans and South Asia to meet, learn and network. At last year's convention in Los Angeles, attendees were treated to a line-up of stars, including the former Assistant Secretary of State, appellate litigators with more than 30 Supreme Court cases under their belts, two South Asian federal judges sharing their insight on the bench.

The 2012 Convention promises to deliver even more. Established leaders on the legal scene will highlight panel sessions and deliver keynote addresses. Attendees will find the networking and educational opportunities second to none.

This year's convention will be held June 28-30, 2012 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown. Click here for more information and to register.