Chancellor's Update: Our Impact in 2023

What a remarkable year it has been for the Philadelphia legal community! As 2023 winds to a close and my year as your chancellor ends, we should be proud of all that the Philadelphia Bar Association has accomplished. Together we were able to advance key initiatives, get our fiscal house in order and have lots of fun together along the way!

To name just a few of those successes (adding to those highlighted in my mid-year update):

• Our membership grew an impressive 12.5% since last year, exceeding our 2019 pre-pandemic level.
• We welcomed three new institutional members to the Association, the City Law Department, the District Attorney’s Office and the Defender Association of Philadelphia. We are excited to bring our outstanding programming and benefits to such important constituencies within our bar, and to welcome their voices at the table in setting our policy and advocacy priorities.
• Our Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention marked a third consecutive primary election cycle in which voters advanced only candidates who were rated Highly Recommended or Recommended.
• As Philadelphia marked a consequential election season, we convened members-only mayoral candidate forums before both the primary and general elections. We look forward to working closely with Mayor-Elect Parker and the new faces in City Council in the coming year.
• Our Board of Governors adopted a new three-year strategic action plan, establishing clear priorities and a roadmap for success in achieving them, as well as a balanced budget – the first in many years -- to implement those priorities in a fiscally responsible way!
• We celebrated several legislative victories, including the expansion of the state’s Clean Slate Law; the passage of a bill guaranteeing a right to counsel in guardianship cases and adding protections for those whose autonomy is in jeopardy; reform of the probation structure, and the creation of the first dedicated funding for indigent defense in the Commonwealth’s history. Having begun the year with the governor, chief justice and speaker of the house focusing on reforms needed in the criminal justice system to fulfill the promise of Gideon v. Wainwright and an effort to broaden our Civil Gideon initiatives, these bills are a particularly gratifying way to end the year.
• With the help of a team of volunteers, we launched a new Trial Skills Leadership Program, providing critical training for young attorneys, in real courtrooms before real judges.
• We had our highest-attended Bench-Bar conference in several years, including important panel discussions on the need for increased judicial security and judicial ethics and a moving presentation by former Sen. Doug Jones on his prosecution of the Birmingham bombing case.
• Our recent Member Appreciation Week celebration, our Section holiday parties, and our Annual Meeting recognized outstanding members of our community, brought us together again for the largest number of in-person events since the pandemic, and welcomed our new 2024 leadership, including incoming Chancellor Jen Coatsworth.

It’s also been a year of reckoning, in which we celebrated Temple University President JoAnne Epps and then mourned her passing; in which we saw threats to the security of our judges and attorneys and stepped up to address those threats; in which we convened stakeholders to address needed changes in our courts; in which we bid farewell to our president judges and administrative judges and welcomed new court leadership; joined together to speak out against capital punishment, challenges to affirmative action and discrimination safeguards, and sought to advance ethics, civility, professionalism and criminal justice reform. Each of these actions demonstrated how the bar association is a critical lifeline to our members.

I’m so grateful to each of you, our members, for recognizing the tremendous value that this association brings to your practice and to the profession and for contributing your time and effort in return. And I’m equally grateful for our stellar leadership. Our cabinet, board, section and committee chairs likewise were dedicated to the success of this amazing association, working closely with an amazing staff.

Wishing you a happy, healthy 2024.

Best regards,

Chancellor Marc J. Zucker