The Philadelphia Bar Association honored several outstanding members of the community at the 2025 Annual Meeting on December 10. In addition to introducing 99th Chancellor Ezra Wohlgelernter, the event also recognized the winners of the Citizens Bank Achievement Award, the Brennan Distinguished Jurist Award, the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Award, the Justice Sandra Day O’Connor Award and the Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg “Pursuit of Justice” Writing Competition.
Hon. Theodore McKee, former chief judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, received the Justice Brennan Distinguished Jurist Award. The award recognizes a jurist who adheres to the highest ideals of judicial service. McKee was appointed to the Court of Appeals in 1994 by President Bill Clinton and served as Chief Judge from 2010-2016. He previously served as a judge of the Philadelphia Court of Common Pleas for 10 years, beginning in 1984. Before becoming a judge, he worked as an assistant United States Attorney, deputy solicitor in the City of Philadelphia Law Department, and general counsel to the Philadelphia Parking Authority.
In his remarks, McKee called on the Philadelphia legal community not to become complacent to threats to the rule of law and to the foundations of the republic.
“As we all know Philadelphia will probably be the epicenter of the 250th anniversary of the founding of this republic,” McKee said, noting that a 2011 article from the Boston Globe on the life expectancy of republics and empires found that the average lifetime is 215 years. “We need also need to remember the warnings and dangers of complacency by noted political theorist Hannah Arendt [who said], ‘The sad truth is that most evil is done by people who never make up their minds to be good or evil.'”
McKee continued by sharing a quote attributed to political theorist Edmund Burke, ‘All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is for good people to do nothing.’
“Given all the legal talent in this room, I hope that each of us is not going to decide to be among that group and do nothing as democracy crumbles around us,” McKee said.
Frank Cervone, longtime executive director of the Support Center for Child Advocates, is the 2025 recipient of the Citizens Bank Achievement Award. The award recognizes significant accomplishments in improving the administration of justice in Philadelphia. Cervone served as executive director of the Support Center for Child Advocates from 1992 until his retirement in 2023. He currently serves as pro bono counsel for several nonprofits and is a nationally recognized speaker, author and leader in shaping and guiding child welfare policy and practice.
Cervone noted that almost 50 years ago, the Association presented the same award to Marjorie Greenfield and James R. Redeker, who launched the predecessor to the Support Center as an initiative of the Young Lawyers Division.
“I recall meeting James Redeker in the 1990s at his office and saw that the framed award hung on his wall,” Cervone said. “I realized for the first time how large that effort was in his life and in the life of the Association and this community.”
Cervone noted that a friend who was present at the December 10 event once commented, ‘I don’t know any lawyer who enjoys work as much as you do.’
“He was right then and today, it remains true. It is a blessing to be a lawyer and a lawyer in this community, in this association, among all of you,” Cervone said. “I have traveled all over the country teaching people to do pro bono and there is just none like this public interest community, this bar association, and this bar.”
Charisse Lillie, CEO of CRL Consulting and the first Black woman to serve as Philadelphia city solicitor, was recognized with the Justice Sonia Sotomayor Diversity Award. The award is given annually to an individual who has made substantial and lasting contributions to the Association's goal of promoting full and equal participation and inclusion by all attorneys in Philadelphia's legal community. Lillie worked for Comcast from 2005-2017, serving in several roles, including senior vice president of human resources at Comcast Cable, vice president of human resources for the Comcast Corporation, president of the Comcast Foundation, and vice president of community investment of Comcast Corporation. She also previously served as partner and chair of the litigation department at Ballard Spahr, and as a board member and chair of the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
“None of us do this work for the awards,” Lillie said in her remarks. “We do this work because of our belief in the U.S. Constitution and our knowledge that the legal profession is better when we are inclusive and opening up doors in all of our institutions, in the bar association, in government, in academia and in the private sector.”
She called on attendees to “keep our eyes on the prize” despite efforts to “turn back the clock” on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.
“To the Philadelphia Bar Association, thank you for your commitment to justice, equality, diversity and inclusion; we must all remain committed to our values, and we must continue to do this work,” Lillie said. “I am as personally committed to doing the work as I ever have been.”
Mimi McKenzie, legal director at The Public Interest Law Center, was recognized with the Justice Sandra Day O'Connor Award. The award is given annually by the Association’s Women in the Profession Committee to recognize an outstanding woman attorney who exemplifies the qualities that Justice O’Connor demonstrated in her life and work. McKenzie has served as legal director for The Public Interest Law Center since 2017, after previously working as a civil litigation attorney at Dechert LLP and as in-house counsel for Verizon.
In her remarks, McKenzie talked about the importance of having strong mentors and then of paying that forward to the next generation, thanking her colleagues at the Public Interest Law Center for their work.
“Nearly every one of the young women and men who I’ve worked with at the Law Center are here this evening. High-impact public interest litigation is the ultimate team sport and any credit for my success equally belongs to them,” she said. “Working with them and mentoring them has been one of the greatest joys of my life.”
The winner of the Ginsburg competition was Karina Zakarian, a 3L law student at Villanova University’s Charles Widger School of Law, for her paper, “From Damage(s) to Development: A Story of Tribal Resilience in the Face of Climate Catastrophe.”
