Chancellor's Update: A Strong Start to 2023 – With More to Come

It’s been an exciting and substantive first half of 2023 for the Philadelphia Bar Association. With your support, we have held fun, engaging events and insightful CLEs, and taken on a number of important initiatives that stand to create a positive impact within our community.

Here are just some of the highlights:

• We connected our members in person with some of Pennsylvania’s top leaders, each new to their respective positions, including Gov. Josh Shapiro, Chief Justice Debra Todd, Pennsylvania House Speaker Joanna McClinton, U.S. Attorney Jacqueline Romero, and Temple University Acting President JoAnne Epps, and held a mayoral forum on the eve of the primary.
• Our Judicial Commission and Campaign for Qualified Judges conducted successful candidate rating and voter outreach efforts, resulting in only “Highly Recommended” and “Recommended” candidates winning the primaries for Municipal Court and the Court of Common Pleas.
• We worked with partners at the City and within the public interest community to advance access to justice in Philadelphia, pressing for greater funding for public defenders and court-appointed attorneys and greater transparency, accountability and training for the landlord-tenant officer system used in evictions.
• We created an amicus committee and privacy task force, and passed resolutions on capital punishment and immigrant rights, and urging the U.S. Supreme Court to adopt a code of judicial ethics for its justices. We also spoke out on the affirmative action and LGBTQ discrimination decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court.
• Our Board of Governors adopted a new strategic plan for the Association that addresses the changing needs of our members and the future of the legal profession.
• We enjoyed record attendance at our summer events, sharing delicious meals and happy hours with judges and lawyers at venues across the city, networking and celebrating what makes this legal community so great.
• Just before Labor Day, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit dismissed a challenge to Rule 8.4(g) of the Pa. Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibits lawyers from knowingly engaging in harassment or discrimination based upon race, gender, religion, disability and other protected characteristics. Our Association has long supported the adoption of such a rule, and we were happy to see this positive outcome in the courts. 

There is much more to come this fall, and we look forward to sharing it all with you.

Hope to see you soon!

Best regards,

Marc J. Zucker

Chancellor