Background:

For more than 200 years, the Philadelphia Bar Association (the “Association”) has served the legal profession and the public by promoting justice, professional excellence, and respect for the rule of law. In so doing,

The practice of law, the legal work environment, the governmental and public policy landscape, and the primary outlets for social interaction, career development and networking are ever changing. It is critical that the Association navigates these changes and continues to serve the legal profession and the public by being the premier trade association, voice, and convener for Philadelphia legal and judicial professionals.

The Association needs to continue its role as a critical hub for relationship building, business development, training, and justice and public advocacy. To further the Association's track record of success, however, the Association must evolve its governance, operating model, member benefits and services, public advocacy, and strategic priorities to reflect where our community is today and where it is headed in the future. The Association must continue its commitment to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), and actively seek to make itself a place that embraces the full diversity of the Philadelphia community and promotes that as a key objective for the legal community.

Environment:

1. Bar associations and trade associations more generally face economic pressures due to a trend of reduction in membership. Attorneys have the choice to join a number of different career-specific trade associations, which provide services similar to what they can get from membership to the Philadelphia Bar Association.

2. The current overall revenue-expense and service expectation model for the organization is unsustainable.

3. The legal industry is shifting to more remote and hybrid work, creating accompanying lifestyle changes as they relate to commuting, attending social and networking events, etc. Connections to the City of Philadelphia and consequently to the Association may have weakened as many members now work from home outside the city and may not have practices that are focused on the local area.

4. In recent years, there has been a trend of consolidation within the legal industry, with mergers between large firms, and many firms becoming more geographically dispersed and less Philadelphiacentric.

5. The U.S. population has become and will continue to become more diverse. As a result, the legal industry has realized that embracing DEI is both a business and social imperative.

6. Advances in technology have dramatically altered the way legal organizations operate, the way attorneys conduct business, and their means of communication and social interaction.

7. Philadelphia continues to be one the poorest large cities in the United States, which exacerbates access to justice issues.

8. Continued unrest within our government and political system has increased threats to judicial independence.

Vision/Niche/Competitive Advantage concepts:

What do we want to preserve:

• Sense of community and connection
• Continuing to be the premier voice, convener and trade association for the Philadelphia legal community
• Professionalism and civility
• Role as guardians of rule of law
• Relationship with the judiciary
• Advocacy
• Access to justice
• Relationship with the General Assembly and the Commonwealth’s Executive Branch, as well as the City of Philadelphia’s leadership and communities
• Credibility and brand

What’s different in 2026?

• The Association is more accessible, energizing, inviting and fun
• It is easy to get involved
• What we do is relevant to everyday life, necessary, and of value
• We meet attorneys where they are
• Law firms are encouraging involvement
• We are seeing greater community impact from our advocacy on access to justice issues and promoting respect for the rule of law
• When we pass resolutions, we have a clear action plan for achieving the goals outlined in that statement.

Niche/Competitive Advantage

• We are the only organization that can convene in the region and for the whole profession regardless of practice area; everyone is relevant
• We can also be a convener for the legal profession and other industries, city/state government, the Chamber of Commerce, etc.
• We are the problem solvers within the profession and community-at-large
• We are seen as credible and impartial (e.g., evaluation of judges, lawyer referral)
• We can make an impact on legislation
• We are a full-service organization with high performing professional staff
• We have many leadership opportunities

Objective 1: Engage, inspire, and fulfill the needs of a dynamic and growing membership base (e.g., create community for all different types of members)

Strategies:

• Update our membership structure/positioning
  • High priority: Create tailored benefits packages and membership structures that appeal to different member groups
  • Explore institutional membership model, especially for large firms and government entities
  • Pursue joint membership model with affinity bars, county bars, chambers of commerce and other trade associations
  • Explore having a lower fee level for solo and small firm attorneys who have specific dependency court appointments
• Leverage opportunities created by the new hybrid work model
  • High priority: Create a truly engaging online community
• Demonstrate that the Association is on the front lines of advocating public policy and legislative initiatives that directly advance the needs of our members, their clients, and the public at large.
• Reimagine events to emphasize fun and social/relationship building
• Offer business building opportunities
  • Create opportunities to network with potential clients outside the legal field i.e., business owners, community leaders etc.
• Help members adjust to the changing legal economy
  • Become a hub for technology solutions for the legal profession
  • Highlight emerging areas of law
• Encourage debate of cutting-edge policy issues
• Attract dynamic speakers on timely issues
• Promote mental health and wellness

Measurements:

• Retention of current individual members
• Recruitment of new dues-paying members
• Retention/recruitment of institutional members
• Benefit utilization/satisfaction
• Event attendance/satisfaction
• Number of joint partnerships and participation in those partnerships
• Increased percentage of private practice lawyers, public interest lawyers, and lawyers under 40

Objective 2: Elevate professional excellence and civility while growing the reputation and influence of Philadelphia lawyers and raising Philadelphia’s profile as a destination for legal talent

Strategies:

• High priority: Foster attorney training and mentoring
• High priority: Create and foster collaborative partnerships between the legal profession and business and government leaders
• Recognize exceptional professional excellence (e.g., awards)
• Continue to strengthen partnerships with area law schools
• Create platforms for the legal community to learn, discuss and create plans of action for emerging issues related to practice and business of law
• Raise the visibility of the Association’s public advocacy efforts relative to the practice of law
• Promote ethical conduct and resources relating thereto
• Recognize and preserve the history of our association, local courts and attorneys
• Promote reforms and improvements in our courts

Measurements:

• Percentage of Philadelphia area law students who are members of the Association 2-5 years into their career
• Firm leadership feedback on the preparedness of new lawyers
• Track percentage of Philadelphia law school graduates who stay in the area
• Attendance at CLEs, town halls and meetings

Objective 3: Actively seek diversity within leadership, membership, Bar staff, vendors and partners, as well as in the profession, community and courts, by implementing DEI strategies that ensure a welcoming inclusive organization and by advocating DEI more broadly.

Strategies:

• Implement a method to add diversity demographics to our membership database i.e., check boxes of appropriate categories, and begin to collect and track the demographics of membership to calculate the increase or decrease in diverse membership, leadership, and speaker/panelist pool.
• Create a Diversity Committee/Division that is open to anyone who selfidentifies as diverse, work with diverse leaders and members to create bylaws for the group
• Use diverse attorneys as thought leaders on panels relating to substantive expertise
  • Continue to provide diversity in speakers within most educational panels and Association events, making sure that panel/event speakers reflect multiple dimensions of difference, both visible and invisible.
  • Build a solid speaker database of diverse legal professionals who can speak to different practice areas and topic content. Continuously review and add speakers to the database.
• Convene the DEI Directors/Managers of large firms and city organizations to discuss best practices for DEI in the profession
  • Create platforms for the community, both legal and business, to have critical conversations about DEI within our professions and collaborate to develop and execute action plans for increasing diversity within the profession in Philadelphia.
  • Hold a small forum/meeting with business, law firm and community leaders to discuss DEI initiatives that are working or not working to assist each other and collaborate to improve professional diversity in Philadelphia.
• Continue to expand CLE accessibility, educational offerings and discussions on DEI topics
  • Continue to provide virtual programming options for inclusivity and accessibility
  • Add a CLE program or a non-CLE diversity training program to the calendar each month.
  • Have the Young Lawyers Division (YLD), each Section and applicable Committees present at least one DEI program year.
  • Review descriptions and forms for inclusive language and provide accessibility guidelines as needed.
• Actively inform affinity bar organizations, diversity law groups, and diverse law school alumni associations of opportunities for membership, leadership, and employment.
• Explore strategic partnerships with affinity bar associations to allow for more collaboration and the exploration of joint memberships.

Measurements:

• Compliance with Board Diversity in Action Plan
• Number of diverse panelists on non-DEI CLE programs
• Number of diverse leaders in the Association
• Number of DEI CLE programs presented yearly per Section/Committee and the YLD
• Demographic information about membership
• Adoption/use of best practices after a convening
• Number of dual memberships to the Association and the affinity bar associations

Objective 4: Promote, advocate and advance access to justice

Strategies:

• High priority: Support legislative and administrative initiatives that (i) advance the rule of law and a more just legal system; (ii) provide better access to justice and (iii) have a positive impact on the legal profession and the communities we serve
• High priority: Help citizens navigate the often-complex legal system
  • Revamp our public-facing website to offer access to justice resources
• High priority: Offer greater incentives for member participation in pro bono work (such as spotlighting/recognizing volunteers and advocating for more substantial CLE credit and billable hours for pro bono time)
• High priority: Create a modest means program through LRIS and promote the existing LRIS program.
• Continue to develop an integrative program with legal services partners and strengthen the ongoing dialogue with the Philadelphia judiciary
• Encourage pro bono partnership between in-house counsel and law firms
• Create a pro bono road show/fair and volunteer programs

Measurements:

• Positive evaluation of the success of our advocacy priorities, as reflected in the legislative and law reform positions adopted in resolutions of the Board of Governors, both in Harrisburg and in Philadelphia
• Website visits to legal services agency navigator
• Number of LRIS calls and percentage that meet criteria for the service and align with programmatic goals
• Number of cases placed in modest means program
• Obtained feedback from clients who participate in the modest means program and hold a review of the program and said feedback at least monthly
• Suggested: Increased number of pro bono hours by Philadelphia lawyers

Objective 5: Advance judicial independence and highlight the importance of the rule of law

Strategies:

• High priority: Promote the election of qualified judges through the Judicial Commission and the Campaign for Qualified Judges
• High priority: Create/foster relationships with the judiciary at all levels, including collaboration to assist and improve the efficient administration of the judicial system
• Serve as the public voice in support of an independent judiciary and rule of law
• Promote and/or foster civic education
• Advocate on issues impacting judicial independence and the fair administration of justice
• Advocate for merit selection
• Promote safety and security of judges and legal professionals

Measurements:

• Number and percentage of “Highly Recommended” and “Recommended” judges elected to Philadelphia and statewide appellate courts
• Successful adoption of legislation that would preserve judicial independence, or prevention of policies that would inhibit it
• Number of students participating in civic education programs

Objective 6: Secure the bar’s long-term financial sustainability

Strategies:

• High priority: Expand sponsorship
  • Include more general offerings (e.g., vacation, leisure, etc.)
  • Include more offerings for solo and small firms
• High priority: Derive increased revenue from continued revamp of Lawyer Referral and Information Service
• Explore collaborative strategies with the Bar Foundation
  • Raise funds to pay for Association’s public service activities via traditional avenues; revamp dedicated revenue growth event
• Evolve the Board of Governors responsibilities to include significant participation in revenue-producing activities of the association (e.g., ambassadors for membership recruitment/renewal, identifying sponsors)
• Explore shared services model for Philadelphia legal aid nonprofits
• Sell exclusive partnerships for providing Continuing Legal Education
• Grow CLE On-Demand service
• Explore charging judges for dues and/or for event registration

Measurements:

• Increased percentage of revenue derived from non-membership sources
• Increased net revenue from LRIS program
• Number of/increased funds generated from CLE partnerships
• Growth of CLE On-Demand
• Number of sponsor leads generated by Board of Governors
• Funds raised by Board of Governors

Objective 7: Evolve the Association’s operations and governance to create greater transparency, while balancing innovation and tradition.

Strategies:

• High priority: Evolve the Association’s culture so that all activities by the Association and its Sections, Committees and the Young Lawyers Division are aligned with priorities in the strategic plan
• High priority: Strengthen the Association’s Sections, Committees, and the Young Lawyers Division so that more members become involved in their activities, in addition to focusing an appropriate amount of staff time to support their prio rities and initiatives
• High priority: Have the Bylaws Committee evaluate, on a high priority basis, and bring to the Board for action, proposed changes to the Bylaws to streamline governance, allow for increased flexibility in operations, and allow the Association to be nimbler and more transparent. Topics to be considered include items listed below:
  • Increasing flexibility in budgeting and dues structure
  • Consider whether the Association should continue to hold quarterly meetings
  • Streamline election processes and procedures, and consider decoupling the election process from the Annual Meeting
  • Consider evolving the Board of Governors’ responsibilities to include significant participation in revenue-producing activities of the association (e.g., ambassadors for membership recruitment/renewal, identifying sponsors, other revenue generation activities) (see also Obj 6, bullet 4)
  • Consider the role of the Chancellor including (i) whether the Chancellor should continue to be the CEO of the Association; and (ii) whether the title of Chancellor should be changed
  • Evolve the appointment process to provide for succession/continuity (see below)
  • Create a Diversity Committee/Division
• Reorganize staffing and allocation of staff time to support strategic priorities
  • High priority: Create a business development position to pursue revenue streams and strategic partnerships and transition staff roles to outbound account managers
• Explore collaborative strategies with the Bar Foundation
• Conduct an audit of current services offered, determine how well each aligns with organizational priorities and which should be augmented, changed, or eliminated
• Within the priority of strengthening the Sections, Committees and the YLD, evolve the structure and focus of Sections, Committees and the YLD (may include bylaw changes, see above) for maximum member participation and impact
  • Help the YLD, Sections and Committees to better align with the Association’s strategic priorities and the changing legal landscape while recognizing and supporting the unique mission of each Section, Committee and the YLD
  • Implement a standardized Committee structure with a leadership succession plan
  • Create a policy/process for positioning Division, Section and Committee leaders as experts in the field
  • Clarify expectations around presenting CLEs and support of other Association initiatives.

Measurements:

• The BOG and staff have actively used the plan to stay focused and drive decision making and budget
• Candidates for officer positions understand that the (i) the strategic plan, as adopted by the Board of Governors and amended from time to time, drives the Association’s focus; and (ii) while the Association’s priorities remain flexible and nimble, there is an expectation of significant continuity from year to year regarding initiatives and priorities
• Increase in the percentage of members who describe the organization as flexible, nimble, leading edge
• The YLD, Sections, and Committees are familiar with the strategic plan and connect their work back to the objectives
• Number of CLEs produced by the YLD, Sections and Committees
• Achieving a balance of continuity and turnover among entity membership and leadership
• Robustness of succession pipeline for YLD, Section and Committee leadership
• Media mentions for YLD, Section, and Committee chairs being quoted as practice-area experts