In the pages of this publication, you will find profiles of the members who have decided to become candidates for leadership positions starting in 2023. We all have busy lives and careers, and we are so appreciative of those who decide to give some of their “free” time to help guide our association next year and into the future.

When a team clicks, you cannot help but be in awe and continue to watch.

The Bar Foundation is proud to support, through our grants, programs and partnerships, nearly 40 civil legal aid organizations working to provide equal and equitable access to justice to those in Philadelphia and across Pennsylvania.

The Philadelphia Bar Association’s annual election of officers and members of the Board of Governors and YLD Executive Committee will not take place this year, as all candidates for the positions are running unopposed.

Judge Rodriguez delivered an inspiring address reflecting on how much progress has been made in increasing diversity in the legal profession since he began his career and urged attendees not to let all the “firsts” become the “lasts.”

Despite statewide Safe Harbor legislation enacted in 2018 to bar delinquent charging of child victims for what used to be called “child prostitution”, authorities continue to arrest children for charges that are related to their trafficking victimization and collateral to trafficking events (i.e., “masking charges”), such as theft or assault.

Efrén Olivares, deputy legal director at Southern Poverty Law Center’s Immigrant Justice Project and author of “My Boy Will Die of Sorrow,” recently spoke with Professor Chang-Muy’s and my Refugee Law and Policy class at Penn Law. He said two things that struck a chord with me that I wanted to share and ponder over with you.