WHEREAS, on February 23, 2023, the Philadelphia Bar Association Board of Governors approved a recommendation to establish an Amicus Committee as a standing committee of the Association;

WHEREAS, by resolution adopted on June 22, 1989, this Association previously had established guidelines to assist the Board in deciding whether to participate as amicus curiae in pending appeals (“the 1989 Resolution”); and

WHEREAS, having been written over 33 years ago, the 1989 Resolution has been re-evaluated in order to assist the newly-formed committee in making recommendations as to whether to initiate, support and/or join in the filing of amicus briefs;

NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that future decisions of the Association with regard to initiating, supporting and/or joining in amicus briefs be informed by the following guidelines:

• An amicus brief approved in accordance with these guidelines shall be filed on behalf of, or joined in by, the Association, in the Association’s name, rather than by a single member, committee, division or section purporting to act on behalf of the Association. A request for leave to file an amicus brief likewise shall be submitted on behalf of, or joined in by, the Association in the Association’s name.
• Participation as amicus may arise under any of the following circumstances: (1) upon the initiative of the Amicus Committee itself; (2) upon the request of a member, section, division or committee of the Association; (3) upon the request of another bar association; and/or (4) upon the request of any court.
• Absent special circumstances, amicus briefs will be filed only in appellate courts.
• The Association may participate or join as amicus only when its voice and/or experience are likely to advance a court’s understanding of one or more issues that: (a) are consistent with policies or goals deemed to be significant to the Association, including but not limited to access to justice, professional responsibility, proper functioning of the courts, and the like; (b) will have a significant or disproportionate impact on the Association, its members and/or the clients and/or courts they serve or on the attorney/client relationship itself; or (c) implicate legal principles likely to affect a cross-section of the legal community as a whole, as opposed to a narrow constituency thereof.
• The Association’s decision as to whether to accept or decline a request to participate as an amicus is entirely discretionary and may be subject to considerations of the anticipated drafting time, economics, resources,sensitivities, strategic interests or the peculiarity of underlying facts, among other factors.
• Absent extraordinary circumstances, a request for amicus support shall be directed in the first instance to the Amicus Committee, which shall consider the request and make a recommendation to the Board of Governors with respect thereto. Such a request, where feasible, should include the pertinent docket entries, pleadings, and filings in the case in which amicus support is sought, as well as a discussion of the reasons the request for amicus satisfies the above criteria. Where exigencies of time exist, the Committee and Chancellor can make an interim decision to proceed, subject to later approval by the Board after the process has been commenced.
• No member of the Amicus Committee or Board with a personal or professional connection to the underlying matter in which amicus participation is sought shall participate in consideration of the request or involvement in the process thereafter unless the connection is so tangential that, upon disclosure to the Committee and/or Board, the Committee and/or Board concludes that there is no conflict.
• The decision to authorize amicus support by the Association shall state whether the Association itself will draft and file the pertinent motion and/or brief or will do so through the retention of counsel, joinder in a draft prepared on behalf of one or more other amicus parties, or otherwise. A member of the Amicus Committee or the Committee’s designee shall be assigned to oversee and implement the Association’s decision, subject to final approval by the Chancellor. The Chancellor shall have discretion as to whether to sign the brief personally or to designate another signatory.
• Deliberations of the Amicus Committee shall be confidential from all but the Board, and deliberations of the Board with respect to amicus issues shall take place in executive session.

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Chancellor is authorized to take all steps that, in the judgment of the Chancellor, are necessary to implement this resolution.

PHILADELPHIA BAR ASSOCIATION
BOARD OF GOVERNORS
Adopted: April 27, 2023