We will be back on January 6, 2025.

Happy holidays and happy new year!

The Philadelphia Bar Association issued a statement honoring the memory of Cozen O’Connor Founder and Chairman Stephen A. Cozen, who recently passed away. 

The Philadelphia Bar Association recognized outstanding members of the legal community throughout November and December with 2024 Section awards. Here is a full list of recipients, including the Section giving the award and a description of the award criteria.

View and download photos from the 2024 holiday parties from our Flickr account.

Follow in the footsteps of the Civil Rights Movement and gain insights to enhance your practice by joining us March 20-23 on a trip to Montgomery, Selma and Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia. Participants will gain perspective through interactions with people who took part in the Civil Rights Movement, along with attorneys from the Equal Justice Initiative. Additionally, we will be joined by Marissa Boyers Bluestine, assistant director of the Quattrone Center for the Fair Administration of Justice at the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School, who will discuss current legal cases and doctrine stemming from this period in history. 

**PLEASE NOTE: THE DEADLINE TO REGISTER IS FRIDAY, JANUARY 10.**

Meet your compliance requirements with us!

The Philadelphia Bar Association’s 98^th Chancellor, Katayun Jaffari, discussed the organization’s agenda for 2025, including furthering its mission to defend the rule of law; enhancing member services in the areas of innovation in law and mentoring, and choosing its next executive director. Now available: Watch a video of the Annual Meeting. 

A roundup of the latest activity taking place in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.

Our Fall 2024 edition includes perspectives from members of the Association on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal profession. Members share their past experiences - the good, the bad and the ugly - as well as hopes for the future of DEI. The need for fair access to opportunities, embracing diversity, and challenging of biases are all reflected in the experiences shared by our members.

Members have access to HeinOnline archive collection of Philadelphia Bar Association publications. To access the archive, you must be a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association.

We want to hear from you! Do you have a legal analysis article idea or a story to share about a memorable case, social issues, travel or even pop culture, fiction or poetry? Share your submission with us to be featured in a future issue of The Philadelphia Lawyer magazine!

Email communications@philabar.org with the subject line: Magazine submission

As 2024 comes to a sprinting finish and we endeavor to begin the marathon of 2025, I will use my final column to reflect upon what has been and what is yet to come.

One of the functions of the Records Department is to provide the public with copies of public safety reports, including crash reports, police incident reports, fire incident reports, and emergency medical services reports.  

The Department of Records went live with a new service that permits people to receive fire incident reports online. This is in addition to crash reports, which have been available online for some time through the same portal. 

The Courts, Community, and Rule of Law Committee of the Judicial Council of the Third Circuit announced today that it is hosting an essay contest for elementary students focused on civics, citizenship, and the concept of “We the People” – which are the first three words of the Preamble to the United States Constitution. The essay prompt is: How did our Nation’s Founders envision ‘the People’ when they drafted the Constitution, and how should we interpret their vision in our country today?

There will be four rounds of competition: Two on Saturday, January 11th, and two on Sunday, January 12th. Each round will last approximately three hours with a brief break in between each round. Food will be provided! We invite you to judge as many or as few rounds as you like. The tentative schedule for the weekend is as follows:

Saturday, January 11, 2025

• 8:00 - 9:00 | Check-in

• 9:00 - 9:15 | Judges Meeting

• 10:00 - 1:00 | Round 1

• 1:00 - 2:00 | Lunch & Judges Meeting

• 2:30 - 5:30 | Round 2 

Sunday, January 12, 2025

• 8:45 - 9:00 | Judges Meeting

• 9:30 - 12:30 | Round 3

• 12:30 - 1:30 | Lunch & Judges Meeting

• 2:00 - 5:00 | Round 4

• 6:00 - 7:00 | Closing Ceremony

Please register and fill out the application below. If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Kenneth Lynch directly at lynchk18@lasalle.edu or (570) -780 - 1024.

Our Annual Partners and other benefit providers give Bar Association members access to discounts from local and national retailers, for legal and professional services and more!

DISCOUNTS INCLUDE:

• Wireless and data services discounts from Verizon, including 22% off your monthly bill for eligible members
• Travel discounts and planning services from Mondee
• Up to 35% PC computers and printers from HP
• Up to 20% off on gifts from 1-800-FLOWERS, Harry & David, and Cheryl’s Cookies
• Additional discounts on products and services, including performances at the Kimmel Cultural Campus, rental cars through Avis and Budget, and more

Members who open operating and IOLTA accounts with M&T Bank get free access to Nota, a trust accounting tool that makes compliance simple, seamless and efficient. 

Decisis is a fast, reliable legal research tool powered by LexisNexis - free for Philadelphia Bar Association members - a $1788 value! Search all courts and jurisdictions (Need a case outside Pennsylvania? Find it with Decisis™.)

To access the benefit login with your member account.