Congratulations to our 2025 Bar Champion: City of Philadelphia Law Department
Established in 2020, this award honors a Philadelphia law firm, law department, legal services organization, or law school that demonstrates exceptional support for the Association through 100% membership, leadership involvement, active engagement, and meaningful community service.
We are thrilled to recognize the Law Department as our first Institutional Partner and the first non–law firm to receive this honor. The Law Department's ongoing commitment and engagement – from service on the Board of Governors to leadership across three section Executive Committees and chairing two Committees – exemplify the spirit of this award.
Congratulations to the following 2025 Bar Stars:
Join us for Philadelphia Bar Association Member Appreciation Week on November 10-14! We have giveaways, special events and a Member Appreciation Reception on Wednesday, November 12 at The Lucy.
Meet the candidates for the 2025 Bar Elections. We have uncontested races for the line offices, but contested races for the Board of Governors and YLD Executive Committee.
Get to know the candidates at our upcoming Elections Forum:
Forum 2 on Wed., November 19, 2025 will involve both Board of Governors and YLD Executive Committee candidates - REGISTER NOW
News
This 2025 summit will include a Higginbotham panel focusing on workplace cultures that build more inclusive workplaces and propose a new framework incorporating access, strategic business development and retention, leadership development, collaboration, and innovation.
Our Judicial Commission's objective, nonpartisan investigations rate candidates on their ability, integrity, and judgment.
Volunteer with the Campaign for Qualified Judges on Election Day: The Bar Association's political action committee, which focuses on voter education, is seeking volunteers to hand out information about the Judicial Commission's ratings on Election Day. Volunteers are needed to work shifts from 7-10 a.m., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 5-8 p.m.
Volunteer with the Campaign for Qualified Judges on Election Day: The Bar Association's political action committee, which focuses on voter education, is seeking volunteers to hand out information about the Judicial Commission's ratings on Election Day. Volunteers are needed to work shifts from 7-10 a.m., 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., and 5-8 p.m.
National Pro Bono Week highlights the vital role pro bono work plays in promoting equal access to justice, strengthening communities, and upholding the legal profession’s commitment to public service. This week is a meaningful reminder of how every attorney can make a difference by using their skills to advance fairness and justice for all.
The Philadelphia Bar Association’s Center for Innovation in the Practice of Law is hosting an interactive program designed to introduce lawyers to the responsible use of AI in the workplace. As AI systems rapidly advance in reasoning and problem-solving, lawyers can learn ways to leverage their capabilities.
The session will combine a dynamic presentation with hands-on exercises, giving participants the opportunity to apply curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking as they explore how AI can enhance their legal practices and business models.
Thank you to all our members who joined us in Atlantic City for this year’s Bench-Bar & Annual Conference! Your energy, engagement, and enthusiasm made the event a tremendous success. From insightful panels and CLE sessions to networking and reconnecting with colleagues, it was a memorable weekend celebrating our legal community. We’re grateful for your participation and look forward to seeing you again next year!
The Philadelphia Bar Association invites you and your guest(s) to join our journey through Portugal’s Old-World allure and New World splendor. Our immersive program will engage with local attorneys, scholars, and artists offering poignant commentary on the Portuguese and E.U. legal and political systems, U.S.-Portuguese trade relations, Portuguese constitutional law, art, history, architecture, religion, and much more. You do not want to miss this opportunity to experience the heart of Portugal with the ability to earn up to 7.0 substantive CLE credits**.
Celebrate individuals and groups making a positive impact on our community!
Achievement Award
To be presented at the 2025 Annual Meeting on December 10, 2025
Description: The Award recognizes significant accomplishments in improving the administration of justice (preferably in Philadelphia.)
Deadline: Friday, November 7, 2025
Join the American Heart Association along with your colleagues, family, friends and neighbors as we come together to inspire healthy living, mental health awareness and overall well-being. Whether in-person or through a digital experience, we're going to touch more hearts, move more feet and raise more lifesaving funds than ever before through the Philadelphia Heart Walk.
The American Heart Association is committed to driving equitable health impact in our community. Equity is always at the center of our work, and it will continue to guide all that we do. By participating in the Heart Walk, your lifesaving dollars will fund research, address food insecurity and access to healthcare, and help us to better understand the root causes of health inequity in our region.
We have created the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Lawyers Have Heart Team and are hoping to get all sections/committees/Board of governors/law firms to create teams within the larger Philadelphia Bar Association “Company”
The Philadelphia Bar Association Lawyer Referral and Information Service helps you expand your client base with a trusted service that has been serving the City for more than 70 years
Take advantage of our free trial period for new LRIS panel attorneys now until 12/31! We especially need attorneys for the Employment (especially union and wage & hour) and Insurance (especially health insurance) panels!
Let's support our brave and dedicated U.S. service members this holiday season and show them how much the Philadelphia Bar Association cares! We are hosting a bar-wide donation drive to collect funds from the members of our Sections, Committees, Board of Governors, and Bar Staff with the challenge to see what group can show our service members the most love and gratitude.
We take pride in supporting legal professionals in Philadelphia at every stage of their careers. Our members' experiences highlight the value of the Philadelphia Bar Association's resources, networking opportunities, and advocacy efforts. Whether you're a seasoned attorney, a recent law school graduate, or a law student preparing for the future, our community is here to help you thrive. Read what our members have to say about how the Philadelphia Bar Association has positively impacted their professional journeys.
The Philadelphia Bar Association is now on Bluesky! If you'd like to follow us, you can create a FREE account to keep up with the latest news and updates!
Features
A roundup of the latest activity taking place in the Pennsylvania General Assembly.
The Summer 2025 issue includes stories from members of their experiences as children of immigrants. Members also share about their civil rights journey trip where they followed in the footsteps of the Civil Rights Movement as they traveled to Montgomery, Selma and Birmingham, Alabama and Atlanta, Georgia. You'll also read about pro bono success stories - the first of a series of “pro bono success stories” which highlight the essential needs of pro bono clients and the transformative impact of work by our public interest law centers and dedicated legal volunteers.
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
How does your firm or organization train young lawyers? What resources and training opportunities does your firm provide? We’d love to hear from members from a range of different firms – small, mid-size, and large.
Share your submissions with us in 300-500 words to be featured in the Winter issue of The Philadelphia Lawyer magazine!
Email communications@philabar.org with your submission and headshot by November 7.
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.
If you have a moment, we’d truly appreciate it if you could leave us a quick Google review. Share how your experience with the Bar Association has helped you to make connections and grow your career! It only takes a minute, and your insights can help others know what to expect. Your positive feedback helps our Association grow and continue providing the best service possible for members.
Thank you for your support—it means the world to us!
Google: Philadelphia Bar Association -> Give us a star rating -> Write a review -> Hit Post
Public Interest Spotlight
For some, service to underserved communities is an easy decision. I embarked on a legal career knowing that I wanted to use my skills not just to succeed in my practice, but also to help less privileged communities. While I had volunteered sporadically, the drive to reengage in volunteerism on a deeper level came in 2021. I was a few years into my practice and knew that I wanted to use my skills to contribute to the well-being of the communities I cared deeply about, especially those experiencing poverty.
Around Our Community
On behalf of the St. Thomas More Society of Philadelphia, members of the local legal community are invited to attend the 2025 Red Mass, to be celebrated on Thursday, 10/30/25, at 5:15 P.M., at St. John the Evangelist Church, located at 21 South 13th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19107, (215) 563-4145, parish office.
The Most Reverend Michael Fitzgerald, Auxiliary Bishop of Philadelphia, retired, and a member of the Pennsylvania Bar, will preside. The principal celebrant and homilist will be the Reverend Thomas Betz, O.F.M. Cap., Pastor of St. John the Evangelist Parish and also a member of the Pennsylvania Bar.
This traditional liturgy invokes the guidance of the Holy Spirit upon the Bench and Bar of the Metropolitan Philadelphia legal community as we begin a new judicial year. It is a moment of reflection, collegial fellowship, and shared commitment to justice.
Members of the Court may choose to vest for Mass in their judicial robes. If enough judges express interest to Fr. Betz at (215) 563-4145 beforehand, a civil procession of enrobed judges will take place.
The next two months at VIP are filled with trainings, clinics, and other opportunities for both new and returning volunteers to connect with VIP! Check out the calendar to learn more.
Philadelphia Bar Association members can now get discounted tickets to watch national soccer teams play at the Union Stadium!
Benefits and Partner Spotlight
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:
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.
Featured CLEs & Events
Join the First Judicial District from 4-5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 22 to learn how cases become mass torts, and the structure of the mass torts program. Additionally, you will discover the differences in how mass torts are handled on the federal vs. state level, and the different issues facing the judges overseeing mass torts in terms of coordination between federal and state judges.
Next year will be a special one as the country celebrates its 250th birthday – with Philadelphia, as the birthplace of our nation, stepping into the spotlight. Kathryn Ott Lovell, executive director of Philadelphia250, will share the vision, priorities, and progress of the city’s Semiquincentennial celebration. This session will explore how the legal community can meaningfully support and amplify the initiative.
Our Women in the Profession Committee requests your presence at an elegant Afternoon Tea on Wednesday, October 29, 2025, from 4:00 pm to 6:00 pm at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP (2222 Market St, Philadelphia, PA 19103). Please join us for a relaxing and refreshing event where you will enjoy connecting with colleagues and friends while sampling delicious teas, scrumptious finger sandwiches, wonderful desserts, and other savory and sweet treats.
Join us as Judges Hon. Dan Anders, Administrative Judge, Trial Division, and Hon. Susan Schulman, Judicial Leader, Medical Malpractice Program, discuss several important updates to the First Judicial District's medical malpractice case management program.
Join the Business Law Section, along with the Corporate In-House Counsel Committee, for a dynamic discussion with leading Philadelphia-area in-house counsel — for a behind-the-scenes look at how leaders are supporting organizations that drive growth and innovation in our city. Panelists will unpack timely issues and “hot topics " keeping general counsel up at night. Gain insight into what they see as current legal trends, the impact of AI, perspectives on current events shaping the profession and business landscape – as well as thoughts on what makes an effective outside counsel. The discussion will include opportunities for Q&A along with networking both before and after the event.
