Each year on Constitution Day, September 17th, we commemorate the signing of the United States Constitution. As a Philadelphian, who lives and works is this great city, I am proud that this transformative document was created and executed in the place of brotherly love and sisterly affection.

A week before Labor Day, my 32-year-old lawyer son and his 73-year-old lawyer mother went to the Philadelphia Zoo. The first of many zoo trips that I can remember was about 69 years ago, when I was four. It was my mother, my 14-year-old aunt, and me. Family legend has it that when my mother pointed out an anteater, I jumped in front of my aunt, pushed her away and said, "He ain’t gonna eat my aunt."  My aunt recently verified the truth of this story. I observed no anteaters on this visit. If there were any, they probably hid in fear, just in case. Happily, my grammar has improved. 

The Philadelphia Bar Association Professional Guidance Committee has issued Formal Opinion 2025-1 to address the ethical concerns surrounding attorneys questioning or invoking the immigration status of individuals in legal proceedings. This opinion provides clarity on the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct, which prohibit such actions when they are intended to intimidate, coerce, or obstruct someone from participating in the legal system. The Committee emphasizes that these practices undermine the rights of individuals, interfere with the administration of justice, and violate several ethical rules governing attorneys.  

Our Summer issue included part of a conversation among colleagues, each American-born with one or both parents who had emigrated to the United States. Katayun (Kathy) Jaffari, Kristine Calalang, and Vikram (Vik) Patel joined me to share family stories and first-generation American experiences and perspectives. We all knew each other, I knew that their backgrounds aligned with my interview concept, but otherwise I used no “methodology” in assembling the group. I was very hopeful the dynamic would encourage discussion. The group’s candor, warmth, energy, trust, and mutual kindness went beyond my hopes. Thank you, Kathy, Kristine, and Vik. The dynamic also resulted in a very long transcript, which albeit having been divided into two edited and condensed parts, the second of which follows, captures the heart of a heartfelt discussion.