2019 Harrison Tweed Award to the Philadelphia Bar Association for a Decade of Advocacy by the Civil Gideon and Access to Justice Task Force
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American Bar Association Presents the 2019 Harrison Tweed Award to the Philadelphia Bar Association For a Decade of Advocacy by the Civil Gideon and Access to Justice Task Force (From left to right) Radhika Singh, chief of the civil legal services division at the National Legal Aid & Defender Association; Chancellor Rochelle M. Fedullo; Harvey Hurdle Jr.; and Ted Howard, chair of the Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants for the American Bar Association, with the 2019 Tweed Award at the awards ceremony on Aug. 9. By Joseph A. Sullivan n June, the American Bar Association announced litigants facing eviction or other hous- ing deprivations. In the majority of such that it was honoring the Philadelphia Bar cases in Philadelphia, tenants have faced Association with the prestigious 2019 Harrison the prospect of losing their homes or I apartments without the benefit of legal Tweed Award for extraordinary achievements in counsel to represent them. developing creative strategies to advance access to Harrison Tweed’s extraordinary legal career began early in the 20th century. justice. After graduation from Harvard Law School in 1910 and service as a captain In selecting the Association, the ABA’s Standing Committee in World War I, he joined a predecessor firm to Milbank, Tweed, on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense and the National Legal Aid where he remained as a partner for the remainder of his life. In & Defenders Association recognized the outstanding work of the 1932, he was appointed the chairman of the legal aid committee Association in seeking to level the playing field for low-income of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, leading 28 the philadelphia lawyer Fall 2019 The 2019 Tweed Award is the fifth time the Philadelphia Bar Association has won the prestigious national honor since its creation in 1956 – more than any other bar association in the nation. to a lifetime affinity for organized bar as- since its creation in 1956 – more than any dren is at stake. Inspired originally by an sociations. He was an early adherent of other bar association in the nation. The ABA resolution in August 2006 calling for the necessity of providing competent legal Association was last recognized 10 years a right to counsel in adversarial proceed- services for all, calling legal aid “an obliga- ago in 2009, when it was honored for the ings for low-income persons who could tion of the bar” and essential to the success landmark mortgage foreclose diversion not afford counsel, and followed shortly of the adversary legal system. He served program, spearheaded by then- Court of thereafter by a similar Philadelphia Bar As- as president of the Legal Aid Society of Common Pleas Judges Annette Rizzo and sociation resolution, the Task Force set out New York from 1936 through 1945, and Darnell Jones with an intense commitment to explore and investigate. It is noteworthy as president of the NLADA from 1949 to of sections and committees of the Associa- that the term “civil Gideon” was inspired 1955. In 1945, he was elected president of tion, and several public interest law cen- by the foundational U.S. Supreme Court the New York City Bar Association, where ters, including Community Legal Services, decision in Gideon v. Wainwright, in which he brought in many youngers lawyers and Philadelphia Legal Assistance and Phila- the court held that criminal defendants un- infused the association with a new level of delphia VIP. able to hire counsel could not possibly en- activism, focusing on public service. Ten years ago in 2009, then-Chancellor force their Sixth Amendment rights to be The Philadelphia Bar Association’s Sayde Ladov and bar leaders created the heard and to obtain compulsory process of work in the low-income housing area falls Association’s Civil Gideon and Access to the law without lawyers, and that all crimi- squarely within the ambit of the Tweed Justice Task Force to address the need for nal defendants unable to afford counsel had Award, which recognizes outstanding counsel in adversarial civil proceedings a right to appointed counsel at government achievements of state and local bar associa- in fundamental areas of legal need, and expense. The concept of “civil Gideon” is tions that develop or significantly expand to explore other means to widen access to an analogue of this landmark ruling in the programs to increase access to civil legal justice. Fundamental areas of legal need civil context. services or to expand indigent criminal de- include representation involving access to For years, legal experts have recited a fense services. The 2019 Tweed Award is housing, including mortgage foreclosures number of reasons why parties in adversar- the fifth time the Philadelphia Bar Associa- and evictions, as well as health care and ial proceedings need lawyers. There is of- tion has won the prestigious national honor family matters in which access to chil- ten an imbalance of power between a rep- From left to right: Joseph A. Sullivan, cochair of the Association's Delivery of Legal Services Committee and director of pro bono programs at Pepper Hamilton LLP; Ethan D. Fogel, partner at Dechert LLP: and Merril Zebe at the Tweed Award ceremony in San Francisco on Aug. 9 the philadelphia lawyer Fall 2019 29 From the outset, the goal has been to identify both the “big picture” and the many small factors in the lack of representation . No issue was too great or too small to merit attention. resented party and a party without a lawyer. source that provides a real-time over- points of many and incorporate their ideas The latter is limited in its ability to learn view of the Task Force’s activities and – gradually raised the profile of the criti- and understand what the law says and how educates the legal community and the cal need for more resources to address the it operates, how legal proceedings unfold public about the need for improved ac- housing crisis in Philadelphia. Not surpris- and the possible outcomes in any given cess to justice. ingly, it also drew the Association and the proceeding. Without lawyers, low-income • In 2012, the Task Force’s Housing Task Force closer to parallel or related ef- parties often do not know what claims or Working Group launched the Landlord forts by city council and the mayor’s office. defenses they may have, or how to assert Tenant Legal Help Center, a collabora- As a result, over time, there has become a them. Put simply, “civil Gideon” aims to tive project that operates in Municipal growing and more widely-known consen- level the playing field, echoing Tweed’s Court and is an extraordinary partner- sus and energy around the need for reform. view that representation is critical to the ship among the courts, multiple public The Association’s crowning achieve- success of the adversary legal system. interest law centers, law firm pro bono ments in addressing the housing crisis have From the outset, the Task Force has attorneys, and law students. The col- come in the last two-plus years. The Asso- aimed high, working diligently over the laborative raised private funding to ciation was a driving force in leading city past decade, and with growing momentum hire a part-time attorney to operate the council to hold a hearing in March 2017, in the last three years, to develop and sub- Help Center from 2012 through 2017. chaired by Councilmembers Helen Gym stantially expand resources for representa- During this time, the Help Center pro- and Maria D. Quinones-Sanchez, focus- tion of low income individuals. vided limited representation, brief ser- ing on the eviction crisis. The Association The Task Force itself is a small wonder. vices, advice, referral, and information met with key members of the staff of coun- Its diverse, 25-plus members include Chan- in over 4,500 cases, involving more cilmembers on the need for hearings that cellor Shelli Fedullo, several past chancel- than 9,750 low-income adult tenants would lay out the scope of the crisis, and lors, more than 10 members of the federal and children. highlight the real-world impact of the cri- and state judiciary, law professors and prac- • In 2013, the Association was awarded sis on low-income residents. By intention, ticing public interest and private bar attor- an ABA grant that enabled the Task this included testimony from tenants who neys. The membership has changed only Force to create the “Pennsylvania had lawyers representing them, and other slightly over the years, with most members Civil Legal Justice Coalition,” which tenants who did not have the benefit of le- staying focused and determined to make organized hearings in Pittsburgh, Har- gal assistance and were ultimately evicted. the legal system more accessible for those risburg and Philadelphia conducted The Task Force then reached out to with the greatest fundamental needs. In so by the Pennsylvania Senate Judiciary obtain testimony from city departments, doing, the Task Force has created a realistic Committee on the civil justice gap in tenant advocates, health care providers set of programs that have begun to signifi- Pennsylvania and, in May 2014, re- and other tenants. The Association and the cantly enhance resources that will make a leased a report titled “Toward Equal Task Force also solicited oral and written difference. Justice for All: Report of the Civil Le- testimony, and renewed the call for a right From the outset, the goal has been gal Justice Coalition.” to counsel for low-income tenants facing to identify both the “big picture” and the • In 2015, the Task Force’s Family eviction. many small factors in the lack of represen- Working Group launched a court-based Finally, the Association and the Task tation .