Protect Freedoms, Mfume Urges Understand by Jeff Lyons Judges’ Role
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® BENCH-BAR PREVIEW INSIDE! July 2006 The Monthly Newspaper of the Philadelphia Bar Association Vol. 35, No. 7 June Quarterly Meeting and Luncheon Public Doesn’t Protect Freedoms, Mfume Urges Understand by Jeff Lyons Judges’ Role, Members of the Philadel- Rendell Says phia Bar Association need to take the lead in advocating by Jeff Lyons greater judicial oversight of existing federal law and poli- Legislators, not judges, are supposed to cies and to lead the way in heed the will of the people, U.S. Court of working to protect the Cons- Appeals Judge Marjorie O. Rendell told titution, its Bill of Rights and attendees of the June 16 Federal Bench-Bar the concepts of free speech, Conference. freedom of assembly and due Judge Rendell, speaking on the increased process contained therein, for- attacks on judges for “judicial activism,” said mer NAACP president Kweisi the criticism exists because there is a “total Mfume told members of the misunderstanding of the roles of our three Association at the June 19 branches of government.” Quarterly Meeting and Lunch- “I was struck last year with the Schiavo eon. case and I think it was Sen. Frist who stood Mfume, who delivered the up on the Senate floor and said ‘this is hor- Judge A. Leon Higginbotham rible. Judges are not doing the will of the Jr. Memorial Public Interest people.’ “And it was striking to me that there Lecture, was also highly criti- was very little media or other response to cal of the Bush administration Kweisi Mfume delivered the Judge A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. Memorial Public Interest continued on page 19 over the war in Iraq and Lecture at the Association’s June 19 Quarterly Meeting and Luncheon. domestic spying programs. was Baghdad’s ties to terror- Mfume is running for the U.S. ism and then the invisible Senate in Maryland. weapons of mass destruction. I Web The event also included don’t know how any of you honors for the newest mem- stand on the war, but I do check bers of the Association’s Year want you to know that I have Register for the 2006 Clubs, with remarks by former √ consistently opposed unilater- Bench-Bar Conference by Board of Governors member al war in the absence of first visiting philadelphiabar.org. Paul N. Minkoff. attack because to go it alone “We meet today as our without provocation makes it nation seems doomed to very difficult later to expect remain in a punishing war of help,” he said. foreign occupation in Iraq,” “I don’t confuse opposition In This Issue ... Mfume said. “A war whose to the war with a lack of sup- 3 CLE for Pro Bono rationale has changed repeat- port for the fighting forces. edly both before it started and Like you, I commend the 5 Ethics in Politics even today. Our president was bravery and sacrifice of our content in giving us an ever- men and women in uniform 6 Bar Foundation shifting and ever-changing who represent all races and all 7 Photos by Jeff Lyons Hollywood Ending rotating set of reasons for this faiths. But bring them home or Paul N. Minkoff addresses fellow Year Club honorees at war. First, it was regime deploy them where they can 20 O’Connor Award change. Then we were told it continued on page 24 the June 19 event. KNIPES-COHEN COURT REPORTING Celebrating 40 Years of Service to the Legal 215-928-9300 Com umunity. ROBERT COHEN, PRESIDENT COURT REPORTING • VIDEOGRAPHY • VIDEOCONFERENCING 400 Market St., 11th Floor, Philadelphia, PA 19106 (P) 800-544-9800 • www.knipescohen.com • (F) 215-627-0555 A CONDOMINIUM RESIDENCE Now Available—move in 2006 VISIT OUR SALES GALLERY located on the mezzanine level of the phoenix at 1600 arch street Distinguished homes featuring • 32 UNIQUE residence styles • EXTRAORDINARY VIEWS • Direct Access from lobby to suburban station concourse open daily • 24-HOUR CONCIERGE 10 am - 6 pm or call for your convenient personal appointment phillyphoenix.com 16th and Arch Streets philadelphia, pa 215-854-1770 2 JULY 2006 / BAR REPORTER Task Force Reports on CLE Credit for Pro Bono Chancellor’s Note: I thought this topic was was that the opportunity to obtain We also learned that there were so important that I’ve yielded this month’s col- between 5,000 and 10,000 additional three “universals” in all states. First, the umn to Joseph A. Sullivan. FRONTLINE hours of pro bono service is not CLE for pro bono program satisfies - Alan M. Feldman. insignificant. only a portion of the annual or bienni- In New York, although there are no al requirement, ranging from one-fifth by Joseph A. Sullivan these resources are not enough to meet formal statistics, anecdotal reports from to one-third of the total CLE required. the full scope of this vast need. All the public interest law centers around the Thus, the programs do not displace tra- Last October, then Chancellor-Elect national law school and other experts state suggest that the topic of CLE for ditional CLE classroom training and do Alan Feldman commissioned a task tell us that, as best can be determined, pro bono comes up in three different not alter the role of the state CLE force of lawyers, joined by U.S. District these efforts combined meet only 20 to contexts. First, through their support of board in monitoring CLE programs Court Judge Edmund Ludwig, to inves- 25 percent of the need for legal services pro bono for CLE credit, the state’s and compliance. Finally, in all states, tigate the idea of providing approved by low-income disabled, elderly and highest court and state bar leaders had for each CLE credit, a minimum num- continuing legal education credit to other vulnerable persons. communicated the idea that pro bono ber of hours or pro bono legal work is lawyers who do pro bono legal work The Task Force set to work, was “legitimate legal work,” convincing required, such as a ratio of six hours of representing low-income and disad- researching the CLE for pro bono pro- a number of lawyers to step forward to legal work for one hour of CLE credit. vantaged persons, as well as nonprofit grams in the six states. We researched do more pro bono for CLE credit. Our conclusions were that the entities serving these groups. Web sites and databases for the highest Next, volunteer lawyers reported potential gains more than outweighed Six states currently have a partial courts in these states, as well as admin- that the availability of CLE credit any potential downsides. In the Task CLE credit for pro bono system: Colo- istrative offices of the courts, statewide encouraged them to try pro bono mat- Force’s report submitted to Chancellor rado, Delaware, New York, Tennessee, CLE boards and agencies and public ters in areas outside the scope of their Feldman and the Board of Governors Washington and Wyoming. Two of interest law centers, among others. To regular fee practice. Many volunteers on May 5, and approved by the Board these states, New York and Tennessee, our surprise, no state has as yet done a took training programs mandated by unanimously at its May meeting, we have had such programs for more than statistical study of their programs. We the providers before taking their first recommended a pilot program that, if five years. were able to obtain some statistics and case, and felt they were continuing adopted by the Pennsylvania CLE The Task Force recognizes the vast extensive anecdotal evidence, particu- their education by taking a case and Board and the state Supreme Court, numbers of individuals who are in larly in Tennessee and New York, by working with agencies and mentors to continued on page 11 need of legal assistance, but who sim- communicating directly with private learn a new area of law, and develop ply cannot afford counsel. We want to firm lawyers, state CLE board adminis- skills necessary to do it. acknowledge the vigorous efforts of trators and public interest law center Finally, some legal directors report- our nationally recognized legal services directors. ed that the availability of CLE credit for organizations, Community Legal What we found in Tennessee was pro bono is a “marvelous marketing Services and Philadelphia Legal that in the first three years of the pro- tool,” to quote one director. This direc- Assistance, and our outstanding public gram, the participation rate among tor explained that once a lawyer does Editor-in-Chief interest law centers, including Tennessee’s 14,500 lawyers was about 6 pro bono, his or her perspective is Molly Peckman, Esq. Philadelphia VIP and many other percent, although the statistics were often changed. He or she begins to Associate Editors providers, as well as private bar pro not conclusive. The number of partici- appreciate how important the services Sunah Park, Esq. bono and law school clinical programs. pants rose significantly in the second are to clients, and how rewarding the Lawrence S. Felzer, Esq. Their efforts have been substantial and year, and the third year statistics were work is. They become inclined to do Heather J. Holloway, Esq. are irreplaceable. not yet complete. While these results more pro bono based on the first Stacey Z. Jumper, Esq. It remains clear, however, that all may seem small, our collective reaction experience. Asima Panigrahi, Esq. Contributing Editor Association Forms Nominating Committee Richard Max Bockol, Esq. Advisory Editors The Nominating Committee of the Tees and Nancy Winkelman. to be nominated by the Nominating Bruce H. Bikin, Esq. Philadelphia Bar Association has been Association Assistant Secretary Committee.