New Matter
THE AWARD WINNING PUBLICATION OF THE CHESTER COUNT Y BAR ASSOCIATION • CHESTER COUNT Y, PA www.chescobar.org
SUMMER 2016
THE CHESTER COUNTY BAR FOUNDATION
Key Fellow Program Page 20
COLLABORATIVE
DIVORCE/MEDIATION
& Other Unbundled Services
Page 6
SPOTLIGHT ON Page 18
APPELLATE ARGUMENT ANALYSIS: The Supreme Court
Hears Molina-Martinez v. US Page 32
New Matter CCBA Officers William T. Wilson, President Christine E. Zaccarelli, President-Elect Mary-Ellen Allen, Vice President Patrick M. McKenna, Treasurer Samuel W. Cortes, Secretary Colleen Frens, YLD Chair New Matter Committee Charles DeTulleo, Editor Rami Bishay Mark Blank, Jr. Keith Boggess Brian Doyle J. Stoddard Hayes Mary LaSota Andrew Lehr Deborah Lewis Shannon McDonald John McKenna Kim Denise Morton Mary Wade Myers Kevin Ryan Karyn Seace Alan Vaskas Bill Wilson CCBA Staff Wendy Leeper Executive Director Emily Boulanger Communications & Event Manager The Chester County Bar Association’s quarterly publication, New Matter, has been provided to Bar Association members for four decades. A valuable aspect of CCBA’s membership, New Matter aims to provide our members with information pertaining to current issues facing the practice of law, historic legal issues, continuing legal education opportunities, Chester County Bar Association activities, programs, meetings and functions, practice tips and procedures for attorneys, and items of personal interest to our membership. The opinions expressed in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific legal or other advice or recommendations for any individuals. The placement of paid advertisements does not imply endorsement by the Chester County Bar Association. All rights reserved. No portion of this publication may be reproduced electronically or in print without the expressed written permission of the publisher or editor.
Content
SUMMER 2016
FEATURES Collaborative Divorce/Mediation & Other Unbundled Services.................... 6 Outsourcing Legal Marketing Functions:
Small Firms Look Out And Plug In...................... 8
Swift Alternative Violation Enforcement Program (SAVE)................ 10
IN EVERY ISSUE President’s Message................................... 4 Featured Member Profiles Shannon K. McDonald, Esquire..................... 12 Guitar Man’s Psalm................................. 14 Spotlight on Scalia.................................. 18 With All This Technology, Why Are Face-to-Face Encounters So Important?...................... 22
Ramblings From a Legal Law Clerk........ 13 Your Bar Foundation................................ 20 Save Our Environment.............................24 The Blank Page..........................................30 Dictum for Dummies............................... 31
Philanthropic Conversations Between Clients & Advisors.................... 26
In Our Community.................................... 34
Appellate Argument Analysis:
From the Archives New Matter—June 1982.............................38
The Supreme Court hears Molina-Martinez v. US.................................... 32
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President’s Message
in Pennsylvania. I brag about it all the time. That bragging has not usually included the diversity of our membership. Even making some allowances for the overall population demographics of our county, the ethnic diversity of our bar has not been one of the things I have singled out as a point of pride. That is one of the reasons I was so pleased when my predecessor, Craig Styer, made the promotion of diversity a priority for his year as president.
in this area. All nine of its members were either Catholic or Jewish, and all nine were educated, in whole or in part, at just two Ivy League schools. There are some that see this as a bit askew. Perhaps not everyone. The President’s nominee to replace Justice Scalia, although very well qualified, is not a deviation from that pattern.
Diversity benefits all of us. We become better lawyers, and better citizens, from hearing the points of view that come from William T. Wilson, Esquire backgrounds that may be far different than Even as I write this message, interviews President are being conducted for the second year of our own. Those who may have recently the expanded diverse 1L interns program attended one of the naturalization cerethat began last year. We expect it to fur- monies that we sponsor will have heard ther expand next year. We strongly hope me express the view that the renewal of that the capable law students who have our diversity through new immigrants is only get the privilege of writing four participated in this program will decide to the lifeblood of our country. I hope that of these messages, so I am half done live and practice here in Chester County is a view that you share. with that part of my presidency with this after their graduation. They can make a These issues are not easy. I believe we one. This realization has made me think very meaningful contribution to increasing are making progress with them, but someour diversity. that this opportunity is not to be wasted, times it seems like baby steps. Plenty of and that whatever I try to say ought to be work remains to be done. I have asked Diversity means more than ethnic diabout something important. The diversity our Diversity Committee to suggest ways versity, of course, and our program is not of our bar is a qualifying subject. limited to that aspect of it, although gender, in which we can address these issues, in I have always been proud of our religion, and economics may present the addition to the 1L program. They would Association, and ever more so as I have issue in very different ways. Justice Scalia’s welcome all of your ideas. come to know what an exceptional associ- passing has provoked discussion, in some ation it is in comparison to other counties circles, of the Supreme Court’s deficiencies
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CCBA Feature
Collaborative
Divorce/Mediation & Other Unbundled Services
By Peter Bort, Esquire
re you one of those matrimonial attorneys who have asked the question: “How can I provide valuable legal services to divorcing clients without getting caught up in a litigation nightmare?” In Informal Opinion 07-446, The American Bar Association gave its blessing to the notion that “a lawyer may provide legal assistance to litigants appearing before tribunals “pro se” and help them prepare written submissions without disclosing or ensuring the disclosure of the nature or extent of such assistance.” In the same year, by Informal Opinion 07-447 the ABA gave its approval to the practice of collaborative law so long as the client has given his or her informed consent.
The Participation Agreement includes a requirement that both lawyers must withdraw from representing their respective clients and shall not handle any subsequent court proceedings in the event that one or both clients decide to present the resolution of their case to any tribunal. All participants then have “skin in the game” to negotiate earnestly to resolve their respective interests.
As an experienced collaborative divorce practitioner I can attest that just because the meetings are held out of the context In collaborative law, and for the purposes of this article, collab- of a courtroom does not always render them “saccharin sweet.” orative divorce cases specifically, the core elements are: In fact, these negotiations can at times be extremely challenging.
There is a binding written contract between the two clients and the two lawyers (and any other participating professional such as mental health practitioners or financial neutrals). The participation agreement spells out the requirement that the participating parties are committing to negotiate a mutually acceptable settlement without court intervention and to engage in open communication and information sharing. The goal is to create shared solutions to meet the needs of both clients.
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However, all involved completely avoid the necessity of turning the dominion and control of their lives over to an outside authority such as a master or judge. As the lawyer, it is a very positive experience to be able to set one’s calendar without aid of court orders directing specific court appearances. For the clients, the courtroom setting is often beyond stressful. A further benefit of collaborative practice is that the clients gladly pay you. There is no need to chase receivables. Most important of all, the 90% success rate of the collaborative divorce process creates satisfied and grateful clients. Continued on page 7
www.chescobar.org Continued from page 6 Mediation is something we are all familiar with, even if some of us are prone to confuse mediation with arbitration on occasion. An easy way to distinguish the two is to realize that there is no such thing as “binding mediation.” Mediation is a voluntary process and subject to being terminated at any time, unilaterally or jointly. In the Southeastern Pennsylvania area mediation has really been catching on of late. The mediator is only providing a dispute resolution service and is not engaged in the process of preparing divorce filings or the preparation of binding marital settlement agreements. (Although some local mediators believe that it is ethical for them to prepare binding marital settlement agreements, the best practice is to prepare a memorandum or summary that is subsequently used as the skeleton for a binding family settlement agreement to be prepared by an attorney or attorneys not serving as neutral mediator.) The role of a “mediation-friendly attorney” or advisory attorney is a complement to the divorce mediator. Drafting pleadings and the binding settlement documents is an unbundled service that keeps one outside of courtrooms. There is, in my experience, much less stress as the attorney who is providing mediation-friendly services than the advocate who is preparing for the vagaries of litigation proceedings. Again, serving as a mediation-friendly attorney does not result in outstanding unpaid receivables.
complaints and the like. It is not unusual for me to suggest to prospective clients that they prepare and submit their own custody complaint in person and then bring me in to represent them for negotiation or for litigation. This is a form of unbundled services. How many of us have been contacted by a prospective client who is sharing their dissatisfaction with their current advocate and looking for what is essentially a second opinion? Often my approach has been simply allow them to realize that they have a difficult set of facts for their advocate to work with and that I probably wouldn’t bring them to any better result should I step in as successor counsel. This kind of second opinion consultation whether it is by phone or in person is in my mind a form of unbundled services. Occasionally, whether it is due to the previous attorney’s inexperience, personal difficulties, or other strange dynamic of the litigation or negotiation I will allow the frustrated client to hire me as substitute counsel.
Save the date! Fall Bench Bar Conference Skytop Lodge • October 6–8
The billable hour is becoming somewhat a thing of the past and the provision of unbundled services creates opportunities for successfully providing a flat fee service. Ethically, the same law firm should not try to be a one stop shopping source for the same set of parties to receive mediation services, mediation-friendly attorney services and/or collaborative divorce services. For example, a mediator attorney should not refer the preparation of the binding legal documents and pleadings to an attorney within his or her own law firm. This may seem like an obvious ethical principle but I have personally experienced occurrences where exactly this type of “one stop” provision is attempted. In fact, I once observed a mediator file a divorce complaint as attorney of record for one of the parties to the mediation! How many of us have come across the prospective client who is attempting a “do it yourself ” or a “DIY” divorce or other matrimonial matter? To me it is another area to unbundle services to assist DIY litigants to untangle the messes that they create. My preference is to do this as the attorney of record. However, the ABA Formal Opinion 07-446 clearly makes it possible for these services to be provided behind the scenes. Many of our local counties have made it much easier for self-represented parties to prepare and submit their own custody New Matter
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CCBA Feature
OUTSOURCING LEGAL MARKETING FUNCTIONS: Small Firms Look Out And Plug In By Elizabeth Mell
W
ith attention to managing overhead in the post-recession marketplace, small and mid-size firms are embracing innovative ways to achieve the benefits of comprehensive marketing programs without costly staff additions. One smart move is outsourcing. In the past, smaller firms often made the mistake of shortchanging themselves by hiring one or two mid- or entry-level marketing professionals and expecting them to have the full range of skills needed to support the full gamut of firm marketing and business development needs. Successful firms have come to recognize the value of a strong marketing infrastructure and are making strategic investments in higher-level staff and experienced consultants.
are not interchangeable either. An excellent event planner, for example, is not likely to be the best person to design your firm’s web site. As enticing as it may be, re-purposing existing staff is not always the best route.
“The effectiveness of outsourcing marketing functions is ideal for businesses that want to maintain focus on the bottom line without distractions. Outsourcing also allows for the predictability of solid timetables.”
When talking to law firm leaders, I often hear the refrain: “We know we need Small and mid-size law firm leadsome help but we don’t know for what ers assert that their primary need is exactly.” Well, you don’t have to—at growth—i.e. developing new busileast not at first. One clear path is to ness. Assembling the right team to engage an independent consultant support partners in expansion of their to conduct a marketing needs assessbusiness means hiring executive-level ment. A formal needs assessment will professionals for firm administrative help with priority setting. Perhaps the roles. Law firms that have separated firm needs to focus solely on marketthemselves from the pack have raised the ing—i.e. branding, web site, media relations, bar in terms of hiring seasoned administrators. Hiring knowl- speeches, blogs and social media and social events. Or maybe the edgeable marketing professionals is part of raising that bar, but firm needs more client and prospect development coaching—i.e. can be cost prohibitive. business development training, competitive intelligence, pitch preparation, and client teams. Everyone knows better than to hire a commercial real estate lawyer to draft a custody agreement. Administrators, like lawyers, Continued on page 9
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www.chescobar.org Continued from page 8 Some firms have already identified needs and established priorities, but know they lack adequate staff. Small and mid-sized firms often hire outside professionals who specialize in specific areas. Hiring a consultant for a discrete project can introduce partners to the concept and benefits of marketing professionals without the risk and cost that come with creating a full-time position. While some consultants have diverse backgrounds, most have specific skills and strengths. Law firms can test the waters by hiring a consultant for a specific mission. Outsourcing can also relieve firm leadership of tremendous burden. Consultants offer flexible services and fees. They also bring flexibility to their clients in the form of testing or piloting programs. For example, do you need: A coaching program? An expert on social media? An expert on event planning? To start a blog? If the answer to any of the above is “yes,” and you don’t know where to start, seek an experienced consultant who will be dedicated to the project. Tapping in to expertise without ramp-up time makes good sense.
Consultants are: »»
Plugged in to law firm technology and resources
»»
Plugged in to legal industry news
»»
Plugged in to competitors
»»
Plugged in to buyers
Consultants need: »»
No training
»»
No daily supervision
»»
No politics
When internal resources are scarce or in-house employees have specific expertise, but lack the full range of desired experience, law firms look to outsource. Law firms have long outsourced many functions, from the mail room to travel services. However, outsourcing is no longer restricted to “back office” tasks. Employing a fully-staffed, in-house marketing team can be costly in terms of compensation, overhead and supervisor’s time. Outsourcing marketing roles can reduce overhead costs while the firm embarks on new territory. New Matter
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CCBA Feature
CHESTER COUNTY
Swift Alternative Violation Enforcement Program (SAVE) By Nathan Schenker, Esquire
S
wift and certain consequences have a direct impact on people’s behavior. For example, if your child breaks one of the rules of the home you do not wait weeks or months to hold them accountable. And yet, the criminal justice system often does just that. Individuals who violate parole or probation often wait weeks or months to appear before a judge to be held accountable for their violations. A new supervision model in Chester County aims to change that.
often sought by the offender more to avoid consequences than to resolve their problems. Once a violation is detected, the offender may wait weeks or months for it to be addressed often remaining incarcerated. By the time the behavior is addressed any relationship between behavior and consequences is lost. What these individuals face is a revolving door of violation and incarceration that is wasteful of resources and rarely creates positive changes in behavior. Clearly something different is called for.
Many people who become involved in the criminal justice In 2015 several Chester County agencies, including Adult system and are placed on probation or parole are successful and Probation and Parole, the District Attorney’s Office, the Public have no further contact with the system. A significant group, Defender’s Office, Treatment and the Court met to discuss the however, usually with substance abuse issues, does not comply problem and to look at a program of “Swift, Certain and Fair with the rules of their supervision. For these people, a cat and Sanctions” based on a program that had been run successfully mouse relationship with the court system develops. The offender in Hawaii. Out of those meetings came a grant proposal and continues to abuse substances, often engaging in behavior to the award of a three-year grant for the SAVE program. Chester avoid detection and counts on delays in the legal process to re- County is one of only five pilot programs to receive funding. main free and continue with destructive behavior. Treatment is SAVE began in February 2016 with Judge Mahon as its presiding judge. It currently has approximately thirty participants with a cap of fifty set for the first six months of the program. It is best to first identify what SAVE is not. SAVE is not a treatment or problem solving court. It is not a program to divert participants from the criminal justice system and avoid the consequences of conviction, such as Drug Court. There is no therapeutic aspect or individualized treatment. There is no intensive Court supervision or regular review. There are no team meetings to discuss the participants, their progress and services or interventions. It is also not a voluntary program. SAVE is a form of supervision for defendants already on probation or parole who have technical violations of that probation or parole. It is a condition imposed as part of a sentence. SAVE participants are identified by Adult Continued on page 11
www.chescobar.org Continued from page 10 Removal from SAVE occurs if the participant gets five violations Probation and Parole. The criteria are: a risk / need assessment within six months or ten within a year. It also may occur if the score of high to moderate; ongoing drug involvement; demonparticipant is convicted of a new offense or engages in extremely strated history of noncompliance; placement in the highest tier inappropriate or violent conduct. of sentencing for the adult probation and parole guidelines, and a minimum of one year supervision remaining on their sentence. If a participant is successful in SAVE there is the potential to shorten their remaining probation or parole supervision period. Participants in SAVE are told at sentencing that violations will result in specific pre-determined penalties that reward acceptance SAVE at its heart is a behavior modification program. It of responsibility: If an offender admits a violation, such as drug encourages honesty and taking responsibility on the part of the use, she will receive a sanction of two days incarceration. If she participants. They learn early on that their actions will have an denies and the violation is confirmed the sanction increases to five immediate consequence and that they have some control over days. If she absconds by not turning herself in within two days of the outcome. Since the inception of SAVE, there has been an being advised by Adult Probation of a violation or confirmation, immediate impact on the participants. Most of them have been the sanction increases to ten days. Sanctions never increase or through treatment programs in the past and have the tools to decrease with repeated violations but may be imposed consecutively for multiple violations. Each appearance before the Judge, address their addiction. The structure of SAVE is challenging regardless of the number of infractions addressed, counts as one them to practice the behaviors learned in treatment. Where additional treatment is justified it will be made available only violation of the program. when requested and justified by the participant. A key component of SAVE is swiftly addressing violations. If The goal of the SAVE program is to reduce the amount of there is any violation, such as drug use, the participant is brought before the Court quickly, reinforcing the connection between incarceration served by this category of defendants and encourage the conduct and the consequences. This also highlights for the their development of the skills necessary to combat their addiction participants that they control their actions and the consequences. and become productive individuals.
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CCBA Featured Member Profile
Shannon K. McDonald, Esquire By Stephanie Deviney, Esquire
What is the most important lesson you have learned?
People want to help; always ask, because they really do want to help.
Who is the person you are most interested in getting to meet?
Honestly, I met Erwin Chemrinsky in my bar prep class, so that might be it on my list of people to meet. I’ve really bought into the whole "it isn’t who you know but what you know" theory in life.
What was the last book you read?
Where do you live?
Within walking distance of my office, because parking in the Borough is the worst.
What was your first job?
I would not leave home without?
Cell phone, wallet, keys, the rest can be bought or procured.
What is your biggest extravagance?
I worked at a pumpkin patch when I was 13. I manned the petting zoo. It was a decent job except when the goats got their heads stuck in the fence....
I don’t know if I have one, I’m really cheap. Except when it comes to my dog, she can have anything.
What word best describes you?
What honor are you most proud of?
This question is too hard, I’m too verbose to choose just one.
Where would we find you on a Saturday afternoon?
Probably pretending I’m a mentor while hanging out with my Little in the Big Brothers Big Sisters Program. It gives you an excuse to do all kinds of fun stuff like ice skating, fishing, and biking.
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I got the first place sewing prize at 4-H when I was in middle school. It was a mug. My parents still won’t let me me bring it to my home—they’re so proud of me. Also an elementary school art prize for depiction of a national park. My painting of buffalo hung in the school for about ten years after I graduated. I guess total vindication for a client on appeal is good too, but honestly, does that count as an honor?
Martyr’s Crossing...I use my library card frequently, so that answer will have changed by the time this is printed.
What is your favorite TV show?
I don’t care how old I get, Gilmore Girls will always be the best. My sisters will back me up on that one.
What has been your best, worst, and toughest decision?
Best decision is my husband.
There is no worst decision, because you can always correct. But if I had to choose a worst decision for people in general to make, it would be not filing post trial motions. Always file post trial motions, it’s a terrible decision not to. The toughest decision is what flavor of ice cream to get any time I get ice cream.
What do you like best about your job?
I actually have a couple of jobs; I run my own practice, where I do appeals work an post conviction work. I like writing and research, so I like everything about that job. I also am a Guardian ad Litem. I like seeing kids succeed in that job. And I am president of the board of trustees of Never Forget Foundation, where we provide funding and resources for grieving kids. Again, I just like to see kids succeed.
Do you have any goals yet to be achieved?
When I first opened my practice, I was told you can’t say you’re a true sole practitioner until you’ve been at it five years (and are making money, I guess, but that wasn’t stated). My goal is to make it to five years. That will be November, so I guess I’ll have to come up with a new goal after that.
What is a little known fact about you?
A lot of people know I went to the University of Wyoming, but not as many people know I’m licensed to practice in Wyoming, and even fewer know that I actually took the bar for Pennsylvania and Wyoming in the same sitting. It was the ultimate bar crawl. (Pun intended, an old friend put that on my celebratory ice cream cake.)
Ramblings From A Legal Law Clerk IN MEMORIUM
By Mya Noonus
John N. DelCollo, Esq. (1948 – 2016)
’ve said it before and I say it again. I love my job. But, it is not without its challenges. For a significant part of my day I listen and take notes about husbands leaving wives, mothers leaving children, or grandparents trying to clean up the mess. Some families are grappling with financial difficulties, some families are battling addictions. All these families are suffering great heartache and seeking relief. They are pleading with the court to rescue them. I hear their stories and wonder if they are asking themselves, “What if I …” “What if I had obeyed the PFA?” “What if I had waited until I was sober before driving to pick up my kids?” I too have asked “if ” questions. For almost a solid decade during my childhood I posed “if ” questions non-stop for three hours every Sunday. I grew up living in a standard ranch house on a little more than an acre lot and all of it was covered in grass. Ok, not all of it. According to the deed, .08 of that acre is a driveway. I’m not sure if you can call it a family tradition, but every Sunday I mowed that grass. My father was the son of a farmer and it’s in his DNA to grow things. My mother is a city girl and it’s in her DNA to adamantly refuse to let my father grow anything resembling food. Thus, the only outlet my father has is to grow ..., you guessed it…, grass. And by golly, it has to be the best grass in the county: lush, Irish green, and tee off ready. So, every Sunday I sat on my father’s Snapper mower and rode it around as directed. The direction of the cutting is altered weekly: first week horizontal to house, second week vertical to house, third week 45 degrees diagonal to house. And, I asked in a constant mental loop, “What if we lived in the city?” No grass to cut there. “What if my father had been the son of an accountant?” He would have the urge to do math instead. “What if I lived across the street with my friend Jenny?” Her grass was brown, but it seemed so much greener to me. I’m married now and have my own .23 acres of grass. All my old “if ’s” have dried up, but new “if ’s” have cropped up. (No pun intended.) “What if I was a partner at a successful law firm?” I could afford a maid and no more housework! “What if I had taken that job in Colorado?” My father and I could be growing “grass” together. Then again, when I attend those hearings filled with angst and regret, I forget all my “if ’s” and I think about my “did’s”. I did marry a loving husband. I did start a wonderful family. I did say yes to the perfect job. While listening to my judge issue an order from the bench, I think to myself, “The grass is green enough.”
William McLaughlin, Jr., Esq. (1947 – 2016)
J. David Outtrim, Esq. (1958 – 2016)
Joseph N. Ewing Jr., Esq. (1925-2016)
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CCBA Feature
Guit ar Man's Psalm By Justice James Marchiano
T
he light black skin on his forearm had been transformed into a canvas for Jasper John— like swirling tattoos. As Willie Banks, aka Guitar Man, moved his nimble fingers up and down the imaginary strings of an acoustic guitar, mimicking Jimi Hendrix, the rippling tattoo figures sprang to life. His stage was Department 47, Superior Court, Martinez, and his audience eight women and four men. They did not buy tickets for the performance and an agent had not booked Guitar Man for this venue.
from under his shirt and alerted his boss. When the assistant manager grabbed Willie outside, he did not resist—his broken spirit had been through this many times in the past. A Richmond cop arrested and booked Willie for a 488, petty theft that the charging D. A. escalated to a 666 petty theft with a prior, making Willie Lamar Banks eligible for state prison. The booking officer found several crushed Pepsi cans and scribbled music notes in the accused’s pockets, and a pocket bible earmarked co Psalm 23.
when the appellate courts liberalized the rules of search and seizure on a regular basis. Back then, Sawyer was always one step ahead of the opposing deputy D.A. in the pre-trial department. But the pendulum swung the other way in the 1990s and Sawyer’s batting average shrunk from a lofty .650 to less than .100—she counted her victories by hung juries leading to favorable pleas and not by favorable rulings on 1538.5 motions. She reached a point in her career where success in her mind was measured not by cases won or lost
Public Defender Joyce Sawyer was assigned the Banks case—J.D. 1982 from Hastings Law School, LL. M in street law from the Richmond Public Defender’s Office, nicknamed “The Great Suppressor”’ in the early 1980s
but by the satisfaction of helping clients navigate the system with some dignity and she began doubting herself.
Several months before, 49-year-old Willie Banks, trying to finish a drug rehabilitation program, unemployed and unwilling to panhandle, tucked packaged bologna and a bakery roll under his shirt in the Empire Market. The market was a surrogate for the big chains that ignored that part of the tough Iron Triangle of Richmond. A checker saw Willie leaving with a package sticking out
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Willie scarcely paid attention to his lawyer as she piloted him through the Continued on page 15
www.chescobar.org Continued from page 14 shoals of various hearings. His fingers strummed his imaginary guitar, struggling to find the chords to a Hendrix song, and occasionally he perused his crumpled, earmarked pocket Bible, a gift from his drug counselor. Concerned about Willie’s mental state, Sawyer asked for a l368 hearing to determine if Guitar Man understood the proceeding and could assist her in his defense. After short interviews and long reports citing DSM IV-R, the two court-appointed psychologists deemed Willie Lamar Banks competent to stand trial. They noted his preoccupation with depressive, self imposed ideation of guilt and his delusional playing of the imaginary guitar, but he seemed to understand the nature of the proceedings and the consequences if found guilty.
He was preparing to recite his poem when his clerk brought in the Banks case file and Deputy D.A. Gerald Peraldi and the once Great Suppressor. Carlton knew Sawyer from his days of ruling on her pre-trial motions and he also presided over several of her notable cases. Carlton admired Sawyer’s tenacity, creativity, and commitment to her clients. Her youthful exuberance of the 1980s had matured into a seasoned defense attorney, well versed in the evidence code and human nature. But Carlton worried about signs of burn-out in the once-bright comet. Prosecutor Peraldi had only recently graduated from misdemeanor trials in Walnut Creek to felony trials in Martinez. He was still learning the 30 different exceptions to the hearsay rule and how to exercise peremptory challenges.
Judge Raymond Car lton sat in Department 47. He was a veteran trial judge, having presided over high and low profile cases including death penalty trials. Judge Carlton was a student of the classics, especially poetry. His wife gave him an anthology of Emily Dickinson’s poetry, with most of the untitled, numbered poems. Number 883 exalted poets lighting lamps, an inspiration that reverberated in Carlton’s mind. As he waited in his cluttered chambers for court files and the lawyers, he reread #883 one afternoon and then scribbled out his own version:
Banks was caught trying to steal a bicycle from an open, attached garage 12 years earlier. He was not a Latin scholar but still pled nolo contendere to burglary and received probation with a modest county jail sentence. Now the burglary conviction returned to haunt him like the monster that could not be killed in a horror film. The D.A. charged the burglary as a strike, which raised the ante to a possible six-year prison term. Although Bank’s rap sheet echoed with prior drug possession, petty theft charges and the garage burglary, Sawyer told the judge that her client did not want to go to state prison. Somehow Banks thought that if he were caught, he would end up at the Marsh Creek Detention Facility, as in the past, where at least he has a roof over his head, time to play his guitar and read his book of psalms. He did not comprehend state prison, so he clung to his pocket Bible and belief in a merciful God.
Reflection After Reading Dickinson’s #883 Judge’s write but words. Themselves—forgotten under dust. The ideals they enkindle, If truly Just, Ever ignite, as do the sun’s sparks— Yesterday’s glow of justice, Into today’s radiant illumination.
Judge Carlton was a master at plea bargaining, but this time nothing would come together. Like trying to broker a deal between Hamas and Israel, a frustrated Judge Carlton was unable to find a middle ground that would satisfy the warring sides. A jury would determine the outcome of this conflict in a simple two-day trial.
The Chester County Paralegal Association (CCPA) awarded its $1,000.00 2016 Paralegal Studies Scholarship to Angela Orsini, a student at Widener University, at its monthly membership meeting on March 24, 2016. Offered annually since 2009, the scholarship is awarded to an individual who is enrolled or plans to enroll in a paralegal course of studies, and the application process includes a personal essay and letters of recommendation. CCPA was formed in 1992 with the objective and purpose of promoting and maintaining high standards and ethics in the paralegal profession by providing a forum for the exchange of information about the profession, enhancing the role of paralegals in the legal community, and encouraging the continuing education of paralegals. Information on the scholarship, and all other activities of CCPA, can be found at their website, www.chescoparalegal.org.
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CCBA Feature Continued from page 15 Dressed in a dark three-piece suit with a conservative power tie, Peraldi confidently addressed the jury as he described master thief Bank’s crime at the market in his opening statement. Guitar Man quietly strummed a blues melody that lamented a good man gone bad. The attentive jurors listened while the checker, market manager, and arresting officer recounted what happened. They also watched the one-man concert at the defense table. The People rested. The jurors appeared to rest too. The judge recessed for the day.
“Every person who steals, takes, or carries away the personal property of another with the specific intent to permanently deprive the owner of his or her property is guilty of the crime of petty theft.” Sawyer asked the judge to allow her to talk to her client for a few moments in the empty courtroom before he was escorted back to the Detention Facility. Judge Carlton could hear Sawyer arguing with her client about testifying. Banks alternately was crying, praying, and playing his consoling guitar. Carlton concentrated on his Dickinson revision so as not to hear what was said. The next morning, before the jury was brought back, Sawyer addressed the judge as Peraldi listened. Guitar Man wanted to tell the jury in his own words what happened. Sawyer advised him not to testify. Judge Carlton explained the privilege against self-incrimination and how the Jury could not use his right not to testify against him. He also told the defendant that he had the right to testify if he insisted on doing so. Banks told the judge, “My God is a righteous, forgiving God. He is my shepherd and wants me to testify.”
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Carlton rarely found a divine presence in finished with lying—would not plead, and Department 47. But he wanted Sawyer to was inspired to speak the truth. be protected from appellate second-guessing and accusations of ineffective assistance On cross-examination, Willie Banks of counsel. He asked Banks a few more repeated that he took the bologna and questions and then found on the record roll. Peraldi asked no more questions. The that the defendant was freely and know- defense rested. The judge instructed the ingly waiving his Fifth Amendment right jury on the law. Penal Code section 488: and wanted to testify. “Every person who steals, takes, or carries away the personal property of another with Guitar Man carried his guitar to the the specific intent to permanently deprive witness stand and promised to tell the the owner of his or her property is guilty whole truth, “so help me God.” He pulled of the crime of petty theft.” some small scraps of paper from his pockets, unfinished tunes, cacophonous chords, Peraldi’s confident argument lasted 15 remnants of melodies that danced in his minutes. Joyce Sawyer stood up, took off mind. He told the jurors that he was a her glasses, quietly looked into the eyes of street musician, that he played blues and each juror as she reclaimed her idealism rock ‘n roll for his fans at the Richmond and gave not a closing argument, but a BART station and in front of a liquor store. summation—a summation of Guitar His mind could not remember the songs he Man’s life; a summation about the intent wrote. Strange people were always stealing required by the law of theft; and summahis guitar. He held up his instrument and tion about the virtue of justice found in proudly showed the cherry-red surface the defendant’s psalms and in the lyrics and six silver steel strings that none of the of his imaginary music. A Jimi Hendrix jurors could see. In a soft-spoken voice, he high-chord crescendoed in Department 47. told them about his days of lying, drinking, and whoring around until Reverend The jury deliberated two-and-a-half days, Johnson at Dismas House helped him and they were hopelessly deadlocked ten through the Twelve-Step program and to two for acquittal—ten forgiving jurors convinced him to accept a saving God. The believed Guitar Man did not intend to Lord was his shepherd and would lead him steal; he was just forgetful and hungry. to restful waters. After the hung jury was discharged, He testified that he had been tired and Judge Carlton was able to persuade the hungry when he went into the market assistant D.A. not to pursue the case and and had not eaten in several days. In his simply credit the defendant six months pockets were some crushed Pepsi cans that for time spent in custody waiting for trial. he wanted to redeem for change. He took Judge Carlton looked at his reworked poem the bologna and roll and was going outside and read how the ideals of justice become a to the recycler in back of the parking lot radiant illumination. Somewhere, some ray when someone grabbed him and said he must be shining on Willie Lamar Banks, had not paid for the items. He did not strumming his guitar and reading Psalm explain anything to the police—they never 23 to himself—surely goodness and mercy believed him in the past. He put his fate in followed him. the hands of God. He started to weep as he went beyond direct This article was reprinted with answers to Sawyer’s soft permission from the Contra Costa questions, explained he County Bar Association (CCCBA). was sorry, and asked for It was originally published in the December 2008 Contra Costa forgiveness. His jail Lawyer magazine, a publication friends told him to of the CCCBA. You can view the lie, or plead, or say original online here: http://www. cccba.org/attorney/cclawyer/index.php. nothing, but he was
CCBA Feature February 4, 2016 Chester County Bar Association 15 W. Gay Street West Chester, PA 19380 Re:
Lincoln, Gettysburg Address
www.chescobar.org
C H E S T E R C O U N T Y B A R A S S O C I AT I O N
Upcoming Events For more details on all upcoming meetings and events, go to: www.chescobar.org/events
May
May 24 ��������������� Chester County Bar Foundation Golf Classic, White Manor Country Club
June
Jun. 1 ����������������� B.U.L.L. Session; 5 – 6 pm CCBA Lower Level Jun. 10 ��������������� Legal Lemonade Day; CCBA Offices and other Law Offices throughout the borough Jun. 16–17 ��������� Bar Sail, Baltimore Inner Harbor
Dear Fellow Members: I have been thinking lately (for a reason I cannot begin to fathom) about Lincoln’s world- famous Gettysburg Address. I have problems with it. I know he was, inter alia, a great lawyer, nonetheless:
1. The beginning: Why say “Four score and seven years ago…”? I mean, why wouldn’t you just say “87 years ago...”?
2. At the core of the Address is “…we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we cannot hallow this ground.” In other words—“… we are met for a mass consecration of the ground these men died upon, but we just cannot do it.” I mean, if we just cannot do it, what are we here for?
July
Jul. 20 ���������������� YLD Sponsored Happy Hour at Mas Rooftop Jul. 21 ���������������� Federal vs. State Softball Game, West Chester University Softball Field Jul. 28 ���������������� 1L Diverse Law Student Summer Program Closing Reception at the Chester County Bar Association
CCBA MEMBER MOMENT
3. Edward Everett, the Whatever of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, spoke for over two hours. The Gettysburg Address, it only took one deep breath.
4. “The world will little note nor long remember what we say here…” For some reason, it didn’t turn out that way. Not sure why.
Am I the only one that sees this?
Your humble servant,
A. Greenwood
Members meet up at the University of Pennsylvania Basketball Game; Left to Right: Michael Lewis, Graceann DiAndrea, William Wilson
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CCBA Feature
Sp otlight on
By Karyn L. Seace, Esquire ociety doesn’t change through a Constitution. A Constitution is not meant to facilitate change. It is meant to impede change, to make it difficult to change. The Constitution says nothing about it. Create it the way most rights are created in a democratic society, pass a law.” This quote from Scalia came from a 60 Minutes’ interview with Lesley Stahl and I think it says it all. Justice Scalia really believed in a pure interpretation of the Constitution, meaning that it should be viewed through the eyes of our forefathers, who originally ratified it hundreds of years ago.
U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Gregory Scalia (1936-2016) 18 |
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Antonin Gregory Scalia, called Nino by those who knew him well, was an only child and was named after his grandfather. He was born on March 11, 1936, to an Italian immigrant and grew up in New York. He earned a place in Harvard Law School and got out in 1960, through hard work, determination and self-discipline. In fact, he was valedictorian (having done it two other times in his life), graduating magna cum laude. He started his legal career in 1961, and argued only one case before the Supreme Court (which he won). Continued on page 19
www.chescobar.org Continued from page 18 He married Maureen McCarthy on September 10, 1960, after meeting her on a blind date. He said that this was the best decision that he ever made. The couple had nine children (five sons and four daughters) together, a direct result of what he termed “Vatican roulette.” Two of his children are attorneys, who along with their parents and siblings enjoyed weekly quality bonding time by piling in the family car, traveling an hour to attend mass. Justice Scalia and his wife, Maureen, enjoyed more than 55 years of wedded bliss, and they have 36 grandchildren.
not unheard of) meaning to a word which, if given its normal meaning, would produce an absurd and arguably unconstitutional result.” U.S. v. X-Citement Video Inc., 513 U.S. 64 (1994)
President Ronald Reagan and Judge Antonin Scalia confer in the Oval Office, July 7, 1986 (Bill Fitz-Patrick, White House Photographer)
“If to state this case is not to decide it, the law has departed further from the meaning of language than is appropriate for a government that is supposed to rule (and to be restrained) through the written word.” United States v. Rodriguez-Moreno, 526 U.S. 275 (1998)
opposing point of view, he said: “That We attorneys knew him best for his doesn’t show that I’m humble. It just witty dissents (the third most written in shows that I’m not stupid.” Again, this is Supreme Court history), which he handed an ideology by which we can all improve down for the three decades over which he the way that we help clients get justice. sat on the Court. Justice Scalia became the longest-serving justice on the current Court I would be remiss if I did not end by in 2010, when Justice John Paul Stevens listing some quotes from Scalia: retired. Scalia’s colorful pen fell silent with his passing on February 13, 2016. He will “No man should see how laws or always be thought of as being one of the sausages are made.” Community Nutrition most intelligent justices to ever sit on the Institute v. Block, 749 F.2d 50, 51 (D.C. Cir. 1984) Court. He was appointed by President Reagan in 1986, when Chief Justice Warren “Evidently, the governing standard Burger retired. He was 50 years old at the is to be what might be called the untime, and was the first Italian-American to fettered wisdom of a majority of this ever sit on the Supreme Court. He was a Court, revealed to an obedient people devout Catholic who opened up the judicial on a case-by-case basis.” calendar with annual attendance at a Red Morrison v. Olson, 487 U.S. 654 (1988) Mass. But, he never let his deep conviction “Today’s extension of the Edwards influence his decisions on the Court.
“The operation was a success, ‘but the patient died.’ What such a procedure is to medicine, the Court’s opinion in this case is to law.”
He was a self-professed social conservative who got his core values from his father. He was most respected for finding a way to be polite and combative at the same time. When asked about people with differing ideas he said: “I respect the people who have them, but I think those views are just flat out wrong. I attack ideas. I don’t attack people. And some very good people have some very bad ideas.” We should all take that quote to heart and live it. We really can highlight the weaknesses in opposing counsel’s arguments, without pointing out the weakness in opposing counsel.
“The judge who always likes the results he reaches is a bad judge.”
There is another thing that we can learn from the late Justice Scalia. When asked about his humility in agreeing with an
prohibition is the latest stage of prophylaxis built upon prophylaxis, producing a veritable fairyland castle of imagined constitutional restriction upon law enforcement.” Minnick v. Mississippi, 498 U.S. 146 (1990)
“I frankly doubt, moreover, whether the fiercely proud men who adopted our Fourth Amendment would have allowed themselves to be subjected, on mere suspicion of being armed and dangerous, to such indignity.” Minnesota v. Dickerson, 508 U.S. 366, (1993)
“I have been willing, in the case of civil statutes, to acknowledge a doctrine of scrivener’s error that permits a court to give an unusual (though
National Endowment for the Arts v. Finley. (1998)
“People look at rights as if they were muscles—the more you exercise them, the better they get.” Speech at the University of Chicago Law School. (2003)
“God assumed from the beginning that the wise of the world would view Christians as fools…and He has not been disappointed.” Address to the Knights of Columbus Council 969 (2005)
“Have the courage to have your wisdom regarded as stupidity.” (2005) Address to the Knights of Columbus Council 969 in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Speech at Southern Methodist University
“In a big family the first child is kind of like the first pancake. If it’s not perfect, that’s OK. There are a lot more coming along.” Unknown Karyn L. Seace, of Nescio & Seace, LLP, limits her practice to elder law, Medicaid, Medicare, tax law, special needs, estate planning, and estate administration, with an office at 113 East Evans Street, Suite D-2, West Chester, PA, 19380, 610-436-1676, klseace@nescioseace.com. She is a member of the National Academy of Elder Law Attorneys, and the Pennsylvania Association of Elder Law Attorneys. She is Co-Chair of the Chester County Bar Association’s Elder Law Section.
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Your Bar Foundation A MESSAGE FROM CHESTER COUNTY BAR FOUNDATION PRESIDENT, LISA COMBER HALL, ESQUIRE
Thirty years ago
Lawyers from the Chester County Bar Association, recognizing the need to strengthen ties between the residents of Chester County and the legal community, established the
Chester County Bar Foundation. To help grow the Foundation’s endowment fund, certain Bar Association lawyers individually committed $1,500 to the Foundation. Their contributions enabled the Foundation to support numerous programs and organizations that help Chester County citizens understand, gain access to and benefit from our legal system. These distinguished lawyers are designated as Bar Foundation
Fellows.
The Foundation has over 150 lawyers who are recognized as Fellows. A NEW level of fellowship has recently been established for current Foundation Fellows who make an additional pledge of $1,000 (payable in budget friendly installments). These Foundation Fellows are known as
Key Fellows.
In addition to feeling good about helping those in need or less fortunate, the adjoining page provides a list of benefits of becoming a Bar Foundation Fellow and Bar Foundation Key Fellow. On behalf of the Foundation Board of Directors, thank you for your contributions to our Fellow Program. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. - Winston Churchill
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www.chescobar.org BOARD MEMBERS
Lisa Comber Hall, Esq. PRESIDENT
Brian L. Nagle, Esq. VICE PRESIDENT
Stephen J. McGann TREASURER
Terri Smith SECRETARY
DIRECTORS Mark Blank Jr., Esq.
Samuel W. Cortes, Esq.
M. Gordon Daniels, Esq. Nancy Glidden, Esq. Shelly Lawson
Jeannie McGinn Glen Reyburn
Christopher L. Turner, Esq. Catherine Voit, Esq.
William T. Wilson, Esq.
Christine Zaccarelli, Esq.
IMMEDIATE PAST PRESIDENT Donald F. Kohler, Jr., Esq.
INDIVIDUAL FELLOWS & YEAR PLEDGED
Abrahamsen, , Thomas 2005 Adams, Robert 1997 Allen, Mary-Ellen 2010 Ansley, Kevin 2008 Ashton, Mark 2000 Baer, Stephen 2005 Bailey, Bridget 2005 Bellinghieri, Joseph 2005 Bishay, Rami 2014 Blank, Jr., Mark 2001 Bortner, Hon. David 2006 Brendza, Robert 2002 Brien, Ronald 2000 Brion, Joseph 2005 Brogan, Dennis 2007 Brown, O. Hampton 1999 Brown, Richard 2008 Buckley, C. Barry 1993 Carroll, Joseph 2010 Casenta, Nicholas 2008 Chotkowski, Alexander 2010 Ciccarelli, Lee 2014 Cody, Hon. Jacqueline C. 2007 Cody, Paul 2014 Connors, Margaret 2005 Cortes, Samuel 2015 Cox, Kimberly 2000 Daniels, Gordon 2015 Delduco, A. Alfred 2002 DeLong, Robert 2014 Deviney, Stephanie 2009 DiDonato, Harry 2004 DiGiorgio, Joseph 2003 Dougherty, Joseph 2005 Evans, Eugene 2000 Featherman, John 1992 Fetter, J. Keath 2001 First, Penny 2005 Fischer, Jay 2007 Foley, Edward 2015 Frank, Joel 2004 Freeman, James 2005 Frees, David 2005 Gallagher, William 1992 Gentry, W. Richard 1993 Gill, Michael 2010 Glidden, Nancy 2014 Goldberg, Lawrence 1999 Gollatz, Alfred 1992 Goncharoff, Jamie 2003 Greenwood, Allan 1997 Hall, Hon. John 1999 Hall, Lisa 2009 Halsted, John 2001 Haltrecht, Carol 2002 Hannum, Hon. John B. 1994 Hannum, Richard 2003 Hannum, John 2007 Hart, Peter 2002 Hayes, J. Stoddard 1998 Holleran, Kevin 1995 Howard, Elizabeth 2008 Huggins, Roger 2014 Huston, Charles 1991 Jarvis, Alan 2001 Joyner, J. 2014 Knox, Terry 2002 Kohler, Donald 2008
- Key Fellow
Kupperman, Louis Lamb, Madeline Laverty, Bruce Laynas, Marta Lerch, Ashley Lewis, Jeffrey Lieberman, Marc Lieberman, Stanley Lindros, John Lipow, Richard Louis, Michael Lynn, Donald Maisano, Hon. Daniel Malloy-Good, Julia Marlowe, James Massey, Albert Mattes, Heather Mayerson, Hy McAndrew, Thomas McCarthy, Justin McErlane, James McGuire, Stephen McKenna, John McKenna, Patrick Morris, Anthony Morton, Kim Muth, Dawson Myers, David Nagle, Hon. Ronald Nagle, Brian Nelson, Lance Novak, Alan O’Donnell, Lawrence Olin, Allen O’Meara, Anita Ott, Hon. Paula Petersen, John Pettine, Andrea Pine, Norman Plankinton, Mary Platt, Hon. Katherine Pompo, Vincent Rabin, Barry Ramsay, Thomas Rau, Andrew Rayne, Timothy Riley, Thomas Riley, Hon. Howard Riper, Joseph Rossi, Mary Ann Rovito, Alita Royer, Allison Ruggiero, James Saling, John Sanchez, Hon. Juan Schauer, Randall Schindler, Thomas Schneider, Duke Scott, W. Patrick Sebastian, Randy Sebastian, Winifred Segal, Mark Sheehan, Ellen Shields, Jane Siana, Stephen Smith, Hon. Charles Sommer, Jeffrey Srinivasan, Elizabeth
2010 1994 2005 2009 2010 1991 2008 2010 2005 2002 2003 2006 2004 2007 2002 1991 2008 2001 2002 1998 2009 1993 2000 2014 1993 2008 2005 1995 1993 2008 2005 2015 2000 1994 2014 2010 2015 2008 1999 2009 2014 2003 2015 2014 2004 2005 1996 1997 2002 1992 2009 2015 2009 2003 2005 2010 2007 2009 2009 2001 2002 2007 2003 2001 2001 2006 2013 2002
Stanzione, John Steger, Eugene Streitel, Hon. Phyllis Styer, Craig Sugarman, Steven Sweeney, Edward Swope, Charles E. Talierco, John Tauffen, Lester Temple, L. Peter Teti, Louis Teti, John Trajtenberg, Eric Tunnell, Hon. Mark Unruh, Ross Valocchi, Jeffrey Vaughn, Joseph Velez, Ubel Verwey, Anthony Voit, Catherine Walters, Dean Weber, William Werner, Kenneth Wilson, Cathy Wilson, Thomas Wilson, William Wollman, John Wusinich, III, Joseph Wyche-Abele, Laurie Zumbano, George
2008 2005 2006 2009 2000 2016 1995 2014 1992 1995 1992 1993 2010 2011 2005 2005 2008 2009 2014 2008 2010 2015 1998 2000 2002 2008 1994 1999 2008 2001
CORPORATE FELLOWS PNC Investments Advocacy Academy Faculty BB& T BANK EDiS Construction Co. Land Services USA Manito Title Ins. Co. Terri Smith Insurance Agency, LLC USI Affinity
Corporate Foundation Fellowship Program: COMMITMENT: Foundation Corporate Fellow – $4,000 (payment plan available)
BENEFITS OF CORPORATE FELLOWSHIP: Recognition at all CCBF events including large print board and half page listing in program Listing on Bar Foundation Fellow plaque at bar association building Listing on CCBF website Full page listing in annual recognition in New Matter (distribution to 1,000+ attorney members and 5,000+ businesses) Listing in bar association Membership Directory (>1200 copies distributed annually) First opportunity as primary sponsor for all CCBF events
Foundation & Key Fellow Program: COMMITMENT: Foundation Fellow - $1,500 (payment plan available) Foundation Fellow may be attorney, judge, non-attorney Key Fellow - $1,000 (payment plan available) Must be current Foundation Fellow Attorneys and judges only
BENEFITS OF KEY FELLOWSHIP:
(Key Fellows have special insignia next to name for all):
Recognition in CCBF events programs Special designation on CCBF Fellow glass wall at bar association building Listing on CCBF website Full page annual recognition in New Matter Distributed to approx. 1,000 attorney members and 5,000+ businesses Designation in Chester County Bar Association Membership Directory >1200 copies distributed annually Invitation to annual Foundation Appreciation Reception To become a CCBF Fellow or a CCBF Corporate Fellow, go to: https://chescobar.site-ym.com/donations/donate.asp?id=6907 New Matter
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CCBA Feature
WITH ALL THIS TECHNOLOGY, Why Are Face-to-Face Encounters
So Important?
Showing up is
80%
of the battle.
By Elizabeth Mell
othing can take the place of face-to-face meetings. It’s The simple truth is being in another person’s presence puts true that “staying connected” is crucial and most easily loyalty into play. Energy is carried with physical presence. Being done through online communications. The next method is in the same room with your counterpart provides opportunity to the telephone. Those who know how to use it, and use voice mail make impressions on the four other senses (aside from hearing). effectively, get much more done. Picking up the phone is more Standing in plain sight helps your colleague or prospect more meaningful than sending an email. We’ve all done business with clearly understand what you are trying to convey. You have a people who send emails or replies simply to log the “response” on far better chance to persuade if you can tap into all of their the score card. We all know the “Hi, it’s me. I have a quick ques- five senses. tion for you. Can you give me a call when you get a chance?” If the question is so quick, why didn’t you just state it? I could already have the answer for you by now. Continued on page 23
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www.chescobar.org Continued from page 22 In this age, you will distinguish yourself by simply showing up when so few people make the effort. If you do show up, do it on time, don’t bury your face in your phone, and don’t leave early. Such behavior sends out cues that whoever is emailing you is more important than the person in front of you, or you’d rather be somewhere else—which may be true—but there is no reason to sabotage the effort you just made to get into the room. Be present in the moment. Reliance on email diminishes the engagement of each person in the group. Studies on the subject of email have been conducted for years. “…collaborative projects suffer when workers doubt colleagues will do their share, creating a sense of injustice that leads them to shirk their own responsibilities,” says University of Illinois Professor Gregory Northcraft. In the article summarizing his 2010 research, “Relying Too Much on Email is Bad for Business” in The News Bureau, Professor Northcraft discusses how “…high-tech communication strips away the personal interaction needed to breed trust, a key ingredient in getting workers to pull together and carry their share of the load.” He recommends that businesses take steps to balance communications modes and trust building amongst employees so that no one feels they can avoid ownership for the mission. The ongoing research and news, embraced by LinkedIn, Pulse, Forbes. com and TIME, all point in the same direction. But we didn’t need a business leadership expert to tell us that email ping-pong can be annoying and can be considered lazy. And let’s face it, with or without Candy Crush, no one is listening on conference calls. It’s truer today more than ever that genuine interest comes from personal encounters—especially for professionals in client service trying to maintain relationships and cultivate prospects. Professor Northcraft says, “Physical contact has a half life.” Translated into client relationships, which means if you haven’t seen your best referral source in six months, it behooves you to pick up the phone today and set up lunch. Companies may be creating a culture that is actually bad for their business, but that doesn’t mean you have to engage in behaviors that are bad for your career. Marketing yourself needs to be part of your daily routine. All of the components of marketing and business development work together. Limiting yourself to one-sided activities, while ignoring people, won’t work. Trust me, meeting with contacts, going to lunches and attending receptions moves your career way farther, way faster. You don’t even have to call it
“networking” anymore. If you would rather have a root canal than socialize the old fashioned way, you should use a good coach or mentor. Formal coaching programs are available and informal mentors can be found. Accidental mentors are all around you. Seek one out. Personal encounters mean interaction, interaction leads to connection, and connection means business.
1.
Be honest with your coach or mentor about your apprehension.
2.
Seek out a colleague in the office who can join you in a buddy system approach.
3.
Rehearsing helps and having a partner to run your lines makes a world of difference. Showing up is 80% of the battle.
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Save Our Environment
RTFA & ACRE Trump Nuisance Claims– Land Application of Biosolids Approved by PA High Court as Normal Farming Operation By John R. Embick, Esquire, Chair, Environmental Law Section
I
n a decision handed down on December 21, 2015, and authored by Former Justice Eakin (shortly before his suspension for alleged conduct unbecoming of a judge), the Pa Supreme Court held that several private nuisance actions (as well as negligence and trespass claims) were defeated by the provisions of the Right to Farm Act (“RTFA”), 3 P.S. §§ 951-957.
In Gilbert, et al v. Synagro Central LLC, et al (“Gilbert”), Docket No. 121 MAP 2014, the Pa High Court was asked to decide whether certain biosolids land application activity constitute “normal agricultural operations,” and if so, qualify for the protection afforded by section 954(a) of the RTFA (biosolids generally are a form of processed and treated sewage treatment sludges, and frequently (but not always) can contain a number of contaminants, including heavy metals and pathogens).
done on a site-specific basis, and the program was largely based on research conducted at various universities, as well as research conducted by Penn State scientists concerning mine reclamation. In 1993, the US EPA established formal standards for the use of sewage sludge, the former which were codified in 40 CFR Part 503.3. The rulemaking exercise included a risk assessment which attempted to assess the maximum concentrations of several pollutants that could be present in land-applied sewage sludge and remain protective of a highly exposed person, animal, or plant. The current and amended Pennsylvania regulations, now located at 25 Pa. Code Chapter 271, largely rely on the EPA standards to control the land application of treated sewage sludge.
PaDEP considers the use or recycling of biosolids to be a “normal farming operation” under the provisions of the Pa. Solid In the Gilbert case, Synagro had contracted with a York County Waste Management Act, 35 P.S. § 6018.101 et seq., § 6018.103. farm owner to apply biosolids to agricultural fields for fertilization purposes. The biosolids caused problems for residential neighSection § 954(a) of the RTFA, 3 P.S. §§ 954(a) (entitled bors, including malodors and run-off. The land application of “Limitations on public nuisances”), precludes nuisance actions biosolids is regulated by Pa DEP (see 25 Pa Code Chapter 271 against farming operations under certain circumstances, and for the PaDEP regulations which apply to the land application states in relevant part: of biosolids). The land application operation had been cited for violations of the land application standards in the past, but never No nuisance action shall be brought against an agricultural operation which has lawfully been in for the creation of malodors. The application of biosolids began operation for one year or more prior to the date at the farm in 2006, and replaced a more traditional manure of bringing such action, where the conditions or spreading operation. The private actions against the farm owner circumstances complained of as constituting the and Synagro were initiated in 2008. The farm had a conservation plan which called for the implementation of a “no-till” system of agriculture, which promotes enhanced erosion and sedimentation control, but also reduced the odor-minimization technique of incorporating biosolids into the soil by discing or plowing. Land application of sewage sludge in Pennsylvania was first regulated in 1977 under 25 Pa. Code Chapter 75. Regulation was
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basis for the nuisance action have existed substantially unchanged since the established date of operation and are normal agricultural operations[.]
The RTFA defines “normal agricultural operation” as follows: The activities, practices, equipment and procedures that farmers adopt, use or engage in the
Continued on page 25
www.chescobar.org Continued from page 24 production and preparation for market of poultry, livestock and their products and in the production, harvesting and preparation for market or use of agricultural, agronomic, horticultural, silvicultural and aquacultural crops and commodities and is: (1) not less than ten contiguous acres in area; or (2) less than ten contiguous acres in area but has an anticipated yearly gross income of at least $10,000. The term includes new activities, practices, equipment and procedures consistent with technological development within the agricultural industry. Use of equipment shall include machinery designed and used for agricultural operations, including, but not limited to, crop dryers, feed grinders, saw mills, hammer mills, refrigeration equipment, bins and related equipment used to store or prepare crops for marketing and those items of agricultural equipment and machinery defined by the act of December 12, 1994 (P.L. 944, No. 134), known as the Farm Safety and Occupational Health Act. Custom work shall be considered a normal farming practice.
As a related matter, note that the Agricultural, Communities and Rural Environment Act (ACRE, or Act 38), 3 Pa.C.S. § 311-318, adopts the RTFA’s definition of “normal agricultural operation” and prohibits municipalities from adopting ordinances that prohibit or limit “normal agricultural operations.” ACRE also directs the Attorney General to review local ordinances upon the request of any owner or operator of a “normal agricultural operation” to determine whether the ordinance supports the RTFA’s policy of not impeding “normal agricultural operations.” In Gilbert, the Pa High Court granted review to determine whether the Superior Court incorrectly interpreted the Pennsylvania [RTFA] by requiring a jury trial to determine that the land application of biosolids falls within the Act’s definition of a “normal agricultural operation.” Accordingly, the narrow issue presented by Gilbert involves the question of who appropriately determines what is a “normal agricultural operation”: is it a jury or is it a court? A subsidiary, but important, issue that the Court also needed to resolve is whether the limitation on nuisance actions contained in RTFA section 954(s) was a statute of repose, or a statute of limitations. The court referred to an earlier case in which it discussed the difference between a statute of repose and a statute of limitations: A statute of repose limits the time within which an action may be brought and is not related to the accrual of any cause of action; the injury need not have occurred, much less have been discovered. Unlike
an ordinary statute of limitations which begins running upon accrual of the claim, the period contained in a statute of repose begins when a specific event occurs, regardless of whether a cause of action has accrued or whether any injury has resulted.
Slip Op. at 23, quoting from Abrams v. Pneumo Abex Corp., 981 A.2d 198 (Pa. 2009) Justice Eakin’s opinion holds that RTFA section 954(a) (despite its title!) is a statute of repose, which extinguishes a cause of action and divests a court of jurisdiction. Further, the interpretation and determination of the term “normal agricultural operation” is a question of law, and is reserved for a court to decide. Justice Eakin also holds that land application of biosolids is “normal agricultural operation”: As previously noted, the legislative policy underlying the RTFA is plainly expressed in § 951: to protect Pennsylvania’s agricultural resources by limiting the circumstances under which farms may be sued for nuisance. This purpose cannot be achieved unless the definition of “normal agricultural operation” is read expansively, taking into account new developments in the farming industry. The fact that biosolids use is not specifically mentioned in the RTFA’s definition is not determinative, as the definition is broadly drafted, aimed at protecting farms now and in the future; enumerating specific activities would render the definition outdated as farming technology progresses. The legislative goal is to protect and encourage farming innovation, as evidenced by amendment of the definition of “normal agricultural operation” in 1998. See Act of May 15, 1998, P.L. 441, No. 58, § 1. Prior to 1998, the RTFA offered protection to farming practices that were “customary and generally accepted.” Act of June 12, 1996, P.L. 336, No. 52, § 1. As appellants note, “[t] he amendment deleted this limiting language and increased the scope of protected activities to ‘include[ ] new activities, practices, equipment and procedures consistent with technological development within the agricultural industry[,]’” Appellants’ Brief, at 36 (quoting Act of May 15, 1998, P.L. 441, No. 58, § 1), thus encompassing as many farming methods as possible, including those that do not yet exist. Accordingly, interpreting “normal agricultural operation” to include technological advancement in fertilizing methods, such as the use of biosolids, is consonant with the RTFA’s purpose.
Slip Op. at 33. They say Pennsylvania is an agricultural state. The Gilbert decision reaffirms that dominance. New Matter
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CCBA Feature
By Karen A. Simmons, President/CEO, Chester County Community Foundation
Philanthropic Conversations Between Clients & Advisors
t the Community Foundation, conversations with clients about their we are privileged to meet with charitable activities and intentions. estate planners and their charitable clients throughout Chester County. Clients Seek Values-Based Conversations About Philanthropy W hen the U.S. Trust Study of the “Meaningful conversations” is the starting Philanthropic Conversation was recently point. Attorneys who have the most signifreleased, we were particularly interested to icant philanthropy conversations with their compare our understanding of the estate clients tend to initiate the discussions from planner/client philanthropy conversation a reflection/relational viewpoint, rather with the U.S. Trust findings. The statistical than a technical/transactional stance. information cited in this article is from the Lou Teti, Esq., of MacElree Harvey is U.S. Trust data. clear: “Whenever possible, I start with values-based conversations. We discuss what the client cares about on a deeply Estate planners generally agree that personal level…their goals, their values, philanthropy is a good thing. Yet it can be their passions. Getting to the core values a challenge for some to initiate meaningful excites people and resonates with them.
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This clarifies the details of the technical side of planning.” Lou’s passionate approach is supported by research. The U.S. Trust philanthropy study found that less than half of HNW individuals (41%) are fully satisfied with the philanthropic conversations they have with their advisors. One reason may be that twice as many advisors (71%) say that they raise the philanthropic discussion from a technical perspective—focusing on tax considerations or wealth structuring, for example—compared to those who do so beginning with their clients’ philanthropic goals or passions (35%). Continued on page 27
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April 15, 2016
NOTICE REGARDING CUSTODY CONCILIATION CONFERENCES Honorable Katherine B. L. Platt
Family Court Administrative Judge
Continued from page 26 “Philanthropic conversations unfortunately too often fall short,” says Anthony Morris, Esq., of Buckley Brion McGuire & Morris. “Of course clients rely on the technical expertise of their advisors. Even more so in the charitable legacy area, clients value deeply meaningful, somewhat personal conversations.” Why People Give & Why They Don’t Advisors and clients agree on the Top Three motivations for charitable giving: 1. Being passionate about a cause, 2. Having a strong desire to give back, and 3. Having a positive impact on society and the world.
But after that, the reasons advisors and clients cite for why clients don’t give (or hesitate to give) to charity differ starkly.
Advisors mistakenly believe clients shy away from giving because they: Won’t have enough money to leave to their heirs (41%) Won’t have enough money for themselves (34%) Don’t consider themselves wealthy enough to give (22%)
However, clients cite these concerns: Their gift won’t be used wisely by nonprofits (30%) Lack of knowledge of or connection to a charity (24%) Fear of increased donation requests from others (17%)
Giving Vehicles: Now & Later Notes Joanne Peskoff-Bear, Esq., “Philanthropy is not something that happens at ‘the end’ with ‘what’s left.’ It’s a way of living one’s core values on a daily basis. People want to see good things done with their money. And they want to involve their families and friends to benefit the community. They want to see the results of their passions now, plus provide for the causes later.”
Family Court has adopted a new policy to implement the orders required under C.C.R.C.P. 1915.11.A(b) for parties to bring children ages 10 and over to conciliation conferences. The party requesting an order to allow their child to be brought to conciliation must provide a statement as to why the child’s appearance is necessary. This statement should be attached to the form order for appearance and submitted to Family Court well in advance of the conciliation conference, as the moving party must give ten days’ notice to the other side of the order allowing the child’s appearance. The request will be submitted to the Conciliator assigned to the case for approval/disapproval based on the reasons given only. In addition, as in the past, Family Court will deny any requests which do not comply with the local rule. We are hopeful that this policy will allow Family Court to better serve the needs of the children who are at issue in these custody disputes. It should also help ensure that all cases listed on a particular day will be heard in a timely fashion.
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CCBA Feature Continued from page 27 Adds Stacey Willits McConnell, Esq., of Lamb McErlane, “The majority of wealthy donors give strategically. They don’t merely respond to requests for donations; they have a plan for their giving.” This strategic focus is supported when clients use structured giving vehicles—such as commercial and community foundation donor-advised funds, private/family foundations and charitable trusts—to help achieve their philanthropic goals. “For many of my clients, it makes sense to put the community foundation on the table as an option for their consideration,” notes L. Peter Temple, Esq., of Larmore Scarlett. “With a donor advised fund at a community foundation, clients can give to as many charities as they want, now and later. And the community foundation takes on due diligence requirements for perpetuity. So there is always a watchful eye on the grantmaking.” Valuable Expertise Advisors interested in becoming more proficient at rendering philanthropic advice can turn to their local community foundations for expertise.
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Because they focus on family philanthropy + Good for Clients and community issues, community founda- + Good for Business tions provide assistance in the areas advisors + Good for Community say they would like to learn more about: Discussing philanthropy with clients is a win + win + win. It’s good for clients, Developing a strategic it’s good for the advisors, and it’s good for giving plan (55%) the community. Understanding more about giving vehicles (50%) Integrating a client’s philanthropic values and goals into an overarching plan (46%) Engaging the next generation in giving (45%)
Many advisors find that discussing philanthropy is an excellent way to deepen relationships by connecting with clients on something truly meaningful to them. As Kevin Holleran, Esq., of Gawthrop Greenwood notes sagely, “In the end, it’s all about relationships throughout our journey, and it’s about leaving our world a better place.”
Annual
President’s Dinner Honoring Craig A. Styer, Esquire
The Blank Page
Harper Lee (1926-2016) By Mark Blank, Jr., Esquire
N
elle Harper Lee, better known by her pen-name, Harper Lee, passed away February 19th. She was a novelist, best known for To Kill A Mockingbird, published in 1961. It won the 1961 Pulitzer Prize and was the basis of the film of the same name released in 1962.
Scout: Same age as I am now? Jem: Yes. Scout: Was Mom pretty? Jem:
Harper Lee was born and raised in Yes. Monroeville, Alabama. One of the characters in To Kill A Mockingbird, Dill, was (Along comes Judge Taylor, holding his hat in his hand). depicted from one of Harper Lee’s closest friends, Truman Capote. The Judge: To Kill A Mockingbird was about a small town in the south in the 1930s, where poverty and racism prevailed. An African American man was falsely accused of raping a young white woman. Atticus Finch is the lawyer appointed to represent the man in the criminal case. My favorite line: “Our Courts are the great levelers of the truth.” (Atticus, closing argument at the trial). My favorite scene: Atticus is sitting on the front porch of his house. Both of his children, Jem and Scout, have been put to bed. Atticus, looking melancholy, hears them talk: Scout: Jem, how old was I when Mama died? Jem: Two. Scout: How old were you? Jem: Six.
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Good evening, Atticus.
Atticus: Good evening, Judge..... Rather warm this evening. The Judge: Yes, indeed it is.
(Fanning his face with his hat).
Atticus: How’s Mrs. Taylor? The Judge: Oh fine, fine indeed. [Pause.] Atticus, you heard about Tom Robinson? Atticus: Yes, sir. The Judge: Grand Jury’s going to get around to charging him tomorrow. I was, uh, thinking of appointing you to take his case. Now, I realize that you’ve been very busy with your practice these days, and your children require a great deal of your time? [Pause; as he gazes anxiously at Atticus.]
Atticus: Yes, sir. [Pause.] I’ll take the case.
The Judge: I’ll send a boy around tomorrow when his hearing comes up. Atticus: Yes, sir. The Judge: Well, I’ll see you tomorrow, Atticus. Atticus: Yes, sir. (Judge Taylor rises and proceeds to exit, holding his hat in his hand).
The Judge: And thank you. Atticus: Yes, sir. (A freight train whistle sounds off in the distance).
The novel and the film have had a great influence on lawyers and the legal profession, at least I think so. Any lawyer who has read the novel and/or seen the movie would undoubtedly agree with me. The movie is very similar to the novel, however, I suggest that, if you have not already done so, you should read the book and see the movie.
Dictum for Dummies
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to the
By Karyn L. Seace, Esquire
n this issue, I will look at the expression “dressed to the nines.” This expression dates back to 1719. It is used figuratively too, to mean “perfectly.” Some theorize that this expression originally came from using nine yards of fabric to make a dress or suit. (For those of you who don’t sew, this is an obscene amount of material, with four to five yards being enough to make any three piece suit.) Back in the eighteenth century, the more material you had in your clothes, the higher your status was in society. Another possibility comes from the women of that time period often wearing opera length gloves as a regular part of their evening wear. Due to the three-quarter arm length, these gloves contained an average of nine buttons from wrist to just above the elbow. Etiquette of that era considered gloves to be obligatory accessories for both men and women. This is especially true of the upper classes. In fact, you would have been shocked to see a woman in public, no matter the occasion, who was not wearing gloves of some sort. Some say that this expression is connected with the price a patron had to pay for the theater tickets that were closest to the stage. They were nine pence, juxtaposed to the ones farthest away, which were one pence. It is certainly true that if you could afford to sit in the expensive seats, you would also have the finest clothes. Yet another theory is that the saying comes from an Old English expression “dressed to then eyne,” which meant you were a fashion plate from your feet right up to your eyes (“to then eyne”). This one seems to have the most evidence. So next time you hear the expression dressed to the nines, you’ll know from where it came.
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CCBA Feature
APPELLATE ARGUMENT ANALYSIS: The Supreme Court hears Molina-Martinez v. US By Shannon K. McDonald, Esquire
C
oming from the Fifth Circuit, an interesting habeas corpus oral argument was heard in January, looking at an error in sentencing. The issue in the Petition was whether when a federal court makes an error in sentencing, assigning the wrong guideline range to a defendant, the appellate court can presume that the error affected the defendant’s substantial rights.
This issue is interesting to me, because it seems we are coming to a point where the guidelines are going to be the deciding factor in sentencing, given the toppling of the mandatory minimum sentencing going on in the states and the federal courts. For more on the demise of mandatory minimums check out our own Judge Bortner’s Commonwealth v. Hopkins, or at the Supreme Court Johnson v. U.S and Montgomery v. Lousiana; and coming soon from the Supreme Court, Welch v. U.S. In a sentencing world where mandatory minimums for everything from possession of drugs in a school zone, to prior “violent convictions,” to life imprisonment for juveniles are null, then defense counsel must be extra vigilant to ensure correct guidelines are used at sentencing.
Molina-Martinez asserts that the guideline range is central to the judge’s considerations at sentencing, and that therefore an erroneously high range will naturally skew the defendant’s sentence. The Justices did not seem to disagree with the basic premises, but they did seem reluctant to allow a presumption of prejudice for every habeas corpus petitioner sentenced with the incorrect guidelines. Justice Stephen Breyer, however, did concede that he felt it was common sense to admit that where erroneously high guidelines are used, it would have an effect on the defendant’s sentence. Chief Justice John Roberts also seemed convinced that a wrongly calculated guideline range would generally affect how a sentencing judge selects what sentence to impose. During oral argument, Justice Roberts said because “district judges need not, [when] the sentence is within the Guidelines,…say anything at all,” it necessarily will be “very difficult for the defendant to go back [and find additional evidence of the impact of ] a plain error in what the original calculation was.”
In the end, because nearly all the Justices expressed reservations about adopting a formal doctrine that might water down the Molina-Martinez is an example of the importance of vigi- traditionally tough standards of plain-error review in a habeas lance in the use of guidelines. Saul Molina-Martinez petitioned corpus petition, Molina-Martinez’s counsel seems likely to lose the Supreme Court to allow a presumption of prejudice from his doctrinal battle to convince the Court to adopt a prejudice the sentencing, which was within the wrong guideline range. presumption in this setting. But because many Justices also exMolina-Martinez, a Mexican citizen with a long criminal record, pressed support for the idea that erroneous guideline calculations was charged with and pleaded guilty to being unlawfully in the will often be consequential, Molina-Martinez’s counsel may still United States after having been deported for an aggravated felony. win by securing a reversal of his client’s sentencing based on the A Presentence Report (PSR) calculated his advisory sentencing particular case facts. The ultimate outcome of this case looks like it guidelines range to be 77 to 96 months of imprisonment. At will be a question of whether to make a fact specific determination sentencing, the district court adopted the PSR’s calculations; the and allow Molina to win this time, or to discuss in broad terms court thereafter heard the prosecution advocate for “a high end how plain error review should be handled in the commonly seen sentence of 96 months” while Molina-Martinez’s counsel argued context of federal sentencing appeals. Of course, I should say this for a 77-month (bottom-of-the-guideline-range) prison term. wasn’t much of a different analysis when Justice Scalia was alive The district court sentenced Molina-Martinez to 77 months of given his general propensity for ruling for criminal defendants imprisonment. On appeal though, Molina-Martinez and the in situations like this, but certainly his input in the final opinion government both agree that the proper guideline Martinez should may have lead to it being a more broad strokes ruling. have faced was actually 70-87 months.
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Plaques displayed in Courtroom One listing the 60 Chester County Common Pleas judges since 1791, with their dates of service. The newest judge who began in January 2016, Judge Allison Bell Royer, will be listed on the 4th panel.
Larry Goldberg receives the 2015 Service Award from CCBA President, William Wilson
Retired Marine Major Jamie Goncharoff has been coordinating the Bar Association’s participation in the U.S. Marine Corps Toys for Tots Program since its inception 25 years ago. This past holiday season, smiles were again brought to the faces of many less fortunate Chester County children, thanks to the continuous generosity of our members. In celebration of this silver anniversary, Jamie presented a Toys for Tots Award to President Bill Wilson at the Spring Bench Bar.
Plaques showing the surviving past and present President Judges, shown in the following order: Judges Ott, Wood, Cody, Gavin, Riley and MacElree.
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Working Together for Justice
In Our Community
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Sometimes it’s just one missed paycheck, one child care payment, or one unexpected trip to the hospital that turns financial stability into financial crisis. In Chester County, LASP is part of a team that provides one-step help for people teetering on the edge of financial ruin. LASP works with the PA CareerLink® and the United Way Financial Stability Center to provide supportive and educational services to help people chart a way toward stability and independence. LASP’s services include on-site legal guidance and workshops. “We’ve had high traffic at the Financial Stability Center right from the start,” says Christine Zaccarelli, Esq., LASP Pro Bono Director. “It’s been great to have everyone under one roof. It’s a holistic approach to helping clients get their lives back on track.” “The people who make out the best when we’re collaborating and partnering are the customers,” says Terry Kenworthy, Vice President, Community Investment, United Way of Chester County. “The customers get what they need, and I think that’s critically important. None of us can do this alone.”
Terry Kenworthy, VP Community Investment, United Way of Chester County (left), and Christine Zaccarelli, Esq., LASP Pro Bono Director, work together to bring financial and legal services to Chester County residents.
“We provide better service to those that we serve when we are working together.” – Terry Kenworthy, Vice President, Community Investment, United Way of Chester County
Serving Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties
Ten years ago Lisa Marie Williams was charged with a minor criminal offense. For a decade, the impact of her criminal record lingered. As a new grandmother who had hopes of returning to school and finding a good job, Ms. Williams resolved that “it was time for me to get that off my record.” In April 2015, a determined Ms. Williams came to Darby, PA for an expungement clinic organized by LASP, the office of State Senator Anthony Williams (no relation), and the Widener University Delaware Law School. A clean slate is what Lisa Marie Williams wanted, but the process would have been difficult without the expungement clinic and the legal guidance she found there. Through the cooperation, dedication, and skill of LASP and its partners, expungement petitions were started that day for Ms. Williams and 53 other clients. With her record cleared, Lisa Marie Williams can embark on the next chapter — returning to school and finding a good job.
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“The clinic wouldn’t have happened if we didn’t work together with LASP. This is a very valuable partnership.” – El Shafiyq Asad Ali, Director of Constituent Services State Representative Joanna McClinton
“My LASP attorney Erica Briant was heaven sent. She helped me every step of the way,” Ms. Williams says. “LASP gave me a sense of hope when I felt like I didn’t have a sense of hope.”
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Working Together for Justice support from the Bar Foundation allow our residents to have options when there is a need to seek services. The Crime Victims’ Center of Chester County is a comprehensive victim services agency, serving sexual assault/abuse victims and other crimes for the past 42 years. We would like to be able to provide everything in-house for a victim, but the reality is Serving Bucks, Chester, Delaware, and Montgomery Counties that there are other agencies that have certain specialized services our victims need. Meeting the unique needs of victims of sexual assault/abuse or other crimes is CVC’s raison d’etre and By Christine Zaccarelli, Esquire, Legal Aid of Southeastern PA that includes welcoming the opportunity to work with other Peggy Gusz, Executive Director CVC of Chester County victim-centered agencies, such as Legal Aid and DVC. While the Dolly Wideman-Scott, Executive Director DVC of Chester County District Attorney’s Office handles the criminal justice aspect of each victim’s needs, our agency refers victims with issues of a civil hat do Legal Aid of Southeastern PA (LASP), The nature, such as PFAs, child support, visitation rights or landlord Crime Victims’ Center of Chester County (CVC) and problems to Legal Aid of Southeastern PA. When the need for the Domestic Violence Center of Chester County shelter or group counseling is evident, CVC can turn to DVC for (DVC) have in common? The first thing that might come to mind a safe place for a victim of other crimes (i.e. simple/aggravated is that they all assist the vulnerable population of Chester County, assault) and her children. There are also times when CVC turns that they provide a valuable service to the Chester County Court to DVC when a PFA is needed for one of our “other crimes” cases. of Common Pleas or that they help to give a voice to Chester With both legal arenas—criminal and civil—accessible, we can County residents that might not otherwise be heard…and you arrange for victims to have a seamless array of legal expertise and would be right. But, the other thing they have in common is assistance if and when needed. Clearly, working with these two that they are all financially supported by the Chester County agencies greatly benefits victims and helps CVC meet their every Bar Foundation and the Chester County Bar Association and need. The Chester County Bar Foundation and Chester County they are partners in providing their services to the residents of Bar Association’s support of these three agencies further ensures Chester County. that the most vulnerable and at-risk individuals of our county receive all the services they need. Legal Aid of Southeastern PA provides free quality legal representation in certain civil matters to the low income and On behalf of all three organizations, we would like to extend our senior residents of Chester, Bucks, Montgomery and Delaware thanks to the Chester County Bar Foundation and the Chester Counties. While we are able to provide extensive representation County Bar Association for their continued support. We look in PFA, custody, support and divorce cases, we do not offer all forward to working with each other for years to come so that the services that our clients need and that is why our partnership together we can serve those less fortunate in our community. with the Domestic Violence Center of Chester and the Chester County Crime Victims’ Center is so important.
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The Domestic Violence Center of Chester County has been serving victims of domestic violence and their dependent children for 40 years, averaging over 3,000 individuals per year. The longtime support from the Chester County Bar Foundation has been highly beneficial to residents struggling with domestic violence and our partnership with Legal Aid of Southeastern PA and The Crime Victims’ Center ensures that Chester County residents are provided with everything they need, even those services that we can’t provide. LASP provides legal representation that our attorneys aren’t able to provide and the CVC can arrange for victims’ compensation and other services not available through the DVC. The high quality of assistance that residents receive and the longtime connection between the organizations and the New Matter
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CCBA Feature
Conference of County Bar Leaders
Left to Right: PBA Officers: Sarah Austin, Sharon Lopez, Bill Pugh, CCBL Chair: Joseph A. Curcillo, III, CCBA President: William T. Wilson, CCBA Executive Director, Wendy Leeper
Left to Right: Francis
O’Rourke & PABE President Wendy C. Leeper, CCBA Executive Director
Lance Nelson, Mary Ellen Allen, Chris Zaccarelli, William Wilson, Patrick McKenna, Sam Cortes attending the PBA Conference of County Bar Leaders.
Left to Right:
“BRING IT ON” CLE Session
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From The Archives ( New Matter — June 1982)
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