Chester County Bar Association New Matter Winter 2013 - 2014

The Official Publication of the Chester County Bar Association • Chester County, PA

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New Matter

winter 2013 - 2014

The history

of the Chester County Bar Association

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content

winter 2013 - 2014

New Matter CCBA Officers Lisa Comber Hall, President Craig Styer, President-Elect Bill Wilson, Vice President Christine Zaccarelli, Treasurer Charles DeTulleo, Editor Committee Rami Bishay Mark Blank, Jr. Keith Boggess Colleen Frens Angela Halse J. Stoddard Hayes Andrew Lehr Shannon McDonald John McKenna Kim Denise Morton Mary Wade Myers Kevin Ryan Alan Vaskas Bill Wilson CCBA Staff Wendy Hoffman, Executive Director Emily Boulanger, Communications Coordinator The Chester County Bar Association’s monthly 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 maybe reproduced electronically or in print without the expressed written permission of the publisher or editor.

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THE HISTORY OF THE CHESTER COUNTY BAR ASSOCIATION

FEATURES Welcome to the New New Matter............. 4 President’s Message...................................5 The History of the Chester County Bar Association................ 6 Attention Musicians and Performers.........................................10 Notary New Law........................................11 Interview with Hon. Thomas A. Pitt, Jr.............................12 Judge Carmody Encourages Professional Civility and Preparation........................................16

WANTED...

Your Ideas!

If you have an idea for an article, or would like to submit content, please contact Emily Boulanger at eboulanger@chescobar.org or (610) 692-1889.

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Legislative Updates

IN EVERY ISSUE The Blank Page..........................................17 YOUR Bar Foundation...............................18 Y L Details...................................................19 Mary’s Country Corner..............................21 Save Our Environment.............................22 Legislative Updates..................................24 New Matters and Other Interesting (Useless) Facts...........27 Tech Tips.....................................................30 Attorneys Who Make a Difference..........32 CCBA Happenings & Events......................35

Editor’s Message

Welcome to the new

New Matter

By Charles T. DeTulleo, Esquire

Greetings to one and all. You have now entered the age of constant change and high-end communication.

For those of you who have stopped reading the digital version of New Matter we did hear your cries. You are now reading the hard copy version of New Matter in its first quarterly publication. Now you can carry the magazine from room to room and touch the pages just to know that what you are reading is actually real.

You can flip around and pick out the articles you want to read and savor each and every black letter. You can scan through the pages and find artwork or photos that catch your eye and, hopefully, bring a smile to your face.

All of the above is now yours just for being a current member of the Chester County Bar Association. But wait! There is more.

Even though we listened and acted on the wishes of those who love the smell of ink, we also retained those who can’t live without the technology of digital communications. Each quarterly issue of New Matter will also be available to members on our website. Yes, we listened to you too. But wait! There is more. cob ar. org

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All of the above is there for our members at no cost to the Association.

Yes, thanks to Wendy Hoffman and her efforts, we are able to have the above done without any cost to our members. There are not many times when you can actually mean it when you say it is a win - win situation.

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Law Notary New in USING LinkedLLY ETHICA THE “NEW” NEW MATTER

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Since we first published New Matter in 1985, the communication from the Bar Association has tried to bring news and information with a degree of variety and lots of comedy. We still have that purpose with the newest versions. The New Matter Committee and Bar Association staff hope that we do not disappoint you.

Welcome to New Matter 2014!

President’s Message

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The Practice of Law in Chester County

By Lisa Comber Hall, Esquire

Happy New Year!

It is a tremendous honor to be President of the Chester County Bar Association for 2014.

I remember being a newly minted lawyer in 1989 (having just turned the age of 25 and having yet to know if I had passed the Bar Exam) and walking down the street to my first Chester County Bar Association meeting. All I knew, as I stepped over the threshold at 15 West Gay Street in West Chester with the partners at my firm, was that the meeting was with Chester County attorneys and that I was glad that I decided to wear my “lawyer suit” and “professional heels” to work that day.

Although I was nervous as I began shaking hands and meeting numerous

judges and lawyers, I recall being pleasantly surprised when seasoned lawyers enthusiastically followed their firm handshakes with “welcome to the Chester County Bar Association,” “let me know if I can help you in any way,” and “make sure you have some fun.”

During the course of the meeting, I recall wondering where was the tension that I expected to feel among the lawyers in the room who practiced against each other on a daily basis?

Where were the heated conversations that I expected to hear from lawyers who did not quite finish their arguments within the walls of the courthouse? Where were the guarded faces that I expected to see evidencing possible distrust for one another?

Apparently not in Chester County and certainly not among the members of the Chester County Bar Association.

What I learned from my first experience with Chester County lawyers still holds true today.

Although they can be professionally argumentative, stubborn and tenacious

to prove their case or advance their position, outside of the courtroom, Chester County lawyers take pride in being respectful, good natured and cordial to one another.

CCBA members have a long history of actively supporting their Association, enthusiastically celebrating each others’ accomplishments and sincerely caring about each other. It is my privilege to be able to practice law in Chester County with so many outstanding lawyers and judges. I take great pride in being able to refer to so many of you as my colleagues and as my friends.

Thank you for this opportunity to serve as your President.

Here’s to a fantastic 2014!

On December 6, 2013, twenty-three Past Presidents gathered in the well of Courtroom One and passed the gavel to Lisa Comber Hall, Esquire (far left), 2014 President of the Chester County Bar Association.

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CCBA Feature

Old Chester Courthouse, Chester, Pennsylvania.

Erected in 1724, this is the oldest public building in continuous use in the United States. It is a handsome structure, and a well-preserved example of a colonial period stone courthouse.

The History

of the Chester County Bar Association

By Honorable Mark L. Tunnell

Chester County is one of the three original counties of Pennsylvania, established in 1682. Its Court is well over three centuries old, as is its Bar. One needed an attorney in order to safely navigate the maze of procedures and technicalities, but attorneys were scarce. They were disliked. In fact, in 1677, attorneys were banned altogether from practicing in the predecessor court at Upland in what became Chester County upon William Penn’s arrival.

William Penn was, of course, a Quaker and his faith and prior experiences in England shaped his approach to litigation. While he did desire to establish courts of justice in each county, he directed that every court choose “three peacemakers” to prevent lawsuits. He wrote on August 16, 1683 that they were “to hear and end differences betwixt man and man.”

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Thus, Chester County had one of the first alternative dispute resolution (ADR) procedures in America. The Society of Friends was not very keen on attorneys either. They used their influence to prefer laymen over attorneys in the administration of justice in the court, to be exercised principally in accord with their own consciences, unhampered by precedent or the technical forms of procedure.

Notwithstanding this inauspicious start, attorneys did appear in Penn’s new province in Chester County.

The first two were John White and Abraham Mann, in 1683. In 1709, there were but four members of the Bar, which became a problem for litigant Francis Daniel Pastorious when his adversary retained all of them. This left him without representation, as he complained to the court, unless he fetched someone from New York. This he stated he could not afford to do.

It would take some years before trained lawyers gained a secure footing in court. By 1701, however, the court was authorized to issue rules of practice and procedure, and the technicalities multiplied accordingly.

Many ancient practices and forms of English law were imported here. There was the Court of Quarter Sessions, which handled certain criminal cases, including witchcraft, as well as petitions to open new roads, the Court of Oyer and Terminer (literally, “to hear and determine”), which handled felonies, treason and certain appeals, the Court of Common Pleas, for general cases in law and equity, and the Orphans’ Court with jurisdiction over widows, orphans and decedents’ estates. The last two are still in operation today.

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The number of members of the Bar in Chester County grew during Colonial and Revolutionary times.

Many attorneys rose to distinction.

Perhaps the most famous of them all was Thomas McKean. He was born and raised in New London Township.

He was admitted to the Bar and, in 1777, became a judge in Chester County. McKean was a Signer of the Declaration of Independence, and a Framer of the United States Constitution. He was the Chief Justice of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court for 22 years and, after that, was elected governor of the Commonwealth.

In the early days of the Republic, “the Gentlemen of the Bar,” as they referred to themselves, had occasion to unite in order to uphold their dignity. For example, in 1797, matters had gotten so out of hand during trials that the group filed a petition with the Court to express their “extreme inconvenience interruption, and disgust” at the habit of spectators to seat themselves at counsel table. The Court was asked to make it the business of one of its offices to shoo such strangers away in the name of “decent deportment.”

In the early 1800s, members of the Bar gathered together to conduct their business, as they had for the past century, in taverns and public houses (i.e., “pubs”). Each generation had its de facto head of the bar. In the 1840s it was Townsend Haines, Esquire, who was acclaimed “the ablest.” After him, it was Isaac Darlington.

Books were very expensive, and attorneys needed books; they “read” the law after all. Without access to them, they could not practice. And so it was that on January 27, 1862, the Bar’s petition was approved to establish the Chester County Law and Miscellaneous Library. Its purpose

Thomas McKean, Signer and Framer

continued on page 8

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CCBA Feature

Leaders of the Bar, circa 1859 was to hire a librarian and “hold for safekeeping and reference” not only law books, but also “works of art, maps … and matters of literary and scientific nature.” An initiation fee of $5.00 was charged to the members of the Bar, with annual dues thereafter.

Some years later, the income of the Library was substantially augmented by legislation which directed that certain fines and forfeitures be paid over to it.

The Law and Miscellaneous Library continued active operations on this basis for the next 118 years, until the law changed again so as to require the County of Chester to fund the law library.

In the last half of the nineteenth century the Chester County Bar Committee was formed. It advocated in a more formal way for the advancement of the profession.

It cultivated collegiality. Under its

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auspices, the Bar would come together regularly to conduct memorials to their deceased brethren and to have their group photograph taken on the steps of the Courthouse.

In those old photographs, after 1897, a hat with a feather began to appear over a feminine face.

These belonged to the first woman admitted to practice in Chester County, Isabel Darlington (U. Pa. School of Law, LLB, 1897). One of only a handful of women attorneys in the entire country, she would practice law for the next half century.

In 1910, the number of members of the Bar was just over 50. By 1929, the Bar Committee had given way to the Chester County Bar Association. This was the name of an unincorporated association whose president that year was A.M. Holding.

These organizations had operated so well that there was no real pressure to incorporate. But at the close of the Second World War, the members of the Bar decided to form a perpetual corporation under the Pennsylvania Non-Profit Corporation Law. The Articles of Incorporation of the Chester County Bar Association were signed April 23, 1945 and filed in 1947. The Chester County Bar Association has operated in its current form since that time.

www.chescobar.org

During the post-war years, the population of the County grew at a dramatic rate, and the number of attorneys in the Association also grew. The Bar Association began to concern itself with public service as well as the advancement of the profession. In 1975, the membership of the Bar was 230 lawyers. Membership now stands at nearly 1,000. The Bar Association publishes the Chester County Law Reporter, a periodical called New Matter and sponsors Mock Trial and Law Day Programs. It also maintains a Lawyer Referral and Information Service. As you can see from the other pages of the website, the Association has dozens of different committees and sections, along with the Young Lawyers Division, all of which work together to promote the welfare of the Bench, the Bar and the public.

The first woman Bar member to be elected as the first female judge of the County Court after three centuries was Paula Francisco Ott, Esquire. She was elected in 1991 and took her seat on the Bench the following year. In 2005, she was chosen to be the President Judge. She later ran for and won a seat on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania in 2010.

for making a mark in Chester County.

For further reading: Chester County PA Legal Practitioners to 1960, Robert E. Carlson, West Chester, PA (1988) Side Lights on the Bench & Bar of Chester County, W.W. MacElree, West Chester, PA (1918) Chester County and Its People, W.W. Thompson, Chicago & New York, The Union History Company (1898) History of Chester County, Futhey and Cope, Phila., Everts (1881)

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(All available at the Chester County Historical Society)

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CCBA Feature

Attention CCBA Musicians and Performers!

By Barry Rabin, Esquire On behalf of the CCBA Lawyers Quality of Life (LQL) Committee

We know you’re out there!

Among our members are many talented (or just plain enthusiastic) musicians, songwriters and other performing arts people. Now your Lawyers Quality of Life (LQL) Committee has come up with not one but TWO great outlets for your performing proclivities: CCBA Member Jam Sessions will be a great opportunity for anyone who just wants to hang out, jam and play music with fellow members.

These sessions promise to be fun, relaxing and a great source of stress relief from the rigors of law practice. No particular level of skill or ability is required, just the desire to play music and have fun with your fellow members. Those interested should contact Don Kohler at dkohler@kohlerlaw. net or 610-340-3701. When you contact Don, please indicate your talent (i.e. instrument you play or vocals), your level of experience and the style of music you prefer to play or sing.

Also in the works is a CCBA Talent Show to help raise much-needed money for Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania (and perhaps other worthy organizations as well). We know there’s a lot of talent flying under the radar in our Bar Association (as well as on our bench).

We really need all of you to “come out of the [performing] closet,” take one for the team and help put on a show for a great cause. Anyone interested (or even possibly interested) should contact Barry Rabin at barry@barryrabinlaw.com or 610-873-1600.

We look forward to hearing from you!

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CCBA Feature

www.chescobar.org

Notarios or Notorious?

New Law Will Impact Those Who Practice Law Without a License

By Leonard Rivera, Esquire I love to share with family and friends that I live and work in the “Mushroom Capital of the World.” I confirmed this designation shortly after moving into Chester County when I read in a magazine that Kennett Square is the Mushroom Capital because more mushrooms are grown in the Southern part of Chester County than in the rest of the United States combined.

Most of the people responsible for making the mushroom industry so productive are Hispanic. So while Philadelphia boasts a Little Italy and Chinatown, Kennett Square has its unique Hispanic culture replete with stores and restaurants.

And if you look really closely you will see businesses advertising “Notarios” or “Notario publico.” On my way home from lunch, not far from my office, I took a photograph of a sign advertising “Notaria e Impuestos” which translates Notary and Taxes.

On October 9, 2013, PA Governor Tom Corbett signed into law Act 73, which aims to reduce deceptive practices targeting Spanish-speaking individuals.

Specifically, the law prohibits notaries from advertising themselves using the term “notario publico,” since in many Spanish-speaking countries that title is synonymous with attorney.

In Pennsylvania, some notaries have used the term to deceive Spanish speakers into hiring notarios for legal advice and the preparation of legal documents. I have heard of people who went to the notario for immigration services and found themselves in hot water because the notario was not well informed on the intricacies of immigration matters. The end result was that the client ended up losing a lot of money and in some instances was placed in removal proceedings. This situation could have been avoided had the person utilized the services of an experienced immigration lawyer.

I have seen legal documents drafted by notarios that were rudimentary contracts between two parties. Clients have asked me to enforce the agreement when there was little information in the document that was suitable to assist me in arguing a breach of the agreement. When asked why the client went to the notario the answer typically is because of how inexpensive the fees were. My reply is always, “you get what you pay for.” In short, notarios frequently flirt with practicing law without a license and get away with it. Act 73 will make it illegal to advertise or use the term “notario publico” and eliminate the preying on individuals who do not speak English well and who confuse notario with abogado, or lawyer, in the United States of America.

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CCBA Feature

Interview with the Honorable Thomas A. Pitt, Jr.

By Kevin J. Ryan, Esquire

Hon. Thomas A. Pitt, Jr., Graduate of Villanova University (1954) Bachelor of Science – Economics Villanova School of Law (1961) (sixth graduating class from Villanova School of Law)

The Honorable Thomas Pitt served in the Marines from 1954 until 1958 and retired as a Captain and Naval Aviator (helicopters and jet aircraft). The following is his interview: Q: After you retired from the Marines, what prompted you to enroll in law school?

A: Well, I thought I should become a history professor or a lawyer. I went to take my LSATs at Duke University.

I was driving around in my car looking for the proper hall.

It was snowing which is very unusual at Duke University.

I was looking for Building #6. I remember I pulled over to a young lady and said, “Young lady, I’m going to take my LSATs at Building 6, can you tell me where that is?” “The lady said yes...I’ll show you, and got in my car. I said “Hi, Tom Pitt, West Chester, Pennsylvania.” She turned and said “Hi, I’m Mary Wade, West Chester, Pa. (Now known as Mary Wade Myers, Esquire).

Q: Where was your first job working as an attorney?

A: I worked for the firm of Stively and Mitman. The late John Stively, Sr. and the late William A. Mitman. I did my preceptor work under John Stively who later became Judge Stively.

Q: Let me stop you there. Do you think the preceptor system was a good one? Did it work for you?

A: Yes. I thought it was great. It is very difficult to simply hang a shingle and be an attorney. With the preceptor

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system you got to do a variety of work under an experienced attorney’s tutelage. I did a little bit of everything for Stively and Mitman and got a real post-graduate education in being a lawyer.

Q: Where did you go next?

A: I became an Assistant District Attorney.

Q: How did that come about?

A: I got a call from Sam Halpren. He was the District Attorney at that time. I’m pretty sure it was a Friday morning at 9:00 a.m. He said: “Tom, I need you to try a case as an Assistant District Attorney at 11:30 this morning. Please meet me at the courthouse. I’ll pick the jury. You prep the witnesses in the hallway.” He did and I did and I became a part-time Assistant District Attorney that day.

Q: How long did you stay an Assistant District Attorney, and what were your duties?

A: I was a trial lawyer. I tried criminal cases, jury and nonjury, from 1962 through 1967. In that period of time I also continued to work part-time for Stively and Mitman and had a civil practice developed under them at that time. In 1967, I got together with Ron Agulnick and we became partners under the firm name of Pitt and Agulnick. We ran a general practice of law until I went on the bench in 1970.

Q: Why did you become a judge?

A: I just thought it was a natural progression. I thought that’s what lawyers aspired to. When I became a judge I did not have a full ten years of legal practice, so actually when I sat down my first day as a judge to hear cases I didn’t have the authority to sit as a head of an arbitration panel … and yet I was a judge. I was the youngest judge ever to have been seated in Chester County at that point. I was thirty-seven.

Unfortunately I no longer hold that honor.

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Q: What was the most difficult part of being a judge?

A: Juveniles. They would come before me in all sorts of matters. Their background stories were usually horrendous.

They rarely had a good home life, if they had one at all.

There was one that especially caught my heart. She was a young girl when she first came into my courtroom.

She was constantly getting into trouble, being placed on probation and then violating her probation. After many trips to my courtroom I finally had to put her away. She had always been pleasant and polite to me; always smiling and it seemed like she took a shine to me. When I sentenced her to go away she picked up a table and attempted to throw it at me. Sometime later I saw her at the end of the hall on the third floor of the courthouse. I waved to her. She made a face and shook her head. I didn’t know it at the time but she was in the courthouse because her parental rights were being terminated for her behavior and her child was coming up for adoption. Shortly after that she committed suicide. I always wonder if I had walked down the hall and tried to talk to her if things might have been different.

Q: What was your first love being a judge?

A: That’s easy. I always enjoyed criminal law. It was the most interesting. I saw every kind of case you can imagine. Everything from drunk driving, to a son who killed his father by burning him to death at the age of nineteen. The son was abused his whole life by his father and he had no family life. He was found guilty of first degree murder in my courtroom. I conspired with Warden Frame to keep the young man in Chester County Farms prison (instead of a state prison where they would have eaten him up). We were able to keep him there for five years.

a Post-Conviction Hearing Act Petition, but they said their attorney by the Public Defender’s Office had been Carol Horsetrack instead of Haltrecht.

Q. What kind of changes have you seen in the practice of law from 1961 until you retired?

A. In 1961 there were less than one hundred members of the Chester County Bar Association. The Bar was so small there it was like belonging to a club. I came into the practice the same time as Larry Wood. It should be noted that a number of those one hundred people never really practiced law.

There were only three judges at the time: Thomas C. Gawthrop, Jr., John Kurtz and Thomas Riley. J. Paul MacElree sat on Orphans’ Court at that period of time.

From the time I came into practice until the mid-seventies, the courthouse was only open from 9:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m. and no trials were had in July or August. If you were locked up in May or June and couldn’t make bail, your attorney had to go find an ADA …go see a Judge and make a bail request.

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Q. What part of being a judge did you enjoy the most?

A. Without a doubt criminal law. It was the most interesting.

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Q. Did anything ever happen on the lighter side regarding criminal law?

A. Yes. I had two young brothers come before me. They had been in trouble all their lives. They had been in and out of institutions. They were represented by Carol Haltrecht of the Public Defender’s Office. I remember I agonized all night over whether or not to put them into jail and finally decided I had no alternative.

At sentencing I gave them a short lecture and sentenced them to imprisonment for a fairly substantial period of time.

Interestingly enough they looked at each other, looked back at me and laughed. About a year later they apparently filed

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Interview with the Honorable Thomas A. Pitt, Jr. Q. Have you noticed much difference in attorneys’ behavior from the time you first came into practice until now?

A. No. I really haven’t. There is less comradery but other than that it is about the same.

Q. How long were you on the bench?

A. I was on the bench ten years and five days. That was thirty three years ago. At the end of ten years you are entitled to a pension.

Q. Why did you stay on the additional five days?

A. You know, they have a funny way of calculating days and time in Harrisburg so I wanted to be sure.

Q. What advice would you give to young lawyers today?

A. Work hard and don’t drink a lot of coffee.

Q. I understand several of your children became lawyers.

A. Yes, three of them did. I did not encourage them or discourage them from becoming lawyers, but I’m happy that they did.

Q. What is the saddest thing you’ve ever seen in a courtroom?

A. That’s easy. It was the young man who killed his father.

He was abused his whole life and finally killed his father.

It was a very sad story.

Q. Did you participate in any of the trials with regard to the Johnston brothers or their progeny?

A. Len Sugarman handled all of those trials. I did hear a suppression hearing regarding a gun that had been unlawfully seized by the Police ten years earlier. The gun was then used as part of the probable cause recital in a search warrant in one of the Johnston murder cases. The defense raised the issue of fruit of the “poison tree.” I ruled that the fruit of the poisoned tree doctrine did not last forever and upheld the warrant. I am surprised that ruling was never appealed.

Q. Did you enjoy doing non-jury trials?

A. Yes. In fact I remember one case in which the public defender was representing a young man in an armed robbery.

The case was supposed to go to Judge Stively but he took a jury trial at the last moment and it ended up in front of me.

I thought the young defender was going to have a heart attack because she was afraid of me.

I listened to all the testimony and took it under advisement for the night. I wrestled with it all night long and in the

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morning I found him not guilty much to the pleasure of the Defendant and the Public Defender.

Q. How did you reach your conclusion?

A. Well, the victim had reported to the police that the assailant was 6'4". In the preliminary hearing he had also testified that the assailant was about 6'4". The defendant in fact was 5'9". That’s a full seven inches difference. I couldn’t reconcile how someone could think another person was 6'4" when they were actually 5'9". The victim was 5'8". As a matter of general knowledge I believe short people keep pretty good track of other people’s heights. They’re not that far off when they guess.

Q. Which judges that sat in the court when you did, did you most enjoy?

A. That’s easy. D.T. Morrone. I loved his sense of humor.

Q. What do you miss most?

A. I miss the excitement. Frankly a lawyer should never be bored because the practice of law changes every day… new faces, new clients, new situations, new laws, and new cases coming down.

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The history

of the Chester Bar Associa County tion

Notary New La w USING Linkedi n ETHICALLY THE “NEW” NEW MATTER

610.685.0914 HoffPubs.com

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CCBA Feature

Judge Carmody Encourages Professional Civility and Preparation By Angela Halse, Esquire Professional civility and preparation will be the two keys to success when appearing in the court room of newly elected Judge Carmody. “Lawyers should be able to argue their respective positions and be civil at the same time.” One of the

best pieces of advice he ever received during his 30 years as a lawyer for the Chester County District Attorney’s office, was that “the best attorneys can anticipate what facts are important to the fact finder.” And so, those attorneys appearing in front of him who can concisely state what the issue is in the case and give their best argument to support this position will do very well.

Although he humbly states that he will be a “work in progress” as a new Court of Common Pleas Judge, he is clear about those two expectations: Civility and Preparation.

For those of you who have not had the opportunity to meet Judge Carmody during his career in the DA’s office here is some background information to get you to know the man behind the robe.

Judge Patrick Carmody is married to his self pronounced “better half,” Peg, who is also a pharmacist. He is the proud Dad of three children, a daughter Samantha, who is going to college at Millersville, and two sons Brian and Jack. To round out the family is their beloved yellow lab, Kya, who is the “Zen” center of the household.

Judge Carmody’s hobbies include volleyball, riding bikes with his children and writing stories about his family.

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He is a big movie buff with “On the Waterfront” starring Marlon Brando being his favorite movie of all time. A big fan of Steve McQueen, he has a vintage framed poster of McQueen riding a motorcycle on his new chambers’ wall.

His undergrad years were spent at Penn State and after graduating in 1978 he went to George Washington Law School. Upon completion of law school in 1981, Judge Carmody spent the next two years clerking for a Federal Magistrate. In 1984, he began his public service career with the Chester County DA’s office. What drew him to live and work in Chester County was the beauty and historical essence of the area and the mutual respect between the bench and the bar, “something you do not get everywhere.”

During his time with the DA’s office Judge Carmody litigated some very high profile cases. One case that had a positive legal outcome and a lifelong impact on him was Commonwealth v. Andrew Bryne. In July of 1991, Andrew Byrne strangled his wife Leah Caramanica to death leaving their two young children, Ari and Luke, without a mother. It took five long years to put Byrne behind bars after being convicted twice in this circumstantial case for first degree murder, only to have both convictions reversed on appeal. Before the third trial commenced, Byrne finally pled to third degree murder and has spent the last 20 years in jail.

During the trial process Judge Carmody developed a family friendship with Leah’s mother, Maryanne, who in her late 50s, was now responsible for raising her slain daughter’s two young children. He affectionately calls her “My Hero.” In 2010, he attended Ari’s graduation from Harvard alongside

Maryanne. Pictures of him and Ari at the graduation and of him and Maryanne standing side by side are proudly displayed on his chambers’ bookshelf. Ari was able to show her appreciation to Judge Carmody for all his support throughout the years by giving a heartfelt thank you at his swearing in ceremony on January 6, 2014. Ari passionately said that as a judge he will work “diligently to restore balance in the community.”

The strengths Judge Carmody believes he will bring to the bench are his good work ethic, ability to communicate and his sense of humor about himself. He wants to focus on his listening skills to not only hear but understand the litigants and attorneys who come before him. As previously stated, as a judge he will adjust as he sees “what works and what doesn’t.”

Some other procedural hints to practicing in front of Judge Carmody would be to dress as per standard courtroom guidelines, provide the bench and opposing counsel with appropriate case law prior to the hearing if the case being cited is right on point, and keep conversations among attorneys, clients and witnesses confined to the conference rooms outside of the courtroom if your case is not being heard. Promptness for court hearings is expected but if you are running late due to an emergency situation a phone call to his chambers would be appreciated.

When Marlon Brando said the famous line in On the Waterfront, “Conscience.

It can drive you nuts!” he was speaking directly to a future public service litigator and now judge who has and will continue to follow his conscience.

Judge Carmody will do the right thing for the residents of Chester County and all others that come before him.

New Matter

CCBA The Blank Page

The Blank Page Our Bar Association

www.chescobar.org

By Mark Blank, Jr., Esquire

As I am working my pen, it is that time of year. Yes, it is the holiday season with all of its joy and cheer… and some misery as well.

A. Pitt, Jr. admitted me, in open court (Courtroom Three in the Old Courthouse), to the Court of Common Pleas.

However, that is not exactly what I mean, as you might be able to discern by the title of this article. It is time to renew your membership to (or join, as the case may be) the Chester County Bar Association.

Now, there are over 900 members of the Bar Association (976, to be exact).

However, what is disturbing is that there are probably another 2,000 or more lawyers practicing law in one form or another in Chester County, that are not members, some of whom probably don’t even know that the Bar Association exists. Now, let’s turn to the benefits: CLEs; committees; law related sections; a Bar Association directory; New Matter; discounts at restaurants, for rental cars, and for other retail outlets; public service activities; comradery; fun events (e.g., the President’s Dinner, bench bars, bar sail and other socials) and, last, but certainly far from least, the fine and wonderful staff.

I do not think that I need to explain or define what is CCBA. Anybody who is reading this script certainly knows of the Bar Association. But, what about the benefits of membership? Well, before I get to that, I need to reflect.

Please read on.

When I was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1976, there were about 200 members of the CCBA. And although the rule was not in writing, it could have been cast in stone that every lawyer who plants his/her feet on Chester County soil would join and become a member of the Bar Association. I was inducted into the Bar Association the same day that the Honorable Thomas

Most of all, however, as lawyers, we have many professional obligations to fulfill, one of which is supporting our local Bar Association. Now, why should a Chester County lawyer join our Association? Well, why not?

One last point is in order; that is, the Chester County Bar Association is not just mine or yours; most of all, it is ours.

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YOUR Bar Foundation

Everyone is a Winner at Our Bar Foundation’s Casino Night

By Angela Halse, Esquire

If you didn’t attend the Chester County Bar Foundation Casino Night you gambled and lost big time!

While playing a variety of casino game favorites, such as black jack and roulette, our guests enjoyed delicious food and an open bar. To complete the festivities and fun, we were entertained with live music by Matt Otis.

The tables, chips and gaming staff seemed like they had been transported right from the Las Vegas strip. Even though the casino games were all played with “funny money”, a King and Queen were crowned at the end of the evening. This year’s top gamblin’ man was Piper Dugan’s husband and the top gamblin’ woman was Melanie McAteer. Lots of fun and laughs were had by all while raising money for the Bar Foundation’s many worthy causes such as the Domestic Violence Center, the Crime Victims’ Center and Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania. This year’s event raised over $25,000 that will be used to support these and other worthy lawrelated organizations.

For those who missed this fabulous event, in addition to missing out seeing judges and colleagues in glamorous attire, you also did not get the opportunity to take advantage of the many silent and live auction items that were donated by generous members and sponsors. For example, a week at Charles DeTulleo’s gorgeous condo in St. Thomas, a long weekend at Tom Ramsey’s home overlooking the bay in Ocean City, New Jersey, a long weekend at a fabulous hotel in Las Vegas and several other weekend stays at local resorts.

For those of you who DID attend and/or donate fabulous auction items, a huge THANK YOU for your support and generosity. For those of you who missed out on this year’s opportunity to have fun and enjoy a great night, roll the dice next year and be sure not to miss this fantastic event!

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Y L Details

Y L DDDDDDDetails

By A.J. Ober, Esquire, YLD Chair I am the 2014 Chair of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) for the Chester County Bar Association. I am a graduate of West Chester University and Villanova School of Law. My wife and I live in West Chester, where I am a Solo General Practitioner.

I have been a member of our fine Bar Association since 2012.

Since joining the Bar I have had the pleasure of meeting many great colleagues while attending the multitude of fantastic events coordinated by our Executive Director, Wendy Hoffman, and her stellar staff. Both personally and professionally, no part of the Bar Association has had a greater impact on me than the Young Lawyers Division. By being active in the YLD I have seen all that the Bar Association has to offer, I connected with new colleagues and have met a plethora of sure-to-be career long friends. Also, did you know the YLD holds social gatherings, offers CLE credits, and provides community service?

www.chescobar.org Starting in January 2014, the YLD will be holding formal meetings on the first Wednesday of every other month. Meetings convene in the Bar Association Board Room from 12 - 1 p.m., where a complimentary lunch is provided. Who says there’s no such thing as a free lunch?!

On the “off” months, when a formal meeting is not scheduled, the YLD will informally meet for a social gathering on the first THURSDAY of the month, at Ryan’s Pub (124 W. Gay Street, West Chester) starting at 5:30 p.m.

If you arrive between 5:30 – 6:30 p.m., your first drink is free!

Meetings (both formal and informal) are open to ALL YLD members. If you are currently a bar association member, 36 or younger OR have practiced for less than 5 years, then you’re already a YLD member. I encourage you to be not just a member, but an active member. My chief goal in 2014 is to increase the active membership so that all YLD members can experience the rewarding benefits that I have.

Our next meeting will be held on Wednesday, March 5th at the Bar Association from noon - 1:00 pm. FREE pizza for all! I invite you to attend and bring a friend to find out more about YLD. There’s no commitment, so come out and enjoy a free lunch...No excuses!

Goldberg, Meanix, McCallin & Muth Litigation Referrals Welcomed If you need help with a litigation matter, we can help • Develop a theme • Prepare settlement prospectus or brochure • Jury focus your case • Depose and find experts • Consult with you on trial strategy

Call Larry, Rich or Joel at 610-436-6220.

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Y L Details

Interview of the Chair-Elect, on the Eve of Becoming Chair of the YLD

By Shannon K. McDonald, Esquire A. J. Ober is the current chair elect of the Chester County Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division. He is a sole practitioner in downtown West Chester, captain of the CCBA’s team in last year’s county softball league, a good guy. In this interview we’ll touch on what it takes to be a member of the YLD, his vision for the coming year, challenges he’s faced during his (relatively) short time as an attorney, and hopefully get a good feeling about the future generation of lawyers.

Let’s get the basics out of the way: Where are you from?

Boothwyn, Pennsylvania, which is in Delaware County, and an easy 10 minute jaunt to Delaware the state, or New Jersey.

Where did you graduate from law school?

Villanova Law '04.

How did you find West Chester?

I first found West Chester when I was a kid and my dad took me to the Philadelphia Eagles Training Camp (back then it was held at WCU.) It seemed like a nice place and ultimately I went to WCU and fell in love with the area.

If you hadn’t become a lawyer, what would you be now?

Well-adjusted.

Now, for the tougher questions: So, A. J., you recently came from a large firm in Philadelphia and now are running your own solo practice, and moved from Philadelphia to West Chester. With all the changes, what would you say is the biggest challenge you’ve faced—personal or professional?

Personally, the hustle and bustle of living and working in Philadelphia is oddly both missed and forgotten at the same time. Getting reacquainted with suburban life has been a welcomed change.

Professionally, becoming a solo means you are part-attorney and part-business person. I always knew I’d go solo at some point, so the business side was a necessary evil. While business development is important, I never want to forget that as an attorney my primary job is to counsel clients, not drum them up.

What is your focus in law? What makes you like that area of the law?

My career started with a heavy litigation background. On my 3rd day of work, I defended my first Common Pleas Arbitration and it hasn’t slowed since. As a solo I am general practice, handling anything litigation based.

My biggest practice area is Personal Injury. But like most solos, I handle everything from Criminal, Family, Estate Administration, Unemployment, Wills/Estates, Traffic Violations, Small Business matters, etc.

I like these areas of the law because you are dealing with real issues that affect real people. Cliché, I know, but I’ve also represented large national corporations and I just don’t enjoy it the same way.

What made you want to join the YLD? If you could tell some fresh, new attorneys out there why they should join CCBA, what would you tell them?

I joined because I was relatively new to the CCBA and was hoping to connect with fellow attorneys that I had nonwork related things in common with.

I’d tell new attorneys to join because our line of work is adversarial by definition – but it’s a more pleasant experience when your colleagues and opponents are also friends. I’ve found the YLD to be a great network to lean on and to bounce ideas off of.

For instance, maybe you have a law or career question that wouldn’t be appropriate to ask a veteran attorney or you simply have no one to ask. If nothing else, we are bound by the commonality of our career-stage and there’s fraternity in that.

You are about to have one year to run the largest division of the CCBA; can you give us an idea of what your vision is for the YLD? My take is that YLD shouldn’t be a chore for the members; it should be both professional and social. Most of all it should be a positive experience, that is, the impetus for career-long participation and leadership in the CCBA as a whole.

As quick as you can: Coffee or energy drink? Coffee.

Patterned tie or solid tie? Patterned.

Football or baseball? Baseball.

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New Matter

Mary’s Country Corner

Mary’s Country Corner

www.chescobar.org

By Mary Wade Myers, Esquire

When the weather settles

on cold and colder and the holidays are over, I always have down time. One of my diversions is to sort over my accumulated trivia with a plan to organize and recycle.

I came across one of my endeavors which carries the theme of Country Corner. It was created when I was in high school and trying my hand at poetry and art; back then I was going to be a veterinarian. My Dad simply asked, “Do you like animals or sick animals?” To my response he quipped, “Then be a lawyer and buy them.” So here I am.

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Save Our Environment

New (Wet) Season for Municipal Stormwater Ordinances in Chester County

By John R. Embick, Esquire

Co-Chair, Environmental Law Section

On July 2, 2013, the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (PaDEP) approved Chester County’s County Wide Stormwater Management Plan. This plan, styled by Chester County as an addendum to the County’s Watersheds Plan, is required by the Pa. Storm Water Management Act, 32 P.S. §§ 680.1, et seq., the latter colloquially known as Act 167 of 1978.

Act 167 was passed in response to numerous Pennsylvania flood disasters over the years, including the infamous Johnstown Flood and the devastation of Hurricane Agnes. Act 167 requires counties to develop plans to control land use and manage storm water so as to reduce damage and improve public safety, to effectively manage stormwater runoff, control flooding, reduce streambank erosion and sedimentation, promote groundwater recharge, and maintain or improve the water quality of receiving streams.

Act 167 can be viewed as part of a complex mosaic of federal, state, local laws and regulations addressing problems related to non-point source runoff – the water flow that comes off of fields, lawns, forests, impervious surfaces, and initially is not emitted from a pipe or a point source. The mosaic includes, but is not limited to: (1) the Federal Water Pollution Act and the NPDES permitting program (which now includes pre and post-construction storm water management on construction sites using storm water best management practices or BMPs), and the Municipal Separate Storm Sewer System permit program (MS4) (which controls discharges from municipal storm water systems); (2) the Federal Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899

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New Matter

(which controls the placement of fill in navigable waters); (3) the Pennsylvania Clean Streams Law (which includes erosion and sedimentation control regulations found at 25 Pa. Code Chapter 102); (4) the Pennsylvania Flood Plain Management Act, 32 P.S. §§ 679.101, et seq., (which controls land use in flood plains) and the companion National Flood Insurance Act of 1968, 42 U.S.C. §§ 4001, et seq., (4) the Pa. Dams and Encroachment Act 32 P.S. §§ 693.1, et seq. (covering the construction of dams, wharves and docks in Pennsylvania waters (see also 25 Pa. Code Chapter 105)). Many of these myriad requirements stand alone, but many also are overlapping.

Act 167 was passed in 1978, but many counties ignored its planning mandate.

The approval of Chester County’s County-wide 167 Plan comes almost 35 years after the law’s enactment.

A component of the Act 167 Plan requires all municipalities in Chester County to adopt a Stormwater Ordinance within six (6) months of final approval by PADEP of the county-wide Act 167 Plan. Adoption must be complete by January 2, 2014. Municipalities may chose to adopt a Model Ordinance (contained County-wide Act 167 Plan), or may adopt an ordinance with equivalent or more stringent standards. For those municipalities that choose to amend their existing stormwater management ordinance (rather than adopt the Model Ordinance), a Matrix of Minimum Mandatory Ordinance Standards for Municipal Act 167 Ordinances is presented in Appendix E of the countywide Act 167 Plan.

Chester County is recommending that municipalities enact the Model Ordinance as a stand-alone ordinance.

In addition, Chester County is recommending that this Model Ordinance be enacted under the provisions of the Municipalities Planning Code, advising that “enactment in this manner is anticipated to provide maximum flexibility and authority for enforcement.”

Each municipality will also have to review zoning, subdivision and development, building code, and erosion and sedimentation ordinances, as are necessary to regulate development within the municipality in a manner consistent with the county-wide Act 167 Plan.

Additional requirements are applicable for municipalities having territory in the Chester Creek, Conestoga River, Crum Creek, Darby Creek, and (East) Valley Creek watersheds.

In general, the Model Ordinance regulates activities that exceed one thousand (1,000) square feet of “Proposed Impervious Surfaces” and more than five thousand (5,000) square feet of “Earth Disturbance.” A number of exemptions apply, including certain agricultural operations, maintenance of existing landscaping, and certain gardening activities. However, the ordinance specially states that “[e]xemption shall not relieve the Applicant from implementing such measures as are necessary to protect health, safety, welfare, property, and water quality.”

Since there is little time remaining between now and the deadline of January 2, 2014, municipal solicitors and engineers should be working now to get the new ordinance reviewed, advertised, commented upon, and adopted.

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New Matter

| 23

Legislative Update

Exactly How Tech Savvy Do I Need To Be?

By Shannon K. McDonald, Esquire Well, The Model Rules of Professional Conduct have created a new ethical guideline lawyers should all be aware of, regarding technology and the attorneys who use it. The first part of the guideline is attached to the Model Rules, Rule 1.1: Competence. In order to meet the minimum level of competence, a lawyer must be reasonably knowledgeable regarding the practice of law, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology. This appears to require that an attorney has an affirmative duty to learn and take account of advances in technology which would be relevant to the practice of law. Although the comment goes no further than that, many speculate that this would be subject to terms of reasonableness, and that an attorney must keep abreast of changes in technology affecting the practice of law, however, abreast does not require every attorney to be on the cutting edge.

The Model Rules have also changed Rule 1.6, dealing with confidentiality. It requires an attorney to recognize that safeguards may be necessary in a technology based world to protect the client’s information. The efforts required are subject to a reasonableness requirement. The attorney should look to “the sensitivity of the information, the likelihood of disclosure if additionally safeguards are not employed, the cost of employing additional safeguards, the difficulty of implementing the safeguards, and the extent to which safeguards adversely affect the lawyer’s ability to represent clients.” These factors dictate when a safeguard is necessary or when it is not.

As of this writing, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has not stated whether it will adopt these changes to the Model Rules, and the changes do not become mandatory until the Supreme Court adopts them.

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New Matter

Legislative Update

www.chescobar.org

Act 55

By Rami Bishay, Esquire If you are unaware, there have been many bills supported by the PBA that were signed into law prior to the General Assembly’s summer recess. As reported by Frederic Cabell Jr., Esquire, in his article named, “A Cornucopia of Acts,” Act 55 of 2013 (HB 1075), sponsored by Representative Dan Moul, amends the Public Welfare Code. The PBA supported the part of the act that requires counties to conduct ongoing efforts to find families for children who become involved with a county Children, Youth and Family Agency. “Family Finding” is a successful strategy for serving families whose children have experienced or are at risk for abuse, neglect or other inadequate parental care or control. Members of the PBA Children’s Rights Committee were actively involved in drafting portions of this law.

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New Matter

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Legislative Update

Act 36

By Andrew Lehr, Esquire Pennsylvania has amended the Municipalities Planning Code (MPC), via Act 36 of 2013, HB 515, which amends the MPC requirements regarding meeting notifications involving the adoption of, or changes to, zoning ordinances, zoning maps, subdivision and land development ordinances and other similar ordinances.

This legislation adds a requirement to mail a notice of such a meeting to any person requesting a notice, provided the request was made in writing, and the necessary selfaddressed stamped envelopes are provided. It also allows such persons to elect electronic notification.

These changes will be a significant benefit to absentee land and mineral owners, who do not subscribe to local papers, and may not otherwise become aware of proposed actions that could affect their property.

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New Matter

Matter of Fact

www.chescobar.org

New Matters and Other Interesting (Useless) Facts

By Kim Denise “Deni” Morton, Esquire

Welcome to the new New Matter and our newest section of fun updates, information and, as stated, …other useless facts.

Please email me directly with any fun information, family updates (and gossip) as it becomes available. We love to keep our members informed!

CONGRATS TO: Alyson Laynas on her engagement to Andrew Hoffman; we’ll be looking for your “save the date” card with a wedding planned for November 22nd.

Speaking of engagements, our own Executive Director, Wendy Hoffman, is also sporting some new bling on her left hand. Nicely done, Dwight.

As of January, Cynthia Haynes Eshleman has an ADDITIONAL job/ title as a Caln Township Supervisor.

I’ll bet you did not know that our own Clare Milliner is a fiddler who plays “Old Time Music.” You can see her on February 15th playing at the Kennett Flash—showtime is 8pm. For those of you who can read music, check out Milliner Koken Collection of Old Fiddle Tunes.

Last but not least, yours truly and husband, Michael, became first time grandparents of Aris James Morton this past fall. Despite my affiliation with New Matter, I have been denied the right to a full page photo collage.

What’s a grandmother to do ...?

Email Deni with your news and interesting (useless) facts: kdmorton@mortonfamilylaw.com

Susan Line Boswell ESQUIRE

ATTORNEY AT LAW

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New Matter

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MARK B. SEGAL SEGAL LAW OFFICES, P.C. 213-215 WEST MINER STREET WEST CHESTER, PA 19382-2924

WORKERS’ COMPENSATION SOCIAL SECURITY DISABILITY TELEPHONE: 610-719-1670 FACSIMILE: 610-719-1672 E-MAIL: msegal@segallawoffices.com

Appeals and Briefs Anthony J. Vetrano

610.265.4441 630 Freedom Business Center, Suite 215 King of Prussia, PA 19406 TonyVetrano@VetranoLaw.com www.pennsylvaniaappealslawyer.com

The Chester County Bar Association

Congratulates ...

Hon. Patrick Carmody Hon. Jeffrey R. Sommer Judges of the Court of Common Pleas of Pennsylvania

Tech Tips

Using LinkedIn Ethically

By Keith E. Boggess, Esquire Do you use the social network site LinkedIn in your practice? If you do not, then skip to the bottom of the article and read the last paragraph. If you do, or are considering using it, then read on.

While the US legal market is improving, surveys such as the 2012 Law Firm Leaders Survey suggest that the market still faces challenges. Clients continue to look for value, choose to not take action based on the economics, or take legal action on their own (Oh, the fools!). For the local lawyer, that means non-traditional marketing such as using social media may be an important aspect of keeping a practice vibrant. Today, many lawyers incorporate Facebook, Branchout, Efactor, Twitter, Instagram, or LinkedIn in their practice. LinkedIn is the most popular of the professional “online” professional networking sites, but warnings have been sounded about its certain risks. If you become a LinkedIn lawyer, you should understand how it works, know the risks, and act to manage those risks.

A Professional Networking Tool First, know LinkedIn. Basically, LinkedIn is a social networking site for professionals who often use it to find

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jobs, build clientele, or build intercompany business. [You can invite people you trust to become part of your network. You can also form groups and join groups related to business or industry to strengthen peer-to-peer networking or to encourage business relationships from existing or potential clients.] A person in your network is a “connection.” A person with whom you directly connect is a “1st degree connection.” Those who are 1st degree connections to your 1st degree connections are your “2nd degree connections”—and you can contact them via LinkedIn. “3rd degree connections”— those who are connected to 2nd degree connections—can be seen on searches and when viewing their profiles.

There are some key functions about which you, as a practicing lawyer, should know. First, when you build your profile, you will identify areas of “Skills & Expertise.” For the lawyer, that could be a practice area or even a specific skill set. The skill set is simply typed in, so skill sets can be almost anything.

Second, you should understand the “recommendation.” A LinkedIn connection can recommend another member through the site, and others viewing your profile can read those

comments about you and how great a lawyer you are. A humble feature?

Not so fast—you can request connections to write a recommendation about you. Also, there is nothing stopping a user writing things about others before those connections do anything.

That leads us to the cousin of the recommendation—the “endorsement.”

You can endorse a connection by clicking on any of the “Skills & Expertise” the connection has put in his or her profile. No comments are involved.

It only takes a click of the mouse on that skill set. A picture of the endorser appears by the “Skill & Expertise,” which shows the degree of connection and gives the option of connecting with that person.

How those three features work has bothered ethical and legal experts. The Rules of Professional Conduct do not evolve at the same pace as technology.

The use of LinkedIn implicates several of the rules. That leads to the second point - know the risks.

Is LinkedIn Risky for Lawyers?

Lawyers should know the risks in order to manage them. Maintaining a profile does take time and knowledge, and face-to-face networking can never be

www.chescobar.org replaced. Today’s digital reality almost makes managing social media risks a necessity in order to keep a competitive edge, especially for larger firms or business lawyers.

One area of concern involves Rule 7.1.

That rule states that a lawyer shall not make a false or misleading communication about the lawyer or the lawyer’s services. LinkedIn is not an obvious advertising platform, but the way the “Skill & Expertise” function is embedded in the profile section of the site can create an inaccurate perception. The LinkedIn lawyer may need to take care in creating the “Skills & Expertise” list. A lawyer may be tempted when building his or her profile to include areas that he or she is unfamiliar with, maybe with the intent of getting into that area of law as next year’s business goal. A lawyer getting a case from LinkedIn and then bungling it may face malpractice and ethical charges from an angry client.

Another area of concern is that of endorsements. The trouble with endorsements involves the definition of the term. An endorsement can mean several things. If you endorse somebody, you openly approve something or someone (such as endorsing a candidate for judge). But it also means recommending something or someone for financial compensation (such as with professional athletes and celebrities).

The second definition is the troubling one. If a connection endorses another LinkedIn member on a quid pro quo basis, is that a violation of the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct?

There are other areas of risk, but the aforementioned two are often discussed. No matter what the risk, you can take basic steps to use LinkedIn safely as part of your practice by following some basic guidelines.

Act to Manage Risks Below are several tips summarized from a variety of sources. The underlying

principle to each suggestion is that a lawyer’s most valuable asset is his or her reputation - protect it.

Craft your profile. LinkedIn may have to be molded for the area of practice a lawyer is in. For example, family lawyers may not be able to recruit new clients directly through LinkedIn, but they may be able to facilitate their professional network for private investigators, forensic accountants, real estate appraisers, bankruptcy attorneys, and so on. The business lawyer, on the other hand, may be able to connect with other businesses that could be clients.

Only invite people you know to join your network. Many users do not know that Section 10.2.5 of the LinkedIn user-agreement states that the user has agreed not to invite a person he or she does not know to join the network. Users of LinkedIn often add contacts to their network without knowing them. Do not use LinkedIn in the same way as Facebook. Treat your network seriously and vet an individual before adding them to your network. Do you know them? I mean, do you really know them? If you passed that person on the street, will they exchange greetings with you?

Edit your endorsements. An endorsement can be edited. That feature makes endorsements safer for lawyers to use LinkedIn. On the other hand, it means you must spend coveted time and mental energy managing them.

Periodically check endorsements for accuracy. Your ability to manage LinkedIn should be a major consideration in using it. Do not treat your profile like a web site where you build it and walk away.

Watch for case law or ethic opinions that address the issue. Technology evolves quickly, and the legal profession often lags in addressing issues raised by such advancements. Disciplinary boards and courts constantly clarify

and surprise the profession. Linked In has not received much attention in Pennsylvania courts – yet. The prudent lawyer should be aware of cases and rulings percolating to the surface.

Manage LinkedIn to Avoid the Conflict of Interest Minefield. LinkedIn’s connection method, where you have indirect connections, may raise conflict of interest issues. Once you connect with someone, other people within that person’s network can see who else is in that person’s network. Not long ago, a Philadelphia judge was recused from a case because that judge was “friended” with one of the parties in a DUI case.

What if a lawyer happened to have an opposing party as 2nd degree connection as a party in the case? It is easier to be selective and manage connections than to be a test case.

Only the First Step So far, the discussion has been about lawyers who want to use LinkedIn. But what about the lawyers who want nothing to do with it? Interestingly, Pennsylvania’s proposed Rule 1.1 on lawyer competence may be implicated. New Comment 8 states that “a lawyer should keep abreast of changes in the law and its practice, including the benefits and risks associated with relevant technology….” For sure, that means the lawyers should know their in-house software used to manage the practice. It also could mean knowing Social Media enough to investigate a case involving it, identify social media evidence and get it admitted, and to avoid evidentiary spoliation. The new proposed rules require you, as a lawyer, to mitigate technological risks – and that includes LinkedIn. If you are reading this last paragraph because the first paragraph directed you here, then go back to the top and read the whole article - it is a good starting point for LinkedIn.

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Featured Attorneys

Attorneys Who Made a Difference

By Charles T. DeTulleo, Esquire We often think about those in the past who have made a difference.

Whether that difference is on a personal basis, such as the person who helped you get through law school, or a person who made a difference that effected others.

One of the interests I have had is those attorneys who made a difference. And, not just in court cases but in a variety of ways.

I previously have written an article concerning Francis Scott Key, Esquire, the attorney who wrote the Star Spangled Banner, our National Anthem.

So I once again have looked into the past to find an attorney who made a difference. This article

Charles White Whittlesey Nickname “Galloping Charlie” Born January 20, 1884

Florence, Wisconsin Died November 26, 1921

(aged 37) (Presumed) Allegiance United States Service/branch United States Army Years of service 1917–1919 Rank Lieutenant Colonel Unit 1st Battalion, 308th

Infantry, 77th Division Battles/wars World War I *Meuse-Argonne Offensive Awards Medal of Honor Other work Attorney

was inspired by the movie, “The Lost Battalion.” Since I am an avid fan of military history it occurred to me to check on the details of the movie. I did some research and will be quoting from the Free Encyclopedia, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Charles_White_Whittlesey.

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Whittlesey as he appeared while a student at Willams College

Early life and education Whittlesey was born in Florence, Wisconsin, but moved with his family in 1894 to Pittsfield, Massachusetts, where he graduated from Pittsfield High School class of 1901. He enrolled at Williams College, where he was a member of St. Anthony Hall,[1] graduating in 1905. He was voted the “third brightest man” in his class, and because of his aristocratic manner was nicknamed “Count.” He earned a law degree from Harvard Law School in 1908. Soon after graduating he formed a law partnership with his Williams classmate J. Bayard Pruyn in New York City. Influenced by his friend and roommate at Williams, Max Eastman, Whittlesey spent several years as a member of the American Socialist Party before resigning his membership in disgust over what he viewed as the movement’s increasing extremism.

A month after the United States entered World War I in 1917, Whittlesey took a leave from his partnership and joined the Army. He shipped for France as a captain in the Army’s 77th Division, also known as the “Metropolitan Division,” because it was made up largely of New York City men, principally from the polyglot

www.chescobar.org Lower East side. Its members spoke 42 different languages or dialects.

By September 1917, Whittlesey was commissioned a major. On the morning of October 2, 1918, the 77th was ordered to move forward against a heavily fortified German line as part of a massive American attack in the Meuse-Argonne region. Whittlesey commanded a mixed battalion of 554 soldiers, who advanced forward through a ravine. Because the units on their flanks failed to make headway, Whittlesey’s troops were cut off from their supply lines, pinned down by German fire from the surrounding 200-foot (61 m) high bluffs. The following days were perilous for Whittlesey and his men, as they were without food or water. Some of the men had never thrown a live grenade, but for four days, they resisted snipers and attacks by waves of German troops armed with hand grenades, and in one incident, flame throwers. During this period war correspondents seized on the incident and dubbed the unit the “Lost Battalion.”

On October 7, the Germans sent forward a blindfolded American POW carrying a white flag, with a message in English:

“The suffering of your wounded men can be heard over here in the German lines, and we are appealing to your humane sentiments to stop.

A white flag shown by one of your men will tell us that you agree with these conditions. Please treat Private Lowell R. Hollingshead [the bearer] as an honorable man. He is quite a soldier. We envy you. The German commanding officer.”

Whittlesey’s alleged reply was “You go to hell!”, although he later denied saying it, saying a response wasn’t necessary.

He ordered white sheets that had been placed as signals for Allied aircraft to drop supplies to be pulled in so they would not be mistaken for surrender signals. That night, a relief force arrived and the Germans retreated. Of the original 554 troops involved in the advance, 107 had been killed, 63 were missing and 190 were wounded. Only 194 were able to walk out of the ravine. continued on page 34

Monument to the Lost Battalion in the Argonne Forest, France.

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Featured Attorneys Attorneys Who Made a Difference | Whittlesey received a battlefield promotion to lieutenant-colonel and returned to the United States as a war hero, receiving on December 6, 1918, one of the first three Medals of Honor awarded for valor in the war. (One of the other two went to his second-incommand, George G. McMurtry.)

The story of the Lost Battalion was one of the most talked about events of World War I.[2] In 1919, the events were made into a movie with many of the actual soldiers who were part of the Lost Battalion playing themselves, including Whittlesey.

He tried to return to his career, working as an attorney at the Wall Street firm of White & Case, but found himself in constant demand for speeches, parades, and honorary degrees. The pressure wore on him; he complained to a friend: “Not a day goes by but I hear from some of my old outfit, usually about some sorrow or misfortune. I cannot bear it much more.”[1] In November 1921, Whittlesey acted as a pallbearer at the burial of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery, along with fellow Medal of Honor recipients Samuel Woodfill and Alvin York. A few days later he booked passage from New York to Havana aboard the SS Toloa, a United Fruit Company ship. On November 26, 1921, the first night out of New York, he dined with the captain and left the smoking room at 11:15 p.m. stating he was retiring for the evening,[3] and it was noted by the captain that he was in good spirits.

Whittlesey was never seen again. He was reported missing at 8:00 a.m. the following morning. He is presumed to have committed suicide by jumping

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continued from page 33

overboard, although no one reported seeing him jump and Whittlesey’s body was never recovered. Before leaving New York, he prepared a will leaving his property to his mother. He also left a series of letters in his cabin addressed to relatives and friends. The letters were addressed to his parents, his brothers Elisha and Melzar, his uncle Granville Whittlesey, and to his friends George McMurtry, J. Bayard Pruyn, Robert Forsyth Little and Herman Livingston, Jr.[1] Also in his cabin was found a note to the captain of the Toloa leaving instructions for the disposition of the baggage left in his stateroom.[1] He left the famous German letter asking for surrender to McMurtry.

Whittlesey’s headstone is in a cemetery in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. The headstone notes that his body was never recovered.[4] In 1948, the Charles White Whittlesey Room was dedicated at the Williams Club in New York City.[5] In 2001, U.S. television channel A&E made a television movie called “The Lost Battalion” based on accounts of the battle. In that portrayal Major Whittlesey was played by Rick Schroder.[6]

Medal of Honor Citation Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army, 308th Infantry, 77th Division.

Place and date: Northeast of Binarville, in the forest of Argonne France, 2 – October 7, 1918. Entered service at: Pittsfield, Mass. Birth. Florence, Wis. G.O. No.: 118, W.D., 1918.

Citation: Although cut off for 5 days from the remainder of his division, Maj. Whittlesey maintained his position, which he had reached under orders received for an advance, and held his command, consisting originally of 46 officers and men of the 308th Infantry and of Company K of the 307th Infantry, together in the face of superior numbers of the enemy during the 5 days. Maj. Whittlesey and his command were thus cut off, and no rations or other supplies reached him, in spite of determined efforts which were made by his division. On the 4th day Maj. Whittlesey received from the enemy a written proposition to surrender, which he treated with contempt, although he was at the time out of rations and had suffered a loss of about 50 percent in killed and wounded of his command and was surrounded by the enemy.

Notes 1. ^ Jump up to: a b c d “Charles Whittlesey: Commander of the Lost Battalion”. The Great War Society. 2000. Retrieved 2006-09-07.

2. Jump up ^ “Wings of Valor: The Lost Battalion in the Argonne Forest”. C. Douglass Turner. Retrieved 2008-02-20.

3. Jump up ^ Parrish, Melvin M. (August 26, 1980). “Florence Native Commanded Famed Lost Battalion in World War I”. Florence Mining News. p. 26. Retrieved September 7, 2007.

4. Jump up ^ http://www.findagrave.com/ cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=6022334 5. Jump up ^ “Walter Frankl, Portrait of Colonel Charles White Whittlesey”. The Williams Club of New York. 1998. Retrieved 2007-09-07.

6. Jump up ^ See credits for “The Lost Battalion” at the Internet Movie Database.

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