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Honored

The International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution, a global nonprofit organization that advances dispute prevention and resolution practices, announced that international arbitrator former Judge Timothy Lewis of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit will receive CPR's 2019 Award for Outstanding Contributions to Diversity in ADR.

The award is set to be formally presented at CPR's annual meeting during a luncheon ceremony March 1 in Washington, D.C.

Lewis is of counsel at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis, where he serves as co-chair of the ADR practice group. He is an arbitrator in national and international complex commercial matters and a mediator, appellate counselor and litigation strategist to leading corporations.

Before joining Schnader, he was a federal judge on the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

A former member of CPR's board of directors, Lewis is a CPR distinguished neutral and the co-chair of CPR's diversity task force, a group whose mission is to devise practical strategies to increase the participation and inclusion of women, minorities and other diverse individuals in mediation, arbitration and other dispute prevention and resolution processes.

CPR's task force developed a corporate commitment to diversity and a two-year mentoring program in collaboration with the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity and the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, which includes a shadowing component designed to further diversity among neutrals chosen to mediate or arbitrate by large corporations, and Lewis was one of the first to volunteer to be a mentor for that program.

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Speakers

Employment law partner Patricia Collins of Antheil Maslow & MacMinn, presented an online continuing legal education webinar “Employment Law, Ethics & Professional Responsibility” offered by Celesq, Attorneys Ed Center.

This seminar reviewed the ethics issues that arise for employment attorneys in representing organizations.

The program identified risks for attorneys resulting from close involvement with the operations of the client.

Topics examined included negotiating employee contracts, drafting policies that impact client contact, termination or resignation of client contracts, attorneys as fact witnesses, attorneys as investigators, and maintaining professional distance.

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Additions

William J. Burke, III was reinstalled as solicitor to the Home Builders Association of Chester and Delaware Counties.

The HBA's installation of officers and directors dinner was held at McKenzie's Brew House in Malvern.

Burke is a founding member of Unruh, Turner, Burke & Frees and practiced in Chester County in the areas of real estate, corporate and business acquisitions and general business for over 30 years.

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Events

The Barristers' Association of Philadelphia, Inc. hosted a “Know Your Rights” community town hall meeting at Our House Culture Center.

In the last reported year, 53.5 million U.S. residents age 16 years or older had contact with the police. According to the most recent Bureau of Justice Statistics Police-Public Contact Survey, when police initiated the contact, blacks and Hispanics were more likely to experience the threat or use of physical force than whites.

The meeting involved a discussion with local attorneys and community leaders about what to do if stopped or questioned by the police and how to best exercise your constitutional rights.

Topics included, among other things: • Application of the U.S. Constitution Fourth Amendment (“Search and Seizure”); • Whether it is legal to record police activity; and • How citizens should respond if and when they have contact with police officers.

The panel was moderated by Cherri Gregg of CBS3-TV/KYW Radio and included Kevin Mincey of Mincey Fitzpatrick Ross; Mary Catherine Roper of the ACLU of Pennsylvania; Inspector Derrick E. Wood of the Philadelphia Police Department; and Assistant District Attorney Deborah Watson-Stokes.

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Announcements

The Legal is seeking contributing authors for its weekly In-House Counsel column. Articles can cover a broad range of subjects but should be of particular interest to in-house counsel.

Contact Kristie Rearick at [email protected] for more information or to submit a proposal.