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Speakers

Hoban Law Group senior counsel Steve Schain is set to present "Is Your Captive Ready for Cannabis?" at the 29th World Captive Insurance Forum addressing emerging worldwide risks and providing solutions not available in traditional insurance on Jan. 28 in Florida.

Schain chairs Hoban Law Group's Pennsylvania and New Jersey practice and financial services group.

Admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, Schain represents entities, governments and individuals in litigation, regulation, compliance, preparing and submitting license applications, entity formation and drafting legislation.

Elected and Appointed

The Anti-Defamation League announced the appointment of Shira J. Goodman, a nonprofit executive, advocate and attorney, as regional director of ADL Philadelphia, which serves eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

For the past seven years, Goodman served as the executive director of CeaseFirePA, a statewide organization working to end gun violence in Pennsylvania.

CeaseFirePA advocates for common-sense gun laws and action by Pennsylvania's executive officers and builds a grassroots advocacy network in the commonwealth.

Goodman also spent a decade as the deputy director of Pennsylvanians for Modern Courts, a nonprofit working for fair courts and equal access to justice, and worked for five years as a labor lawyer at Ballard Spahr.

In her new role, which she assumed Jan. 13, Goodman oversees ADL's portfolio for fighting hate in the Philadelphia region.

She leads the organization's efforts to combat extremism, train law enforcement, protect victims of anti-Semitism and other forms of bias, advocate for civil rights for all, build coalitions and teach students, educators and the wider community to challenge hate in eastern Pennsylvania, southern New Jersey and Delaware.

Goodman is a graduate of the Yale Law School.

She served in a number of capacities with the Pennsylvania Bar Association, including as a member of the Project Constitution Task Force.

Goodman served on the boards of Perelman Jewish Day School and Camp Ramah in the Poconos and is active in the Jewish Federation of Greater Philadelphia.

She was recognized by several community groups for her work fighting gun violence.

Goodman succeeds Nancy K. Baron-Baer, who retired after serving 17 years at ADL Philadelphia, including the last seven as its regional director.

Baron-Baer recently received an award at ADL's annual dinner, The Good Fight, recognizing her for her leadership over her nearly two-decade career at the organization.

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Julie Berson was elected to the partnership of Kleinbard.

Berson is a partner in Kleinbard's real estate and finance group.

She has experience handling property acquisitions, leasing, ground leasing, condominiums and planned unit developments, where she works with multifamily, retail, office and industrial properties.

Berson also serves as a member of PIDC's loan committee, where she assists with the review and approval of their loans to local businesses, developers and nonprofits.

Announcements

Fineman Krekstein & Harris partner Lee Applebaum is a co-author of the recently published

"The Business Courts Benchbook: Procedures and Best Practices in Business and Commercial Cases."

The American Bar Association book is a primer on U.S. business courts.

Applebaum manages Fineman Krekstein's Business Courts Blog.

He works with regional and national clients on a spectrum of business and litigation matters, with his current practice focused on appellate litigation and mediation.

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The Legal and Pennsylvania Law Weekly are looking for verdicts and settlements to report.

If you're a plaintiffs or defense attorney who has obtained a verdict or settlement in Pennsylvania county or federal court recently, email Zack Needles at [email protected].