The Causeway
The monthly newsletter for the Franklin County Bar Association
"The law is a causeway upon which, so long as he keeps to it, a citizen may walk safely" Robert Bolt, playwright
May 2021
Continuing Legal Education Offered by FCBA via Zoom
Avoiding Malpractice by Improving Staff Relations, 1 ethics credit
May 18th
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A good number of malpractice claims result from staff errors. Good communications between attorney and staff are essential. This course will examine the most common complaints from both attorneys and staff, and provide sound suggestions for the changes to make which will have the greatest positive impact both on interpersonal relationships, and on the accuracy of client work.

Ellen Freedman, CLM
 
A law practice administrator and management consultant for over 30 years, Ellen Freedman helps lawyers and law firms improve their bottom line and work more efficiently. Through her company, Freedman Consulting, Ellen provides hands-on assistance to attorneys in solo to mid-size firm environments. Through her work with the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Ellen remotely assists its 27,000+ members through a Hot Line, publishing, and creation and presentation of MCLE. Ellen is considered by many to be the single most valuable member benefit offered by the PBA exclusively to help attorneys run their practices more profitably and/or efficiently.
Ellen’s Top Practice Management Tips, 2 ethics credits
June 24th
A pinch of wisdom, a cup of common sense, a gallon of good advice. This seminar includes a soupcon of top practice management tips in all areas of management; extracted from Ellen’s extensive repertoire of seminars.

Ellen Freedman, CLM
 
A law practice administrator and management consultant for over 30 years, Ellen Freedman helps lawyers and law firms improve their bottom line and work more efficiently. Through her company, Freedman Consulting, Ellen provides hands-on assistance to attorneys in solo to mid-size firm environments. Through her work with the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Ellen remotely assists its 27,000+ members through a Hot Line, publishing, and creation and presentation of MCLE. Ellen is considered by many to be the single most valuable member benefit offered by the PBA exclusively to help attorneys run their practices more profitably and/or efficiently.
Do you have a suggestion for a CLE? Know a great speaker? Would you like to present a CLE for FCBA members? Please contact Amelia director@franklinbar.org
Save the Dates - Bench Bar Conference
The Bench Bar Committee will be hosting a Judges' Panel via Zoom on Friday, October 8, 2021. We will not be scheduling an in-person conference this year, based on your feedback from our BBC survey.

The Bench Bar Committee is planning an in-person Bench Bar Conference on Friday, October 7, 2022.
Support the FCBA YLD's Race Against Poverty Team
The FCBA YLD is proud to participate in this year's Race Against Poverty. The FCBA YLD has sponsored a race team every year since 2014.
 
We hope you can join us for the 11th Annual Race Against Poverty, June 1st - 7th!
This year's race is a virtual event. You can walk or run anytime during the event. Sign up by May 10th to guarantee you will receive a shirt during the scheduled T-shirt Pick Ups.
 
Proceeds go to support a local initiative called Circles, which is seeing families move out of poverty into long term stability. 

2020's YLD Race Against Poverty Team met at Antrim Township Park to Race together while being socially distanced.
FCBA Partners with State Bar Commission to Increase Public Awareness of Judicial Ratings
The Franklin County Bar Association is partnering with the Pennsylvania Bar Association Judicial Evaluation Commission (PBA JEC) to promote greater public awareness of the commission’s ratings of Supreme, Superior and Commonwealth court candidates and the voter education website, www.pavotesmart.com. The PBA JEC has pulled together a toolkit for bar association members that includes an opinion editorial/letter to the editor that can be easily customized and distributed to local news outlets, digital and print ads for bar websites and legal publications, a short video clip and other prompts to be shared on social media, creation of #PAvotesmart21 for social media use and an internal article for members about the initiative for membership publications. In addition, the commission plans on implementing a paid ad on social media, adding judicial ratings and resources from local bar associations to www.pavotesmart.com and doing more proactive outreach to the media.


The PBA JEC ratings for candidates seeking election to the state’s appellate courts can be found below. In the 2021 election, voters will be filling one seat on the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, one seat on the Superior Court of Pennsylvania and two seats on the Commonwealth Court. The commission encourages all bar leaders and members to utilize and share these ratings to help educate voters before they go to the polls.

These are the candidates appearing on the May 18 primary election ballot that the JEC has rated:
 
Supreme Court of Pennsylvania

Highly Recommended

Judge P. Kevin Brobson (Dauphin County)
Judge Maria C. McLaughlin (Philadelphia County)
Judge Paula A. Patrick (Philadelphia County)

Superior Court of Pennsylvania
 
Recommended
 
Jill L. Beck (Allegheny County)
Judge Timika R. Lane (Philadelphia County)
Bryan S. Neft (Allegheny County)
Megan Sullivan (Chester County)

Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania
 
Highly Recommended

Judge David L. Spurgeon (Allegheny County)

Recommended
 
Judge J. Andrew Crompton (Cumberland County)
Judge Lori A. Dumas (Philadelphia County)
Amanda Green-Hawkins (Allegheny County)
Judge Sierra Thomas Street (Philadelphia County)

Not Recommended

Stacy Sorokes Wallace (McKean County)

The definitions for the ratings are as follows:

·        Highly Recommended: The candidate possesses the highest combination of legal ability, experience, integrity and temperament and would be capable of outstanding performance as a judge or justice of the court for which he/she is a candidate.

·        Recommended: Based on legal ability, experience, integrity and temperament, the candidate would be able to perform satisfactorily as a judge or justice of the court for which he/she is a candidate.

·        Not Recommended: Based on legal ability, experience, integrity or temperament, or any combination thereof, at the present time, the candidate is inadequate to perform satisfactorily as a judge or justice of the court for which he/she is a candidate.

“Our commission’s goal is to provide information to assist voters in choosing candidates best suited to serve as fair, impartial and knowledgeable jurists on Pennsylvania’s highest courts,” said Kimberly D. Moses of Allegheny County, chair of the PBA JEC. “Our commission only recommends candidates it finds to have the legal ability, experience, integrity and temperament needed to provide satisfactory or outstanding levels of performance on the appellate courts’ benches.”

The JEC provides a descriptive paragraph to explain each candidate’s rating and posts the questionnaire each candidate provides as part of the ratings process. That information as well as details about the JEC’s evaluation process and a list of the commission’s lawyer and non-lawyer membership, can be found on the PBA’s voter education website, www.pavotesmart.com.
ABA Survey outlines best practices for post-COVID profession
The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on virtually all segments of the legal profession, prompting a unique opportunity for firms and organizations to reimagine the practice of law, according to a new survey by the American Bar Association.”
Press Releases, Memos and Important Notices 
39th Judicial District Memos and Information
The Disciplinary Board
of the Supreme Court of PA
Supreme Court of PA
The Pennsylvania Judiciary has provided updates at the link below regarding county-by-county court operations and proceedings. They continue to monitor developments regarding the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19) and its impact on court operations.
Guardianship Tracking System Online Workshops offered by AOPC - April, May & June
Please see below for a brochure regarding the next round of GTS Guardian Workshops for court-appointed guardians. This series offers sessions in April, may & June. 
 
Guardians who participated in any of the prior workshop/webinar sessions will not need to attend since the material being presented is essentially the same.  This series is again being offered exclusively as ‘Online Workshops’. The online webinars have been very successful and convenient for the guardians since various dates and times are being offered to accommodate their schedules, and also travel is not required.
 
The guardians will need to register online so that the trainers can appropriately plan and staff the sessions based on the number expected to participate. 
 
PA Bar Association
Distance Learning CLEs
PA attorneys may complete 6 distance learning CLEs per compliance year. Distance learning CLEs recorded by FCBA and other PA Bars are available through Axom Education.
FCBA CLEs from April 2021
Landlord and Tenant Issues in Franklin County during COVID
Cybersecurity
FCBA CLEs from March 2021
Student Loan Basics
How to Pay Less to the IRS
Tax Returns, What Can We Learn from Them?
New CLEs added to Axom
Gun Rights and Self-Defense
Mindful Lawyering
Veterans Law Update
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Coffee Corner
"Coffee Corner" is a periodic column in The Causeway by Bar members Annie Gómez Shockey, Brandon Copeland, and Victoria Beard.  
By Annie Gómez Shockey


This pandemic causes extra stress for all of us. We’re well over a year into it and uncertainties still abound. As H.P. Lovecraft put it, “The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown.” The one thing we’ve truly been able to count on is the constant unpredictability that comes with trying to practice law, keep our courts open, and maintain access to justice for all. This isn’t easy for any of us in our professional lives and in our personal lives. We all have loved ones who passed away during this pandemic. Whether the death was caused by COVID-19 or not, our normal grieving process was impacted. For some that meant missing the funeral all together and for others it meant not being able to give or receive a comforting hug. We also must endure the stress of not being able to help our family, friends, neighbors, church members, etc., whenever COVID-19 touches their lives in a negative way. Most, if not all of us, became attorneys because we wanted to help people. It’s in our nature to want to help those we love whenever we hear about a problem their facing. Yet many of those problems are outside of the legal realm.
As much as we’re used to picking up the phone and calling each other for a little help in an unfamiliar area of law, we often forget that along with practice area proficiency comes tangential life lessons. What I mean by that is - as we do our daily jobs we repeatedly come into contact with information and professionals that would be helpful to our colleagues. For example, the added stress of the pandemic has led some to turn to drugs or alcohol. Since we have a helping heart, we want to do something but don’t know where to start. My suggestion is to pick up the phone and call one of the criminal defense attorneys or the assistant district attorneys to ask what resources they know about in our county. For those practitioners, it’s second nature to have a list of in-patient and out-patient rehabilitation facilities available. They might also direct you to Franklin County Drug & Alcohol to have an initial screening completed. Maybe a friend lost their job during the pandemic and has decided to start a small business but he/she doesn’t know where to turn to find an accountant. Make a call to one of our colleagues who handle business law matters. Those attorneys work with accountants regularly and would be able to give a reference for an accountant they trust. Maybe a neighbor shares that his son is having trouble paying the rent at his apartment. Get in touch with our colleagues at MidPenn Legal Services or Franklin County Legal Services to find out what rental assistance is available. They might include information about the Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and how to apply for it. Maybe this is something everyone is already doing, and if so, that is absolutely wonderful. If it’s not, it would be great to give this a try. 
Please don’t forget about helping ourselves or each other during this pandemic. We’ve all heard about Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers (LCL), but I think sometimes LCL only comes to mind if we’re to the point of turning to drugs, alcohol or other vices to alleviate our stress. Please don’t forget that LCL is there to help any of us when we need counseling/therapy for any reason. Some of the best things about getting connected with a therapist through LCL are that you’ll get an initial appointment very quickly and you know the therapist is someone accustomed to having attorneys as patients. If the added layer of pandemic stress is just too much, please call LCL. We’re all in this together. 
Franklin County Bar Association
100 Lincoln Way East, Suite E, Chambersburg, PA 17201
717-267-2032