ChesterNewMatterSummer2017 - 9

CCBA Feature

Letter from a CCBA Member
February 14, 2017
I am sure that you receive many more complaints than compliments, so I wanted to send this
note. Just to put this in context, I have many years of experience in the law. I was admitted
to practice in 1960, practiced in England for two years and Mexico for one year, in Bucks
County for 24 years and in Chester County from 1984 until I retired on January 1, 2013. I also
taught political science and constitutional law as a full professor in college for five years and
jurisprudence as an adjunct professor in law school for three years.
I attended the immigration CLE course at 8:30 a.m. presented by Theodore J. Murphy and
Christopher M. Casazza this morning. Please share this note with them and with whomever
else you think might be interested in it. This was the most impressive event that I have
experienced in this Bar Association and you can be quite proud of having sponsored it.
First, it was, of course, very timely. Secondly, it was well attended (room was overflowing).
Thirdly, the audience consisted of lawyers who were truly interested in the subject matter. Only
a handful of the attendees were practicing immigration law. The presenters were well prepared
and most informative. Their remarks were balanced and straightforward.
My sense of the members of the audience was that there was a genuine concern about
how immigrants were being treated and a desire to ensure that they received some form of
due process.
The most impressive moment was when the two presenters offered to help any of their fellow
lawyers in defending the poor immigrants who were and are being ground up by the unfair
and ineffective legal system. The spirit of cooperation and support of their fellow lawyers was a
great example of how lawyers are supposed to conduct themselves and quite generous on
their part.
I have tried many cases in many different fields of the law (commercial, real estate,
international), but I have never tried an immigration case. Listening to the way the legal
system works in that field of law reminded me of the two years during which I defended young
men who were opposed to the Vietnam War and would not allow themselves to be drafted.
Counseling those clients on how to qualify as a conscientious objector sounded similar to
counseling immigrants on how to qualify for asylum. Listening to this lecture reminded me of
why I went to law school and practiced law.
Thank you for hosting this educational event and for promoting the best in the practice of
law and in developing the collaboration among lawyers that is basic to law being a profession.
Sincerely,
David H. Moskowitz

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