Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Summer 2021 - 5

w w w . B E R K SB A R .o r g
Opening Statement
Joy in the Journey
B
y the time you read this
article, we will be halfway
through 2021. I don't
know about you, but to me it feels as though this year is passing
by in the blink of an eye. While this was certainly not a " normal "
year by any means, feeling as though time is flying by would seem
to be a testament to the fact that we are getting back to " normal, "
or at least a " new normal. "
As we pass 2021's halfway point, this is a great time to take
stock of where we have been, and more importantly, where we are
headed. I'm extremely proud of how our Bar Association has risen
to the challenge of providing support and programming to our
members throughout these difficult times, and more importantly,
how we've stepped up our commitment to the greater Berks
County community.
When it comes to serving our members, the Bar Association
has continued providing CLEs and other learning opportunities.
As the pandemic extended into the spring, we were forced to
move the annual Bench-Bar Conference to late summer again.
I hope to see many of you at the Bench-Bar Conference inperson
at the DoubleTree Hotel in Reading on Wednesday,
August 25. Knowing that many of our members typically count
on the Bench-Bar Conference to earn their CLE credits prior
to the Phase I compliance deadline of April 30, I challenged our
Committee and Section leaders and bar association staff to make
sure our members could still get all 12 credits they needed by April
despite delaying the Bench-Bar Conference. I'm tremendously
proud that we met that challenge while also offering 3 free CLE
seminars in the process.
In addition, our bar association adapted by offering some
of our annual programs online. This year, we had the honor of
hosting a Mock Trial competition featuring more than a dozen
high school teams from Berks, Lehigh and Northampton counties.
Mock Trial Coordinator Lisa Siciliano and a small army of
volunteers, including many of our judges and attorneys from all
three counties, conducted the trials via Zoom over several evenings
in late February and early March. A huge thank you to Lisa and
everyone who made sure that students did not miss this incredible
experience.
In May, we hosted a Cinco de Mayo-themed Law Day
celebration, featuring keynote speaker Alicia Bannon of the
Brennan Center for Justice in New York. We turned to Zoom
once again for this annual event, which also included announcing
the winners of the Bar Association's Multimedia Competition and
the Fox Memorial Law Scholarship recipient. Hopefully everyone
enjoyed their meals and the conversation.
We even utilized technology to conduct a candidates' forum
for the five candidates running for Berks County judge. And for
the first time, our members weighed in on the qualifications of
each candidate by casting ballots in the Bar Association's judicial
plebiscite via e-mail. As we had to remind our members and the
public, the Bar Association does not endorse any candidates.
Rather, we publish the results of the plebiscite because we
believe the opinion of our members is important to the public's
consideration of judicial candidates. Thank you to the 268
members who completed a ballot and took part in this important
poll. All five candidates who ran in the May primary seeking to fill
two open seats on the Berks County Court of Common Pleas are
members of our Bar Association. Thank you to all the candidates
for investing the time sharing your vision for serving as judge.
Congratulations to Tina Boyd and James Gavin for their hardfought
victories.
Continued on next page
Summer 2021 | 5
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Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Summer 2021

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