Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Summer 2020 - 12

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"VIVA LA REVOLUTION!"
Continued from page 11

allowed to stand, "next the City will be requiring children to be
leashed." To which Cal responded, "If it was up to you, we would
not be governed by law at all." The banter went back and forth
until the Judge's phone rang, and he was told it was Chief Judge
Lord on the line. He immediately took the call only to learn it
was actually his courtroom clerk, who announced: "April Fools!"
Judge Troutman thoroughly enjoyed the joke and treated
everyone to coffee and donuts. Pepe was not invited to the postconference repast.
According to Lou, "Mac had a great sense of humor."
They tested its limits when Lou played the part of a Pagan.
Tom Chesonis, a Pagan, had been charged with gun running,
whereupon he ran off to Canada. Prior to those charges being
filed, he had been fired from his employment for worshipping the
Pagan god. With Lee Rothman representing him, a federal action
was filed, contesting his firing as unconstitutional. The case was
assigned to Judge Troutman.
After escaping to Canada, Chesonis sent a box of clothing,
including his Pagan colors, to Lee. Due to the client's
unavailability, Lee requested and was granted continuances each
time the case was called for trial, until the Judge lost his patience.
The case was set for trial with the Judge announcing there would
be no more extensions.
At the appointed time, Lou and Lee appeared in the
courtroom with Lou wearing Chesonis's coat displaying the Pagan
colors. The courtroom clerk had Lou sit in the witness stand,
whereupon he went back to the retiring room, telling the Judge
that Chesonis was in the courtroom and the parties were ready to
proceed. Lou heard the Judge proclaim, "Where the fuck did they
find him?!"
Judge Troutman came onto the bench, sat down, turned to
the witness stand and immediately "started to roar with laughter."
Case dismissed, and nobody was held in contempt. Those were
the days!
In the late '70s, Sharon describes managing "a multicultural,
multi-racial office when that was probably rare in Reading." She
cites a support staff that "included a legendary paralegal named
Eligio Colon who knew everyone in the Hispanic community and
greeted everyone with 'My good, gracious friend!' He did social
security disability law and lots of other stuff. Eligio would do
favors for everyone and was a great liaison with the community."

Viva la Revolution Meets Reagan Revolution
Change was inevitable. When President Ronald Reagan took
office in 1981, he was determined to end federal funding of legal
12 | Berks Barrister

services. Bar associations, including our own, passed resolutions
in support of legal services and called for funding to continue. As
Lou notes, "Considering the chilly reception we had received from
the local bar initially, having our Association come out to provide
support felt good."
Funding was not eliminated, but it was reduced and
restrictions were placed on the practice, such as no more class
actions. Staffing took a hit. Gene returned to Miami to become a
very successful criminal defense attorney. Mark left to be director
of a clinic at the University of Pennsylvania and then on to the
University of San Diego to teach clinical studies. Lee took up
private practice in Allentown; he died in November 2017.
After Rick left CPLS in 1976, he became a private practitioner
in Lancaster and achieved great success as a trial attorney.
Respected by the members of the bar, Rick was later elected
president of the Lancaster Bar Association, a rare honor for a legal
services attorney.
Even rarer, the former legal aid attorney was elected mayor of
Lancaster in 2006, serving a total of three terms. In writing about
Lancaster in his New York Times column of July 3, 2018, Thomas
Friedman referred to Rick as a "dynamic new mayor," one of the
leaders taking "Lancaster to a new level." The Democrat mayor
had forged a partnership with then State Senator Lloyd Smucker,
a Republican. Friedman quotes Rick as saying, "You get an awful
lot done if you don't worry who gets credit."
Such an attitude was also true of his managerial style with TriCounty and then Central Pennsylvania Legal Services, according
to Sharon. "The credit for our success goes to Rick who was and is
a visionary. He provided important support for our attorneys who
were challenging the system."
Despite his lucrative success as a trial attorney and being
recognized as playing an integral part in the revitalization
of Lancaster, Rick reflects on his career in legal services and
concludes, "It was during that time I was doing my most
important work. I have never felt as worthy as when I was a legal
services lawyer."
In 1980, Sharon left CPLS with the birth of their daughter.
Herb went into private practice a year later, and George is still
displaying his charm since leaving CPLS in 1981 and beginning
his own solo practice. Lou hung in there until 1991, when he
entered the world of private practice and is now a Berks County
Divorce Master.
While the staff attorneys were reduced in number, the need for
free representation was not. Once again, the Berks County Bar
Association stepped up and began a pro bono program to help fill
the gap. It has been considered a model for the rest of the state.

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Berks County Bar Association The Berks Barrister Summer 2020

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