The Legal Intelligencer Blog

Traffic Court Legislation on Its Way to Governor

By Amaris Elliott-Engel
Of the Legal Staff

The Pennsylvania Senate unanimously approved the enabling legislation that would eliminate the Philadelphia Traffic Court in the wake of the latest ticket-fixing scandal within that body.

The Senate had already passed the bill but today concurred in two amendments made in the House of Representatives.

State Senator Dominic Pileggi, R-Delaware, the majority leader of the Senate and the sponsor of the legislation, said “it is past time to do away with this institution,” citing several past instances of criminal cases arising out of the court and the most recent criminal case in which several current and former Traffic Court judges were charged by federal prosecutors with ticket-fixing. Three judges have pled guilty. Six have entered pleas of not guilty.

When Governor Tom Corbett signs the bill into law, the elections for three Traffic Court judges scheduled for this year will be canceled, Pileggi said.

The legislation would create a traffic division within Municipal Court, would create two new Municipal Court judges to adjudicate any Traffic Court cases involving jail sentencing, and would provide that the one judge who is still sitting and has not been charged criminally would be phased out.

Legislators also have approved a second bill that would eliminate the constitutional authority for the Philadelphia Traffic Court if the legislation passes again in 2014 and then is approved by Pennsylvania voters in 2015.

Amaris Elliott-Engel can be contacted at 215-557-2354 or [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @AmarisTLI.

Andrew Chirls Joins Fineman Krekstein

By Zack Needles
Of the Legal Staff

Andrew C. Chirls has left Philadelphia-based litigation boutique Haines & Associates to join Philadelphia-based general practice firm Fineman Krekstein & Harris.

Chirls, who focuses his practice on business litigation, was a partner at Wolf Block until its dissolution in 2009, at which point he joined Haines & Associates as the firm’s sixth full-time lawyer and second partner.

Chirls has now joined Fineman Krekstein as of counsel.

"When we found out Andy was available to join us, we jumped at the opportunity. He will be a very active of counsel to our practice," Fineman Krekstein Chairman S. David Fineman said in a press release.

Zack Needles can be contacted at 215-557-2493 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @ZNeedlesTLI.

Minority- and Women-Owned Firms in Pennsylvania

By Ben Seal
Of the Legal Staff

Each year, we at The Legal publish PaLaw, our report on the legal profession, a magazine packed with surveys, charts, analysis and projections. One of the key parts of PaLaw is our listing of the minority- and women-owned law firms in Pennsylvania. Our goal is always to make the free listing as complete as possible from firms across the state, and to do that we need your help.

So, I ask, do you work at a minority- or women-owned firm or know someone who does? If so, we want to include that firm in our report, putting its name in front of the thousands of lawyers who will use PaLaw 2013 all year.

All you have to do is get in touch with me, either via email at [email protected] or phone at 215-557-2368, and ask to be included. There’s a simple, one-page survey to fill out. That’s all it takes.

In addition to giving greater exposure to the firms in the magazine, we'll get to know these firms better. This creates opportunities for them to be called for comment on stories we're working on, and to pitch articles for the paper and our special supplements.

So if you or someone you know has information to contribute to this survey, please contact me to be included!

The Legal's Best Law Firm Corporate Practices

By Ben Seal
Of the Legal Staff

Nearly six months ago, The Legal asked law firms across the state to tell us what makes their corporate practices the best. Following a model we set last year when we conducted the Litigation Departments of the Year contest, based on Legal affiliate The American Lawyer’s own contest, we wanted to shift the focus this year to the Pennsylvania firms making an impact with their corporate work. It was the first time we had gone through the process with an eye on corporate practices and we weren’t sure just what to expect, but the submissions we received were numerous and impressive across the board.

We asked law firms to share with us their biggest deals and best examples of the work that makes clients turn to them. The work submitted was done largely in Pennsylvania and throughout the rest of the country. The key, though, was that it was done primarily by Pennsylvania lawyers, showcasing the talented attorneys at work in the commonwealth. We had difficult decisions to make in each category as we chose our winners, as it was a truly competitive field.

Each of the winners and runners-up will be profiled in our Best Law Firm Corporate Practices supplement, which is scheduled for publication July 30. Thank you to all the firms that submitted their work for the competition, and we look forward to reading them when we next conduct this contest.

An event will be held October 3 to honor the winners and runners-up. For more information, contact Diane McCollum at [email protected] or 215-557-2335.

General

Winner: Dechert

Runner-up: Cozen O’Connor

Bankruptcy/Reorganization

Winner: Reed Smith

Corporate Governance

Winner: Blank Rome

Finance/M&A

Winner: Dechert

Runner-up: Drinker Biddle & Reath

Runner-up: Morgan, Lewis & Bockius

Non-Litigation Intellectual Property

Winner: Pepper Hamilton

Runner-up: Stradley Ronon Stevens & Young

Real Estate

Winner: Ballard Spahr

Runner-up: Klehr Harrison Harvey Branzburg

Runner-up: Meyer, Unkovic & Scott