The Berks Barrister | Winter 2016

WINTER 2016

Bench-Bar RetreatEducation & Relaxation

“A Fox should not be on the jury at a

Goose’s trial”

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BOARD OF DIRECTORSJILL GEHMAN KOESTEL, President

KURT ALTHOUSE, President-ElectLISA A. SICILIANO, SecretaryJUSTIN D. BODOR, Treasurer

GEORGE A. GONZALEZ, DirectorPETER F. SCHUCHMAN, Director

MARY KAY BERNOSKY, DirectorMICHAEL A. SETLEY, Director

DAWN M. L. PALANGE, DirectorDANIEL C. NEVINS, Director

JESSE L. PLEET, Immediate Past PresidentCHRISTIN L. KOCHEL, President YLS

BAR ASSOCIATION STAFFDONALD F. SMITH, JR., ESQUIRE, Executive Director

ANDREA J. STAMM, Lawyer Referral/SecretaryKAREN A. LOEPER, Law Journal Secretary

PAULA J. ZIEGLER, Communications ManagerRAINY LEONOR-LAKE, Community Outreach Coordinator

ROARKE ASTON, Law Journal EditorJOHN E. REIGLE, Law Journal Assistant Editor

MATTHEW M. MAYER, Barrister Editor

Please submit materials or comments to: Berks County Bar Association

544 Court Street, P.O. Box 1058 Reading, PA 19603-1058

Phone: 610.375.4591Fax: 610.373.0256

Email: [email protected]

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P U B L I S H E D B Y

Departments:1 President’s Message

10 Technology - Frankly Speaking

13 Spotlight on New Members

22 Book Review

25 Restaurant Review

26 Miscellaneous Docket

Essay on Anne Frank

Holiday Reception Cruise

Holiday Benefit Luncheon Benefiting Law Foundation was Big Success Again!

“Becker, We Told You Not to Talk”

Law Foundation of Berks County 2015 Annual Giving Campaign

2015 Admission Ceremony and Reception

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“A Fox should not be on the jury at a Goose’s trial”

Bench-Bar Retreat – Time For Education & Relaxation

An “Ornament” of the Berks Bar Was PBA President 1916-1917

Small Firm Life

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6 Little Joe Talks About Big Red Machines, Wheeze Kids, and Other Things Baseball

Berks Barrister | 1

President’s Message Jill Gehman Koestel, Esquire, 2016 President

Our Berks County Bar Association is a wonderful organization. I am proud to report that it provides our members with more opportunities and experiences than any other similarly sized bar association in the Commonwealth. Our members are offered convenient and interesting CLE classes within our building and are afforded a last minute “marathon session” at the end of a reporting period to assist the procrastinators with an opportunity to comply with Pennsylvania’s CLE requirement.

Whether our social events are held in our building or out in our community, they afford everyone opportunities to interact and make new contacts as well as renew old friendships. The 2015 entertainment committee chaired by Andy George provided several social events that were well attended by members. The golf tournament and picnic at Golden Oaks was competitive as usual and our holiday party was festive and fun! The comfortable venue was bursting

with a large turnout, and Rose from Bravo for Rose Catering outdid herself with the food, drinks and the cruise ship theme. Our in-house Legal Spirits events are always a good time and provide a break to the winter doldrums.

The Jazz Fest Dinner and concert is sold out every year, including this year! March Madness gives members an opportunity to cheer for their favorite teams while socializing with colleagues. Speed Networking will be reintroduced this year to provide younger and more seasoned lawyers an opportunity to become acquainted. So many events that always result in a great time for all! The success of all our gatherings confirms we provide a variety of social events that address the varied interests of our membership.

Due to the success of the 2014 Family Law Conference, it is back by popular demand. It is set for September 15 at the Doubletree. The Solo and Small Practice Section sponsored a conference in 2013 and 2014 and is looking to repeat this year as well. The Bankruptcy Section is planning to host a Regional Conference later in 2016.

Such interaction, whether it occurs at a social event or an educational conference, directly and positively impacts the working relationship between attorneys. It is my belief that attendance at these activities improves relationships between fellow members of our Bar through the simple act of getting to know each other as human beings and not just as legal adversaries.

I have personally experienced a change in attitude from adversaries after socializing with them at Bar functions. I believe our clients benefit in many ways when we work with each other civilly and cordially

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Learning Your Opposing Counsel is a Person

President Koestel spoke when James M. Lillis and Patrick T. Barrett were sworn in as Berks Common Pleas Judges. “Their service as judges will benefit the legal community and the Berks County community as a whole. We will be served by ethical, caring, committed men who truly want to do the right thing in every sense but particularly in the legal sense. We deserve to have them in this position. And they deserve to be here.”

2 | Berks Barrister

Learning Your Opposing Counsel is a PersonContinued from page 1

instead of approaching every case like the next World War. In turn, stress levels are reduced when we are not constantly dealing with each other in a contentious, adversarial manner. While we may be on opposite sides of cases, it is much easier when we communicate amicably, and that occurs more spontaneously when we know the person, not just the lawyer, with whom we are dealing, which can be a direct result of socializing through our Bar Association.

Another excellent event is the Bench-Bar Conference led by Allen Shollenberger which provides a vast variety of CLEs and a social atmosphere that encourages the exchange of ideas, information and personal updates. One of my personal favorite opportunities to get to know fellow Bar members is the Bench-Bar Retreat, also arranged by Allen’s committee. Last year’s retreat in Punta Cana, Dominican Republic was an awesome experience. Although it was well attended, we would love to see double the attendance at this year’s retreat. Judge Rowley joined us and added the judicial perspective to our discussions, and we hope to have more judges attend as well in 2016. With only 2 CLEs to attend, most of the retreat involved socializing and lounging on the beach.

The best part for me of the 2015 retreat was the significant number of our younger Bar members in attendance. They are an energetic and fun group! This was eye opening for us seasoned members. The involvement of these young lawyers in activities such as the Bench-Bar Retreat is exactly the infusion of energy and excitement that will take our Bar Association into the future. I challenge each of those young ‘uns to entice an additional Bar member to go on the Retreat next year. I also challenge these wonderful young attorneys to

Speaking at Eleni Dimitriou Geishauser’s swearing-in ceremony, President Koestel noted, “This is the first time in Berks County history that a female Bar President has welcomed a female judge to the bench. And it will be the first time in Berks County history that we will have four female sitting judges as well as a female senior judge. We have come a long way, Baby! . . . Eleni and I have been friends and colleagues for many years, and I could not be any happier to be here today to participate in her ceremony. I have always known Eleni to be an ethical, highly competent attorney . . . I know that her mother sitting here and her esteemed father, sitting up there somewhere watching as well, are bursting with pride at the wonderful woman, wife, mother, attorney and now judge they have raised.”

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take leadership roles in our organization. They just make everything fun!

Because we all work hard at our profession to make a living for ourselves and our families, the time we spend together at all of our Association’s events should be fun. I wish everyone a fabulous 2016. I promise to try my darnedest to get those young ‘uns involved and crank up the energy and excitement for everyone through them! I hope to see as many of our members as possible at our Bar functions throughout 2016.

WINTER 2016

Bench-Bar RetreatEducation & Relaxation


Goose’s trial”

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Continued on page 4

As the above quote by Thomas Fuller, an erudite seventeenth century churchman and historian, makes clear, an effective Plaintiff ’s lawyer has to be able to remove jurors who may have hidden animus toward the client. The ability to impanel a fair and impartial jury is largely dependent upon the information you glean from prospective jurors during voir dire. The information you learn is critical to your decisions concerning how to use peremptory challenges as well as serving as a basis for consideration of striking prospective jurors for cause. The Rules provide that voir dire shall be conducted to provide the opportunity to obtain, at a minimum, a full description of “relationship, friendship or association with the parties ...” Pa.R.Civ.P. 220.1(15). In order to ensure fairness and avoid even the appearance of bias, there

By Michael McGuckin, Esquire

are many circumstances where the Court will presume prejudice and exclude a juror. It is counsel’s duty to ask questions and identify the presumed prejudice which is evident in both direct and indirect relationships between jurors and the defendants. In medical malpractice cases it is essential to engage in a thorough voir dire given that the prospective jurors may very likely have a relationship with the defendant health system, hospital, practice group and physicians. This is especially true in a county like Berks with two hospitals that directly employ physicians, and either own, control or are directly affiliated with numerous physician practice groups. Counsel must not only inquire as to employment status and affiliations, but also as to whether an individual juror is a patient or has a family member that is a patient of any of the defendants or their affiliates.


Goose’s trial”

4 | Berks Barrister

Thorough questioning concerning indirect relationships with all of the defendants and related entities is required. The Pennsylvania Supreme Court has made it clear that “[o]ne of the most essential elements of a successful jury trial is an impartial jury,” and “individuals with a bias or close relationship to the parties, lawyers or matters involved” must be examined and excluded through the voir dire process. Bruckshaw v. Frankford Hosp. of City of Philadelphia, 58 A.3d 102, 109 (Pa. 2012) (citing Colosimo v. Pennsylvania Elec. Co., 518 A.2d 1206, 1209 (Pa. 1986)). The test for determining whether a prospective juror should be disqualified for cause is: Whether he is willing and able to eliminate the influence of any scruples and render a verdict according to the evidence, and this is to be determined on the basis of answers to questions and demeanor...A challenge for cause should be granted when the prospective juror has such a close relationship, familial, financial, or situational, with the parties, counsel, victims, or witnesses that the court will presume a likelihood of prejudice or demonstrates a likelihood of prejudice by his or her conduct and answers to questions.

McHugh v. Proctor & Gamble Paper Products, Co., 776 A.2d 266, 270 (Pa. Super. 2001) (emphasis added) (internal citation omitted). Recent Superior Court decisions in Pennsylvania have addressed the important issue of presumed prejudice and why plaintiff lawyers should not be forced to use peremptory challenges when challenges for cause are warranted. In Cordes v. Associates of Internal Medicine, 87 A.3d 829 (Pa. Super. 2014), the Superior Court held that the trial court had committed reversible error in denying the plaintiff ’s challenges for cause against three jurors, who, as established during voir dire, had indirect relationships with the defendants. In Cordes, plaintiff ’s decedent, Mr. Cordes, was being treated by his family doctor who diagnosed him with vertigo. The physician instructed Mr. Cordes to discontinue plavix, a blood thinner. After discontinuing the plavix, Mr. Cordes suffered a massive stroke and died. The administrator of his estate filed a medical malpractice action alleging that the discontinuation of plavix was a deviation from the applicable standard of care and caused his death. During voir dire, the trial judge denied certain challenges for cause that plaintiff asserted against three jurors. The case proceeded to trial and resulted in a defense verdict. An appeal followed. The plaintiff alleged that the three jurors should have been excluded for cause because they had “situational relationships” with the defendant-physician and a third juror had

a “close financial relationship” with a defendant since the juror was employed by the same corporation. Specifically, the plaintiff established that two of the jurors had close family members who were patients of the defendant physician. The third challenged juror was the employee of a parent company that owned a subsidiary which was a named defendant and the employer of the defendant-physician. The Superior Court in Cordes found that all three jurors should have been excluded because of the “importance of insuring not only a jury that is impartial in fact, but one that appears to be free of the taint of partiality to a disinterested observer ...” The Court held that a “close situational relationship with a party may be found, even when the relationship in question is indirect.” The clinical relationships between the defendant physician and the jurors’ close family members warranted a finding of per se prejudice. Additionally, the Superior Court found that the juror employed by the parent company should also have been stricken for cause. In the Court’s analysis, the juror’s employment relationship with the parent company, which had a clear financial interest in the outcome of the litigation, “created a significant risk of partiality to establish prejudice per se arising from his jury service.” The Superior Court held that “the close situational, familial, and financial relationships presented in the instant case necessarily stripped the trial court of its discretion to rely upon the challenged jurors’ assurances of impartiality. Rather, those relationships required exclusion per se.” Prior to Cordes, the ability to challenge a trial court’s decision on a motion to strike for cause on these bases was often narrow and difficult to achieve (in the face of the routine and expected response “But I can be fair even though I have this relationship ...”). What Cordes clarifies going forward is that the trial court must seriously consider evidence of relationships both direct and indirect identified during voir dire. Simple assurances of “impartiality” from prospective jurors during voir dire will no longer suffice as a bar to meaningful appellate review. After the Cordes decision, another Superior Court decision, Shinal v. Toms, M.D., 2015 Pa. Super. 178 (2015), held that the likelihood of prejudice to a plaintiff could not have been presumed based on prospective jurors’ relationship with the defendant-surgeon. The Shinal decision is currently on appeal. The Superior Court’s review in Shinal concerning the underlying jury selection concluded that none of the challenged prospective jurors had such “a close relationship with participants in the litigation, on which prejudice must be presumed.” It is important to note that in the Shinal case, the corporate defendant, Geisinger Medical Center (and related entities) had been dismissed prior to jury selection. As such, the

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“A Fox should not be on the jury at a Goose’s trial”

Berks Barrister | 5

health system and hospital were no longer defendants in the action, unlike Cordes where corporate entities remained as direct defendants. The Court reasoned that based upon the review of voir dire, none of the challenged jurors had such a “close relationship with participants in the litigation,” and the Court would not expand the range of relationships requiring a presumption of per se prejudice. In Shinal, the appeal was denied because the plaintiff failed during voir dire to “show or develop an argument why any of the four identified prospective jurors should have been stricken for cause as presumptively prejudicial.” Although further appellate direction on these issues can be expected, the expansion of challenges for cause has helped to even the playing field, allowing plaintiff lawyers to ferret out the relationships with hospitals and doctors which will reveal prospective jurors as unworthy candidates to sit in judgment of defendants with whom they have a pre-existing relationship. Michael W. McGuckin, Esquire, is with the Reading law firm of Liever, Hyman& Potter, P.C., where his practice focuses on complex personal injury litigation including medical malpractice.

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The plaque in the Baseball Hall of Fame for Joe Morgan describes him as an “impact player who lifted Cincinnati’s Big Red Machine to a higher level with his multi-faceted skills.” For those of you keeping score at home, Morgan’s career included twenty-two year major league seasons that extended from 1963 to 1984 during which he played for Houston, Cincinnati, San Francisco, Philadelphia, and Oakland, appearing in 2,577 games at second base (a record that still stands) and hitting 268 career home runs in the process. The plaque in Cooperstown also relates how Morgan “packed unusual power into an extraordinarily quick 150 pound fireplug frame.” Listed over the course of his career at a somewhat inflated 5’7”, Morgan, not surprisingly, had the nickname of, “Little Joe.” (After all, over the first years of his career Bonanza — with Michael Landon playing “Little Joe” Cartwright — was America’s number one TV show.) The Hall of Famer was in town on December 4, 2015 as the keynote speaker for the Law Foundation of Berks County and PICPA Reading Chapter’s Holiday Benefit Luncheon. In addition to featuring Joe Morgan, the luncheon also included the presentation of the Sidney D. Kline, Jr. Award for Outstanding Community Service to Christopher E. Pruitt, President of East Penn Manufacturing, for his years of service with many civic organizations. On the day of the luncheon, the 72-year-old Morgan, recovering from complications caused by an infection following the replacement of both knees that now requires that he use a cane, overcame his physical discomfort to regale the audience of 440 with selected nuggets, tidbits, and gems from his baseball career. Delivered in an a conversational “armchair” format, Morgan first answered questions posed to him by event

Chairman Mark S. Caltagirone, CPA, and by this writer, before responding to a number of questions from the audience. However, before Morgan shared any of his baseball insights, he made it a point to note that those speakers who preceded him were not only “eloquent” in the delivery of their messages, but also “got to the point and said what they had to say.” He added that this was unique to his experiences with large affairs. The eloquent but succinct group included event Chair Caltagirone, Law Foundation President John J. Speicher, Esquire, Mr. Pruitt, Debbie Hartranft of the Berks County Children’s Home of Reading, a recipient of a portion of the proceeds of the event, as well as an 18-year-old student who described how his experiences at CHOR have helped turn his life around. It was then on to the business at hand…serious baseball talk. Morgan talked of his time with Cincinnati between 1972 and 1979, when the team was known as “The Big Red Machine” – over the course of which the Machine won two World Championships (1975 and 1976), appeared in one other World Series (1972), and made two other appearances in the post season (1973 and 1979). A vital cog in the team’s success over that period, Morgan hit more than 20 home runs in four of those years, batted .288 with more than 100 walks in six of those years, and drove in at least 67 runs in all but one of those seasons, all the while fielding his position flawlessly. These annual performances earned him two Most Valuable Player Awards (1975 and 1976), five Gold Glove Awards (1973-1977), and selection to the All Star Team in each of those seasons. Morgan’s significance in the history of the Cincinnati franchise is evidenced by the life size statue of him, unveiled in 2013, that stands in front of the Great American Ballpark. The success Morgan enjoyed with the Reds makes it no surprise that at

Little Joe Talks AboutBig Red Machines, Wheeze Kids, and Other Things Baseball By Brian C. Engelhardt, Esquire

Holiday Benefit Luncheon keynote speaker Hall of Famer Joe Morgan

Berks Barrister | 7

the time of his 1990 induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame, he chose to have his plaque show him wearing a Reds cap even though he played ten seasons in Houston but only eight in Cincinnati. After talking briefly about his years in Cincinnati, Morgan directed the conversation to his years in Houston, where, in his words, “I learned how to play.” Referring to his official rookie year of 1965 (he had two brief call-ups at the end of the 1963 and 1964 seasons), Morgan, talked about his relationship that developed between himself as a 21-year-old rookie and Houston’s veteran second baseman Nellie Fox, where he, “learned more in one year than you would learn in five years.” Declaring that, “I owe my career to two people: Nellie Fox, because he played second base the way I wanted to play, and to Jackie Robinson because he made it possible for me to fulfill my dream about playing in the major leagues.” Morgan added that when he found out that Fox would be his teammate, “I thought I died and went to heaven — [Fox] was my idol.” Fox, at that time, was in the final season of a nineteen-year major league career that would ultimately lead to his 1997 induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame (a career that began with the Philadelphia A’s until 1949 when he was traded to the White Sox for Joe Tipton – one of Connie Mack’s all time worsts). Morgan related how one day during spring training in 1965 Fox took Morgan around the field, telling other veterans that the 21-year-old rookie was the future of the team, telling his various teammates, “This guy has twice the talent I had.” This gesture by Fox, who was white, was described by Morgan as “something special,” its significance lying not just with Fox’ gracious treatment of the young player, but also in the fact that, although the color line in baseball had been “broken” in 1947, equal treatment for African-American players in 1965 was far from a reality. Morgan related how Fox, “taught me how to work hard. And he taught me how to be a professional on and off the field–we became best friends.” Morgan described how the right field fence in Houston was 390 feet away from home plate, and that he “had hitting 389 foot fly balls down to a T.” Caused by what Morgan related was a “bad habit of dropping [his] elbow.” He countered this by developing a unique batting technique—described on his plaque in Cooperstown as his “trademark….[a] flapping left arm as he awaited pitch.” While Morgan related that he originated the technique, he said Fox helped him hone it to avoid having to keep his shoulder from flying out. The net result of Morgan’s natural talent plus his hard work over the course of that season, further guided by the efforts of his various mentors, was that he was named 1965 National League Rookie of the Year. After the program, Morgan was approached by a member of the audience who said he was from Fox’s home town of St. Thomas, Pennsylvania. Looking the fellow in the eye, Morgan paused and said he becomes very emotional when he talks much about his relationship with Fox, who died of cancer in 1975 at the

Little Joe Talks AboutBig Red Machines, Wheeze Kids, and Other Things Baseball

age of 47. Following the 1971 season, Morgan was part of an eight player blockbuster deal that sent him to the Reds in what turned out to be a really lousy trade for the Astros. He described how upset he was with the trade, as he wanted to be part of the Houston team as it improved with the development of a number of young players on the team.

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Morgan described how he stopped sulking about being traded: “My father said to me, ‘You have a chance to play in a World Series this year. Cincinnati was in the World Series just last year (losing to Baltimore in 1970).’” Morgan said with a chuckle, “I suddenly realized this was the best thing that could have happened to me….I said [Cincinnati] was the right place for me.” It was re-enforced a few years later when, at an All Star Game, he counted six of his former Houston teammates as members of different teams. The Astros had squandered their potential. With Morgan being a fixture at second base, the team’s starting lineup during most of his time there featured Johnny Bench at catcher, and Tony Perez at first base — both future Hall of Famers. At third base was Pete Rose, whose issues with the Hall of Fame are another story, Dave Concepcion at shortstop, with George Foster, Cesar Geronimo and Ken Griffey Sr. covering the outfield. This lineup is referred to not only by Reds fans but many baseball historians as “The Great Eight.” In, “Joe Morgan; Life in Baseball,” by Joe Morgan and David Falkner, (W. W. Norton and Company, 1993), Morgan declared this to be the best defensive starting lineup in the history of baseball, if not the best starting eight ever. Though this appraisal might not be universally accepted by baseball historians, the group certainly deserves to be in the conversation. Morgan discussed the importance of Sparky Anderson, the Red’s Hall of Fame manager, in achieving the team’s great success. Describing how Anderson “managed to balance personalities,” Morgan said, “We all had egos. You had to feel like, ‘I’m the best player on the field.’ Rose, Perez, Bench….Sparky had to keep all this under wraps so that we realized we had to get the job done.” He quoted something Anderson repeated

regularly to the team: “Sparky would say, ‘You are spokes on the wheel. You aren’t the wheel.’….Nobody could have managed our team as well as Sparky.” Learning about Morgan’s early career and development in Houston was fine. Same with all that MVP and World Series stuff about the Big Red Machine (of which my general recollection is of how they regularly stomped the Phillies; I looked it up. While Morgan was with the Reds their record against the Phils was 61 -35…and 3-0 in the ugly, ugly playoff of 1976). However, with more than a small amount of Phillycentricity in the room, the desire was to hear Morgan talk about his Phillies experiences. Morgan’s place in Phillies history is best remembered because he played for the 1983 Phillies “Wheeze Kids” team that went to the World Series, losing to Baltimore in 5 games. More on that later. Prior to the 1983 World Series, there were two other occasions in which

Morgan played a central role in pivotal moments in Phillies history—as an opponent. The first involved his role in the 1963 landmark “Flinging of the Spare Ribs,” known to Phillies fans as the occasion in Houston when Gene Mauch, enraged that his team did not seem unhappy enough after a 2-1 loss in which they blew a ninth inning lead, overturned tables containing the post-game spread, including an array of spare ribs, spattering the locker room including Wes Covington’s suit. The winning run was driven in by Morgan—his first big league hit! Relating how he had been inserted earlier in the game as a pinch runner

and was surprised he was allowed to hit, Morgan laughed as he described how Mauch shouted at the Phillies, “You got beat by a guy who looks like a little leaguer.” (Phillies history will reflect that apparently inspired by the “Flinging,” the team would win five of their remaining six games of the season—against the first place Dodgers and


Little Joe Talks About Big Red Machines...

Berks Barrister | 9

third place Giants no less—setting the stage for the drama of 1964.) Following the 1979 season, Morgan left Cincinnati and rejoined Houston as a free agent. Accordingly, he was in the opposing dugout for the Phillies epic triumph in the 1980 National League Championship Series. Morgan recalled that he “didn’t know how great the series was going to be,” adding “I still don’t know how we lost.” Morgan revisited the scene of the crime: Game 5. Top of inning 8. Houston holds a 3 run lead. On the mound is Nolan Ryan who at that point in his career, according to Morgan, had taken leads into the 8th inning 110 times, winning 108 of those games. However, Ryan is knocked out of the game as is his replacement, Joe Sambito, who is pulled after one batter in favor of Ken Forsch, at which time Morgan (suffering from knee problems) was also lifted. The Phillies score 5 runs in the inning and win the game 8-7, of which Morgan says, “I still believe that if I hadn’t come out of the game we would have won…my role was to calm pitchers down.” Of the Phillies he said, “They deserved it. They fought back….it was such a great series.” Three years later, after two years with the Giants, Morgan was traded to the Phillies, reunited with Rose and Perez for the 1983 season, and commented, “After I got to Philly I was thinking, ‘Five Hall of Famers’ (Rose, Perez, Schmidt, Carlton and himself ) and I’m thinking ‘man, pretty good players.’” The team had a slow start, as did Morgan, who hit .060 for the month of July. However, in September, with Morgan as their leading offensive player, the Phillies won the division, as well as the League Championship Series against the Dodgers, but lost the World Series to the Orioles in 5 games, batting .195 as a team and scoring 9 runs total for the entire series. Of the offensive problems, Morgan related how team leader Mike Schmidt had a terrible series (going 1 for 20) but that Schmidt, “was still our guy...it just didn’t work out. Carlton and John Denny were hurt. We were the better team.” (Note: Brian Smith of the Reading Eagle did an extensive and insightful interview with Morgan on the 1983 team, found at: http://www.readingeagle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?avis=RE&date=20151205&category=SPORTS&lopenr=312059896&Ref=AR#sthash.r2pjy2Xw.dpuf ). Morgan made a point to state, “I loved Philadelphia.” A memory of his that stands out was how he received a standing ovation from the fans for hustling out a ground ball when he slid into first and was out. Among the other points Morgan made:Comparing the 1983 Phillies and the Reds teams of which he was a member, Morgan said that, although the Reds “were not Phi Beta Kappa off the field, on the field every guy knew what we needed to do.” By contrast, although the Phillies were similar, they were “not Phi Beta Kappa on the field and made

mistakes.” Of all the pitchers he hit against, Morgan thought that Jon Matlack was the most difficult. Due to Morgan’s height he had trouble finding Matlack’s release point. However, he thought that “being a short guy” gave him an advantage with certain other pitchers where he was able to find their release point earlier than taller players could. Recalling an occasion at the “wine table” at Cooperstown’s Otesaga Hotel when sitting with Hall of Fame pitchers Steve Carlton, Bob Gibson, Sandy Koufax, Don Sutton, Rollie Fingers, and Tom Seaver, Fingers produced a book that had stats of batters against each pitcher. Morgan discovered, “I did very well against all those guys.” He attributed it to his work studying them during his career, adding, “You needed to be focused when you faced those guys.” Asked about his transition from the field to the booth, where he worked for 25 years as color analyst for NBC, ABC, and then ESPN, Morgan said the “most difficult part was to be critical of players.” He made it a point to “stay out of the locker room” during his broadcasting career, believing that players should be allowed to have their space there. With his time in the booth having ended in 2010, he talked of his partner on ESPN, John Miller, with whom he remembered have a “great rapport where he let me tell my stories and I let him do his thing.” With his children now adults, Morgan is “Senior Advisor” to the owner of the Reds. “I enjoy what I am doing now.”

10 | Berks Barrister

Do Law Firms Need Cyber Liability Insurance? Recent news stories focus on cyber attacks against large corporations, but about 30% of the victims of cyber crime are small businesses according to a report by Symantec. Large and small law firms have been the victims of cyber crime, including some in our county. Overall, cyberinsurance has been growing about 60% per year the past three years, according to Jeremiah Grossman, founder of WhiteHat Security. As attorneys, our clients trust us with confidential information. Criminals are attracted by such confidential information as financial records, health records, social security numbers, intellectual property, depositions, and criminal records. Loss of such information may be malicious, such as through hacking, malware, or deliberate espionage, a dishonest employee, or theft of a notebook, tablet, or smartphone. Loss could also result from innocent mistakes such as losing a smartphone, unintended transmissions, or other human error that can occur in any busy practice. Few lawyers or law firms attempt to practice without professional liability insurance, and Rule 1.4 (c) of the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct requires

TECHNOLOGY FRANKLY SPEAKING

Cyber Insurancefor Law Firms?

By Jeffrey A. Franklin, Esquire

lawyers in private practice to disclose their lack of professional liability coverage if they don’t maintain minimum coverage levels. According to a recent technology survey, about 11% of responding lawyers indicated that their firm has cyber liability insurance. In a recent ABA Journal article, David L. Hudson, Jr. opines that cyber liability insurance is an increasingly popular, almost necessary choice for law firms. Your lawyer’s professional liability (LPL) insurance policy may help protect against third-party lawsuits, but there could be gaps related to

(i) Privacy notification, (ii) Crisis management, (iii) Business interruption, (iv) Cyber extortion threats (yes, this has happened locally too), and (v) Recovery of data.

Ask whether your law firm’s LPL policy has affirmative coverage for loss of client or third-party data as well as the out-of-pocket costs associated with responding to an incident. We have also seen instances where the firm’s own proprietary information was completely wiped out, leading to costly data restoration and/or re-creation expenses, such as with ransomware (addressed in a prior Berks Barrister).

Berks Barrister | 11

How does Cyber Insurance Work?

Generally, cyber insurance is designed to assist before, during, and after an attack

(i) Prevent – Risk management resources, (ii) Protect – Data risk liability and defense coverage, and (iii) Respond – Breach services and remedies with incident response.

Coverage generally falls into two categories: Third party, which often extends to fines and penalties arising from regulatory actions; and First party, which addresses costs and expenses the insured incurs because of a security failure including notification, credit monitoring, investigation, forensic, and perhaps even lost income. Cyberinsurance policies might include one or more of the following types of coverage:

• Liability for security or privacy breaches. This would include loss of confidential information by allowing, or failing to prevent, unauthorized access to computer systems.

• The costs associated with a privacy breach, such as consumer notification, customer support and costs of providing credit monitoring services to affected consumers.

• The costs associated with restoring, updating or replacing business assets stored electronically.

• Business interruption and extra expense related to a security or privacy breach.

• Liability associated with libel, slander, copyright infringement, product disparagement or reputational damage to others when the allegations involve a business website, social media or print media.

• Expenses related to cyber extortion or cyber terrorism.

• Coverage for expenses related to regulatory compliance for billing errors, physician self-referral proceedings and Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act proceedings.

[http://www.naic.org/cipr_topics/topic_cyber_risk.htm].

Some cyber risk insurance policy features to consider include Privacy liability coverage, Regulatory and government actions, Notification costs, Crisis management, Call centers, Credit/identity monitoring, and Transmission of viruses/malicious code. Some policies exclude unencrypted devices

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and/or acts of terrorism or war; if possible, it is best to avoid these types of exclusions. Definitions of many of these terms are available at https://goo.gl/ZhJHqI. 2015 saw robust overall cyberinsurance market growth, although large accounts and certain industries such as point-of-sale retailers and large health care companies began to see cyberinsurance price increases. These trends are likely to continue through 2016 as this insurance segment matures. Further, policyholders and insurance carriers are likely to utilize the courts to refine the meaning of non-standard policy terms.

Cyberinsurance Litigation

Two recent cases may influence the expanding cyberinsurance market. In Travelers Property Casualty of America v. Federal Recovery Services, Inc., a Utah federal court found the insurer had no duty to defend its policyholder in the underlying lawsuit. Significantly, the parties were disputing coverage under the Network and Information Security Liability and Technology Errors and Omissions Liability parts of a CyberFirst Policy. Reportedly, this was the first coverage decision with respect to a standalone cyberinsurance policy. This case did not involve a data breach or other cybersecurity loss, but rather was a classic intent to injure versus negligent conduct dispute. Nevertheless, this case is important because the court interpreted the cyberinsurance commercial general liability (CGL) and errors and omissions liability policy as if it was any other non-cyber policy. Thus, despite some novel terminology in cyberinsurance policies, court interpretations of cyberinsurance policies may be more predictable than some feared. In Continental Casualty Co. v. Cottage Health Systems (CHS), Columbia Casualty Company (CCC) filed a declaratory judgment action in federal court in California

seeking a declaration that it is not obligated to cover CHS. The litigation concerned a NetProtect360 policy containing Privacy Injury Claims and Privacy Regulation Proceedings coverage parts. The claim involved a data breach resulting in release of private healthcare patient information. CCC sought reimbursement for $4.125 million it paid in a related class action settlement. The policy contained a Failure to Follow Minimum Required Practices Exclusion. CCC contended that CHS failed to adhere to certain basic security practices, e.g., file transfer protocol (FTP) settings, applying patches, computer network assessment, and detecting network intrusions, and that its failure to do so was the cause of the data breach and subsequent loss. This case was dismissed for alternative dispute resolution. It serves as a reminder that policyholders do not want to be like CHS and think they are covered for data breach losses, only to discover post-breach that because of a broad exclusion and deficiencies in their cybersecurity apparatus and implementation left them exposed not only to data breaches, but also potentially uninsured.

Where to turn

Law firm cyber insurance is available, among others, from the American Bar Insurance, Pennsylvania Bar Association, perhaps your current insurer, and locally from Amy G. Mitchell ([email protected], 717-735-3044).

Conclusion

Cybersecurity and cyberinsurance can no longer be ignored. Take action today to protect your clients, your firm, and yourself from this ever growing threat to your pocketbook, privacy, and reputation. There is no silver bullet. Sound law firm cyber risk management includes people, policies, procedures, technology, and insurance solutions.

Jeffrey A. Franklin, Esquire, is chair of the BCBA’s Technology Committee, practices law with the Prince Law Offices, P.C. and is a principal of Brightline Tech Solutions, LLC.

Continued from page 11TECHNOLOGY FRANKLY SPEAKING Cyber Insurance for Law Firms

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Spotlight on New MembersBy Donald F. Smith, Jr., Esquire

Mari Andracchio is an Assistant District Attorney. A graduate of Temple University and William & Mary Law School, her hobbies are running, reading and Netflixing. She is raising her dog Daisy.

A new associate at Stevens & Lee is Ryan P. Hinsey. His practice there includes corporate, finance and capital markets. Having graduated from the University of Pittsburgh with a degree in finance and accounting, Ryan worked as a Fund Financial Associate at The Vanguard Group in Malvern before returning to the University of Pittsburgh and earning his law degree. In his spare time he hikes, golfs, reads and skis.

Jennifer McAteer is a full-time sixth grade teacher in Kutztown and a part-time lawyer, at least for now, having achieved her law degree from Widener in 2015 while working days as a teacher. Since receiving her undergraduate and master’s degree from Long Island University, Jennifer has been an educator for over nineteen years at all levels—elementary, high school and college. She has three children: Abby, 16; Victoria, 14; and Ryan, 11. Her hobbies involve shuttling teenagers around, attending soccer games and practices and occasionally getting to a movie.

Joining the RICK | LINN law firm is Ian Michener, a graduate of Northeastern University, its undergraduate and law schools. His areas of practice are family law, estate planning, intellectual property, small business and entity as well as landlord-tenant law. Unmarried, Ian enjoys hiking, traveling, cooking and gardening.

Another new Assistant District Attorney is Alexander

Yatron, son of ALJ George C. Yatron. Alex graduated from the Villanova University School of Law after receiving his undergraduate degree at Gettysburg College. His hobbies are golfing, playing guitar and cheering on the Philly sports teams.

MARI ANDRACCHIO

JENNIFER McATEER

ALEXANDER YATRON

RYAN P. HINSEY

IAN MICHENER


TECHNOLOGY FRANKLY SPEAKING Cyber Insurance for Law Firms


BENCH-BAR RETREAT – TIME FOR EDUCATION & RELAXATION

The 2015 Bench-Bar Retreat was held at Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. It featured some CLE but a lot of fun and relaxation.

Joan London and Walt Diener presented a CLE on the statutes, treaties and agreements addressing coastal resources, including protection of the coral reef and ownership of buried treasure. Group Dinner

Karen Schupak and 2015 President Jesse Pleet

Abraham Cepeda moderated a discussion on the differences between the American justice system and that of the Dominican Republic

PartyBoat: A toast to the Berks County Bar Association!

Bonnie Hartman and her husband Ken


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One hundred years ago, on June 29, 1916, Cyrus G. Derr, a highly respected Berks County attorney, was elected president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association at its meeting in Bedford Springs.

His interesting bio, however, begins years before. Cyrus G. Derr was a distant descendant of an Irish immigrant named Derry who settled in Monacacy, Berks County. Living among the Pennsylvania Germans, the “y” was dropped, and the family name became Derr.1 Generations later the father of Cyrus, William Derr, was born in Reading in 1827. Soon thereafter the family moved to Lebanon, PA. William studied theology, medicine, architecture and law before joining the Lebanon County Bar in 1858.

Cyrus G. Derr had been born on July 18, 1848 and was educated in the Lebanon public schools. In June 1863, with the Confederate Army moving into Pennsylvania, an emergency call for Union recruits was issued by Governor Andrew Curtin. On June 19 when a month shy of turning 15 years of age, Cyrus enlisted in Company E, 26th Regiment of the Pennsylvania Emergency Militia. Seven days later, on June 26, Cyrus was taken prisoner by the Confederates near Gettysburg, transferred to Hunterstown, paroled and sent back to the Union lines. He was then mustered out.

A year later, when the cavalry led by Confederate General John McCausland was advancing toward Pennsylvania, intending to raid Chambersburg, Cyrus enlisted again but under a different name. As the Reading Eagle reported, “Mr. Derr regarded his parole as a promise not to fight again during his term of service, unless exchanged, and therefore considered

himself as entitled to enlist for another term of service, but not knowing as to how a Confederate military court might treat the matter if he was again taken prisoner, he enlisted the second time under the name of ‘Calvin’ Derr.”2 He was discharged from service in November 1864; it is not known what, if any, action he saw.

Cyrus attended the University of Pennsylvania Law School and practiced with his father, William, after being admitted to the bar of Lebanon County in 1869. However, a year later he moved to Reading and ultimately began what was to become a very successful practice. Among his first cases was one in which he alleged that the Philadelphia & Reading Railroad discriminated in the charging of rates for the re-shipment of coal. While he lost the case, “Derr handled the matter with such skill, and showed such a knowledge of

the important legal principles involved, as well as of every little point of law even remotely connected with the case, that he was at once recognized as a master; and … his name became widely known in the community. He soon won the reputation of being the most thorough and best prepared lawyer at the bar.”3

He became associated with Berks attorney George F. Baer who would go on to become the president of the Pennsylvania Railroad and gain notoriety by opposing Clarence Darrow in the miners’ strike of 1902. In 1875, though, Mr. Derr had the Berks County Railroad sold under execution proceedings, whereupon it was purchased by him and Mr. Baer. The resulting new company later became part of the Reading Company system. In 1883 Derr was named local counsel for the Schuylkill division of the Pennsylvania Railroad. He also became an expert in street

An “Ornament” of the Berks BarWas PBA President 1916-1917

By Donald F. Smith, Jr., Esquire

1 Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography Vol 41, No. 4 (1917)2 Reading Eagle, December 6, 1916, p. 13 The Twentieth Century Bench and Bar of Pennsylvania (Volume 1), H.C. Cooper, Jr., Bro. & Co. (1903), p.70.


An “Ornament” of the Berks BarWas PBA President 1916-1917

railroad litigation and served as the attorney for the Reading Traction Company, through multiple ownership changes, until his death.

He was not just interested in railroads and trolley cars. Mr. Derr was one of the organizers of the Pennsylvania Trust Company, beginning operation in 1887, and was its attorney for the remainder of his life. He also organized the Columbia Warehouse and the Columbia Cutlery Company and was an officer in each at the time of his passing in 1933.

Mr. Derr’s interests in life went well beyond the practice of law. He served as a vestryman of Christ Episcopal Church and was a trustee of the Reading Library. Derr had been a founding owner of the Reading Review, an independent publication that only existed for a few years but was known “for its fearlessness and aggressive policy. He was a regular contributor to its columns. He was a member of the Reading Lyceum and Reading Literary Society.”4

In addition, Mr. Derr delivered lectures on literature in Reading and elsewhere. “He was a close reader and a master of the classics—especially of Shakespeare. He could recite entire scenes from the most famous of the bard’s plays. For years a portion of each day was devoted to this, his favorite study. The library at his home was a literary treasury because it contained the world’s best books. They were not there for ornament, but as intimate friends.”5 He had what colleagues referred to as a “photographic mind.”6 An ardent Republican, Mr. Derr never ran for public office, but he did conduct several unsuccessful attempts to defeat Judge James N. Ermentrout.7 The Eagle would later note: “No one seeing him appear before Judge Ermentrout would for a moment imagine that the two were not only political but personal opponents.”8

Mr. Derr married in 1870. He and his wife, Virginia, had one child, a daughter named Caroline. Mrs. Derr died in 1923. Caroline’s husband, John Archer, died in 1919 while on a business trip to Australia. Thereafter, Caroline, who had no children and never re-married, lived with her father in his large home on the southeast corner of Sixth and Walnut Streets (later being the site of Community General Hospital).

The Derrs also had a summer home on the New Holland Road, beyond Angelica, and adjacent to Sheerlund, on property known as Derrydown. In an article written by Henry C.

4 Reading Eagle, July 26, 1933, p. 95 Ibid. 6 Reading Times, July 28, 1933, p. 13.7 The Honorable James N. Ermentrout was elected to the bench of the Berks County Court of Common Pleas in 1885 and served until his death on August 19, 1908, at the age of 61. In 1890 he was one of the signers for the incorporation of the Dickinson School of Law. As a result, his short biography is included in the School’s history written by Dean Emeritus Burton R. Laub, “The Dickinson School of Law—Proud and Independent”, and published in 1976. Dean Laub noted, “James Ermentrout was considered one of the most learned judges in Berks County history; certainly he was one of the most respected.” (p. 226). In his “Berks County Bench and Bar, A Commentary,” the late Judge Calvin E. Smith described Judge Ermentrout as “Kind, considerate, free from bias, prejudice and excitement. Strong personality. Manliness. Simplicity of Life. Lucid. Logical.” (p. 87).8 Reading Eagle, July 26, 1933, p. 9



9 Vol. 11 Governor Mifflin Area History, April 1991, p. 7.10 Ibid. 11 Vol. 22 Report of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (1916), p. 215-216 12 Ibid. 21613 Ibid. 21714 Ibid. 21815 Vol. 23 Report of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (1917), p.316 Ibid. 1817 Ibid. 14

Hertzog for the Governor Mifflin Area History, the author relates: “Mr. Derr and Mrs. Archer would move from the city house at Sixth and Walnut Streets on the Memorial Day weekend and return to the city over the Labor Day weekend.” The Derrs’ bantam chickens “also made the move from city to country. Apparently, Mr. Derr liked the eggs.”9 Mr. Hertzog also observed: “Mr. Derr liked to build gutters to carry rainwater away from the cabins … On Saturdays Mr. Derr and the chauffeur would construct the gutters. It was interesting to see this distinguished man in a dirty pair of coveralls working with his hands and enjoying it.”10

By 1916 Mr. Derr was known throughout the legal profession of the Commonwealth, having joined the Pennsylvania Bar Association at its inception in 1895 and chairing its Committee on Publicity from the beginning. His reputation was not confined to Berks County.

In nominating Mr. Derr for the PBA’s presidency, John B. Colahan, Jr. of Philadelphia noted: “As chairman of the Committee on Publicity he has spread broadcast news of the work of this body, and he has seen that it reached every corner of the Commonwealth. He has turned ‘Grievances’ into joy, and he has woven into the report of the Committee on that subject a vein of delicate whimsical humor that has delighted his auditors and his readers and has relieved the tedium of many a monotonous session. He has stood in the forefront of the Bar, and he has been an unusually useful and broadminded citizen.”11

Seconding the nomination was our own Robert Grey Bushong, builder of the present day Berks Bar Building: “Although the Bar of Berks County would be delighted with the selection of Mr. Derr, I do not feel that we can claim him as our own, for I think that his skill and industry has placed him in the rank of the foremost lawyers in Pennsylvania, and therefore his name is presented here as a lawyer of the State of Pennsylvania primarily, and not as a member of the Berks County Bar.”12 Proving that Mr. Derr enjoyed statewide respect from east

to west, Frank C. McGirr of Allegheny County stood also to second the nomination: “We of the western part of the State have long recognized Mr. Derr’s availability for the position of President of the Bar Association. Indeed we expected he would have attained this position long before. We are glad that he has reached the point at last.”13

No other names were placed in nomination. The vote was unanimous, and the new President was escorted to the platform. Upon ascending to the podium, Mr. Derr, not surprisingly, quoted the Bard: “Shakespeare has said that thanks are the exchequer of the poor; and therefore to those friends, who have brought my name forward for the Presidency of this Association, and to those friends who have received my election so warmly, and to the former President for his kind words and his encouragement, I can only say thanks, thanks, thanks.”14

A review of the PBA’s record for the year disclosed no controversy arising during his term while attention may have been directed more to Europe and World War I being waged. When the Association convened its Annual Meeting on June 26, 1917, at the Bedford Springs Hotel with President Derr in the chair, the opening session began with the President’s Address. It was titled “Philosophy of Law Making” and began with him warning the assemblage that the Address “will consume about forty minutes—perhaps a little more, perhaps a little less; that there will be no prolixity, though there may be tediousness.”15

While the speech may have been considered tedious by today’s social media standards, it was described as a “most learned and inspiring Address” by those assembled to hear it in 1917.16 As an example of Mr. Derr’s speaking style, here he is referring in the Address to our declaring independence in 1776: “One hundred and forty-one years ago our people cut loose from all outside control and started by themselves to sail the Ship of State in the tempestuous and dangerous political ocean with no steadying influence excepting the companionship of twelve other peoples near of kin, similarly embarking, and a little later the Federal Constitution with its implications.”17 Following his successful term at the helm of the PBA, his standing continued

Some of the attorneys attending the first meeting of the Pennsylvania Bar Association on July 11, 1885 at the Bedford Springs Hotel. While Mr. Derr was in attendance, it is not known whether he appears in this picture.


An “Ornament” of the Berks Bar Was PBA President 1916-1917


18 Reading Times, July 26, 1933, p. 119 Reading Times, July 28, 1933, p. 1320 Ibid.21 Ibid.

to rise in Berks County. Given the high esteem by which Mr. Derr was held by judges, lawyers and Courthouse officials, he was accorded the honor of making the first motion in the current Courthouse when it was dedicated in 1932.

Thereafter, on July 25, 1933, seven days after his 85th birthday, Cyrus G. Derr was attending a meeting of the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Trust Company when he was asked for his opinion on the policy being discussed. “It was just 2:30 and the heat was oppressive. But disregarding the heat, Mr. Derr talked fervidly and at length. Suddenly, as he appeared to finish his statement, he slumped to his chair. His head fell forward and his arms dropped lifeless at his side.”18 Death was instantaneous. He had literally practiced law right up until the time he took his last breath.

The passing of the “Dean of Berks Bar” was headline news in both Reading newspapers the next day. A day later the Berks County Bar Association held a specially called meeting during which he was eulogized. Judge Forrest R. Shanaman was one of the speakers and he declared: “In his passing, the bench, the bar and the community have suffered a singular loss. The bar has lost an ornament, a shining bright star; the community has lost a wise, courageous and loyal exponent.”

The jurist then displayed a framed letter written by Mr. Derr to the Judge who was a young boy at the time. As reported by the Reading Times, “He used the letter to show the lawyer’s perfect expression and his interest in helping others. The letter advised the boy to consider ‘proper reading’ and to ‘reject all books not approved by the literary world,’ and not to allow ‘charms of fiction to interfere.’ Judge Shanaman closed with the statement, ‘We shall meet, but we shall miss him.”19

The Resolution adopted by the Bar Association stated: “Mr. Derr was a great lawyer because he was a great man.”20 It then detailed his attributes as being great in courage, conscience, self-discipline, study, industry, idealism, patriotism and personality.

In its conclusion, the Resolution observed: “Mr. Derr was outstanding as a husband, a father, a genial gracious host, a churchman, a fearless advocate of clean politics, a lover of good literature, of wit and humor, of the great outdoors, of animals, of sports.” 21

So many attributes. So many heartfelt accolades. No wonder he was missed by colleagues and no wonder he became part of the proud heritage of the Berks County Bar.

Author’s note: The devotion of the staff of the Henry Janssen Library is greatly appreciated. Having called ahead, all references to Cyrus G. Derr in the Library’s collection were already pulled and placed on a table waiting for my arrival. Their passion for research is to be commended. Significant help was also provided by Tameka Altadonna of the Pennsylvania Bar Association staff. She located and shared the PBA’s material on Mr. Derr. Also, PBA’s Marcy Mallory shared the Bedford Springs picture. Without the help of the members of both staffs this article would not have been possible. Thank you.

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SMALL FIRM LIFE

By Jay M. Kurtz, Esquire

Everyone knows what a lawyer does. They’ve seen the heroic, despicable, or bumbling adventures of attorneys their entire lives in the form of television shows and movies. From Perry Mason to Matlock to the second half of every version of Law and Order, everybody knows something about being an attorney.

For those of us initiated into what my alma mater marketed as “real world - real law,” Hollywood’s idealized versions of legal practice have very little resemblance to reality. In a lot of ways, Harvey Dent is a lot more believable than Harvey Specter. With that in mind, I was asked to share a bit of what a day in the life is like for a small firm attorney.

Today was like many other days in a courtroom. I sat and waited. Court was scheduled to begin at 9 a.m. Aside from a very few select judges, start times are not an indication of when court begins but rather serve as a guideline for when attorneys and their clients should begin the waiting game. In the time that passes between arriving in court to ceremoniously standing in reverence for his honor’s appearance, Jack McCoy and his crew would have put one murderer away for life and would be on the verge of convicting a second.

This is an out-of-county case for me, so I was awake, showered, and in a suit before sunrise. I like to review case files in the morning before heading to court. This one feels like a no-brainer. The Assistant District Attorney and I worked out a fair and proper plea agreement with little acrimony or posturing. Our discussions would not have made for great cinema as they were basically two phone calls, several emails, and each of us reviewing a packet of medical records in our respective offices.

The events leading to court today seem rather mundane. Driver looks away for a moment and causes a rear-end collision. Thankfully, no one is seriously hurt in the accident. Only problem is my client had a suspended license at the time, further complicating the situation is that the suspension was DUI related (and as many of you already know, that’s a mandatory 60-90 days’ incarceration here in the Commonwealth).

But the deal is fair. We’ll have a quick guilty plea, and then my client will be sent to adult probation for admission into that county’s intermediate punishment program. Her infant child will not be without a mother for two months, although she’ll be electronically monitored during house arrest. Everyone has seemingly made the best of an unfortunate situation. Things are going according to the script...

Rewind. I should have known this court appearance was not going to go smoothly. I had a tire blow out on the turnpike this morning. I chalked it up to bad luck. Much like Caesar ignoring his soothsayers, I failed to heed the omen. In the misty morning, dressed for court, I changed the tire on my own car while a few feet away cars sped by on the turnpike. This was a hiccup that nearly made me late to begin waiting on time. I should have known better.

There is a wailing howl cutting through the corridors of this floor of the courthouse. Could this be a ghost lamenting its long

forgotten fate at the hands of a hanging judge? No, it would actually be my client’s reaction to just hearing the judge tell her that he does not cut breaks for people who cause car accidents. The judge makes sure to explain to her how lucky she is that he will be willing to only impose the mandatory minimum of 60 days when she should perhaps be jailed for a longer period of time.

This is the role of the small firm or solo practitioner. I will not be driving an exotic sports car to the courthouse by the beach or exonerating someone wrongfully accused of murder with one magical question so that the credits can roll in under an hour. No, the role of the small firm lawyer is the person who rolls their sleeves up and takes off their suitcoat so they can change their own tire on the side of the highway. Arnie Becker would not have been changing a tire (or having a judge throw out a plea deal). Even Joe Pesci’s Vinny Gambini wouldn’t change his own tire (his girlfriend was the car expert).

The point here is the role of any real life attorney is unscripted — no matter how hard we try to control things. Had court gone according to script, I would have been out of there by 10 a.m. and my client would have been meeting with probation to begin the process of putting all this behind her. Instead, we did not even know if the judge was in the building until closer to 11 and when he did appear it certainly was not to smoothly move the narrative along.

The only thing about court that morning that was reminiscent of some television episodes was you could slap a “To Be Continued” subtitle on the event. Fortunately, I was able to assuage my client’s despair to a degree and schedule the next court appearance. The ADA, my client, and I will reconvene one morning at the courthouse a few weeks later to await the judge’s arrival. At that time, we will try to put this matter to rest once again.

Not every unscripted morning in an attorney’s day goes as sideways as this one did. There are times when things go much more smoothly (although seldom are they settled in an hour, minus commercials). I am certain the rest of my day will go much more according to plan. Working at a small firm with a breadth of practice areas there is variety to be enjoyed. Fortunately for me, I have an afternoon case two counties away where we will try to settle disputed marital assets, support concerns, and custody questions.

No way that gets interrupted by unexpected drama. Right?

Jay M. Kurtz, Esquire, is with the law firm of RicklLinn, LLC.

The Day Does Not Always Follow the Script



That any earthly power might have the right to select arbitrarily from among those it may freely oppress, who shall live, and who shall die, is a monstrous wrong, and a commonplace. The Jews, ever a talented, conspicuous minority, have been periodically displaced from their arid, beautiful world, at the crossroads of the eastern Mediterranean, and elsewhere, by the powerful forces of foreign armies, both ancient and modern. Neither the upheavals, nor their persecution, have seen an end. Talent and vigilance, and a long, long, complex heritage of survival, have established the scorn and admiration of the world.

It was into this world of scorn and admiration that Anne Frank was born June 12, 1929 in Frankfurt, Germany. Even before Hitler came to power in 1933, his stormtroopers had marched by her door singing of the joy of spilling Jewish blood. Anne’s father, Otto, responded to the dark threat. Anne arrived in Amsterdam, Holland, in early 1934. The Franks established a new life there, cultured and civilized, until the spring of 1940, when the Dutch government, overwhelmed, surrendered to the Nazis. Otto Frank was compelled to turn over his business to non-Jews, and the family went into hiding, in July 1942, shortly after Anne received her diary.

Into this hushed world of cramped quarters, air raids, and constant fear of discovery, Anne brought her deep desire to grow, and learn, and express herself. Close to her father and sister, distant and periodically at war with her mother, she commenced her voyage of discovery. Fluent in German and Dutch, she was learning French, studying algebra and history, and the personalities of those with her confined, and learning, and expressing, her own heart, and mind, in the gathering awareness of her diary. Except in her rare moments of despair, the solace of nature gave her strength. Through misery, the near shadow of death, she saw the beauty that still remains, the keen weapon of a gentle spirit, as a candle that can both defy and define the darkness. Memories meant more to her than dresses, yet her girlish world was not suppressed. She had her

ESSAY ON ANNE FRANK

By William W. Runyeon, Esquire

Romeo and Juliet interlude with seventeen-year-old Peter, the starburst joy, the deep forces, the uncertainties; and the fog of war, the fear of exploding bombs and discovery, what she called “the approaching thunder that will one day destroy us, too.”

On August 4, 1944, Anne, her family, and the four others, were betrayed and taken away. None but her father survived the war. By the grace of God, the diary was also preserved, that Otto Frank might learn of Anne’s hidden world, and wisdom, and share it with the rest of us. That her life was taken, her wings, in a dark sense, broken, fails to shadow her echoing truth: “Those who have courage and faith shall never perish in misery.”

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When asked what was the most powerful force in the universe, Albert Einstein reportedly replied: “compound interest.” Who are we to argue with Professor Einstein, but if compound interest is the most powerful force, the right to vote is surely a close second.

Give Us The Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America is a highly emotional, readable and timely book written by Ari Berman, politcal correspondent of The Nation. It was named a Notable Book of 2015 by the New York Times and named to best book of the year lists by the Washington Post, Boston Globe and Kirkus Reviews, amongst others.

Berman traces the struggle to gain the vote from the passage of the 15th Amendment, to Reconstruction, to the violent backlash of Jim Crow, and, finally, the 1960s when President Lyndon Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act (VRA). As Berman describes, the 1965 march across Selma’s Edmund Pettis Bridge, depicted in the recent film, “Selma,” was a tipping point. It galvanized support on the grass roots level and generated bi-partisan support in Congress, the type of support that is rarely seen today.

The title of the book comes from a speech given by Martin Luther King on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in 1957 at the very first national civil rights rally and three years after the Brown decision. The rally was organized to register the disenchantment with the lack of progress in civil rights. Noting the frustration of African-Americans, King, in the Southern Baptist oratorical

tradition, made a strong case for strong voting rights legislation: “Give us the ballot and we no longer have to worry the federal government about basic rights...Give us the ballot and we will place judges on the benches of the South who will do justly and love mercy, and we’ll place at the head of the Southern states governors who...have felt not only the tang of the human but the glow of the divine.”

The passage of the VRA provided President Johnson with a great sense of victory but also a sense of dread. He knew the law would transform American politics forever but would also deliver the South to the Republican party for at least the next generation. Both of Johnson’s predictions have proved accurate.

The VRA was more than a mere statute. Although the 15th Amendment commanded that the right to vote not be denied on account of race and provided Congress with the authority to enact appropriate legislation to enforce that right, bigoted laws and brutal repression in the South had effectively nullified the 15th Amendment. Not only individual liberty and the American democratic process were at stake, but the right to vote, as observed by Reverend King, would empower blacks to protect themselves through the political process.

The VRA was extraordinary not only in its birth but also in its structure and method. Its heart, Section 5, required certain jurisdictions, predominantly in the South, to obtain permission from the Federal Department of Justice before putting election laws into effect. This preclearance requirement was meant to

Book Review

By ARI BERMANReviewed by Louis M. Shucker, Esquire

Give Us the Ballot


prevent local officials from outmaneuvering civil rights litigation. Initially, the VRA was strikingly successful in increasing

minority voter registration. For example, in the decades after the initial passage of the Act voter registration in the South rose from 31 percent to 76 percent. For the first time since Reconstruction, black officials were elected to both local and statewide offices.

After the Supreme Court, in 1970, upheld the constitutionality of the Act, Congress itself reconsidered the Act on several occasions each time, after extensive hearings, reauthorizing the law with overwhelming majorities. The last time being 2006, when Congress amassed a huge factual record and conducted months of hearings documenting the continued need for the reauthorization of the preclearance requirement. Since 1982, however, the Supreme Court has narrowed its view of the power of Congress to enforce the post-Civil War Amendments setting the VRA on a collision course between the two co-ordinate branches of government.

However, despite the fact that the Act has enjoyed overwhelming support in Congress, it also almost immediately spawned a counterrevolution devoted to restricting voting rights. It is Berman’s position, that this counterrevolution spanned the White Houses of Presidents Nixon, Reagan and both Bushes as part of the Republicans “Southern strategy: and in recent years, “...have controlled a majority of the Supreme Court” and “have set their sights on undoing the accomplishments of the 1960’s civil rights movement.”

Chief Justice John Roberts has been at the center of this counterrevolution. Roberts arrived in Washington in 1980 as a young attorney in Reagan’s Justice Department and eagerly took up the cause to weaken the VRA. To Roberts, Section 5 imposed a substantial burden on covered jurisdictions, a burden that was no longer justified. He claimed that things had changed in the South as demonstrated by voter turnout and registration rates that closely approached white rates.

In 2009, Justice Roberts fired a warning shot over the bow of the Act when he cautioned in an opinion that “the Act imposes current burdens that must be justified by current needs,” thereby putting Congress on notice that Section 5 was in peril. Roberts justified this challenge by asserting that America has maintained a “historic tradition that all States enjoy equal sovereignty,” and that any departure from the principles of equal sovereignty requires a showing that a “statute’s disparate geographic coverage is sufficiently related to the problem that it targets.”

Put differently, Roberts objected that Section 4 of the Act, otherwise known as the “coverage formula” identified certain states for a heavy burden although the evils the Act is meant to rectify may no longer be concentrated only in the South. Against Congress’ claim that the VRA preclearance rule was still necessary to achieve racial equality Roberts shifted the focus on a different type of equality argument — how the sovereign states were treated at the hands of the Federal government.

Congress refused to take up Robert’s challenge to bring the VRA in line with modern realities. That set the stage for Shelby County v. Holder which reached the Court in 2013. The exchanges

at oral argument were sharp and broke down, as might be expected, along ideological lines. For example, Roberts asked the Solicitor General if he believed that Southern citizens were any more racist than those in the North. Justice Scalia, always a lightning rod, suggested that the Act was very likely attributable to the perpetuation of racial entitlement, and the VRA would continue to be reenacted until a court declares that it does not comport with the Constitution.

Roberts wrote the majority opinion declaring the coverage formula unconstitutional. The country had made great strides since the 1960s and that Congress had failed to justify the preclearance rule by showing that current conditions warranted it. Congress was unjustifiably living in the past.

The liberal justices were hardly bashful. Justice Sotomayor asked why the Court should make a judgment rather than Congress. Justice Kagan questioned whether the issue of racial discrimination had been fully and finally resolved. Justice Breyer observed that the justification for treating some states differently than others was the whole premise of the Civil War.

However, Justice Ginsburg authored the most passionate dissent. She reasoned that it was Congress which was charged with the responsibility of determining whether

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discrimination still existed. Justice Ginsburg argued that the Court had erred egregiously in overriding Congress. Citing Shakespeare’s “The Tempest,” she stated that, “What’s past is prologue. Throwing out preclearance when it has worked and is continuing to work is like throwing away your umbrella in a rainstorm because you are not getting wet.”

Roberts, in Shelby County and other decisions, has asked the nation to move beyond its legacy of racism and the special measures which were justified to combat that history. Justice Ginsburg, on the other hand, offered a different panorama of fits and starts not to mention occasional backsliding in the fight against racism. She cites a second generation of efforts to restrict access to the ballot such as voter ID requirements, voter purges and extreme gerrymandering. The reader must decide for herself which of these views constitutes the present reality.

Shelby County vs. Holder revealed fault lines on many levels. Most obvious, is the dispute regarding the role of the Court in ensuring that Congress respect the Constitution’s structure of federalism and the long standing debate over federal power under the post-Civil War amendments. It also pointed out a familiar schism in the degree to which the Justices would brook burdens on state sovereignty.

Ultimately, the decision revealed the competing visions of the VRA. Should the Act “simply provide access to the ballot” as conservatives contend, or should it “police a much broader scope of the election system, which included encouraging greater representation by African-Americans and other minority groups?”

Like most good yarns, this one has heroes and villains. Black Americans who engaged in the battle for civil rights sacrificing their lives, their homes and their jobs to the struggle play a prominent role in Berman’s account. Bill McColluch (R. Ohio) and Manny Celler (D. N.Y.), leaders of the House Judiciary Committee, joined to shepherd the Act through the House despite fierce opposition. Once the Act was passed, members of the Justice Department such as Nicholas Katzenbach and John Doar were instrumental in assuring that the Act was enforced by bringing three generations of cases that outlawed literacy tests, poll taxes and at large voting districts.

Chief villain in Berman’s view was Chief Justice John Roberts. From the time he came to Washington as a young attorney he worked with others in the Reagan and Bush administrations to bring suits to undermine 50 years of work and hard won gains by civil rights advocates. Despite testifying at his confirmation hearing that he believed the Court should as a rule defer to the judgment of Congress, he has repeatedly voted to overturn Congressional efforts.

In the end, Give Us the Ballot is a work of history rather than law. Berman does not engage in substantial constitutional analysis of the VRA, its substantive basis, or the various cases leading up to the passage of the Act or succeeding cases interpreting it. In fact, he does not offer case citations for the various cases mentioned throughout the book. Nevertheless, Give Us the Ballot is a valuable resource for anyone interested in the history of the VRA, and the current efforts to achieve the right to vote.

Louis M. Shucker, Esquire, is in private practice and serves as a Berks County Divorce Master and Chair of the Bar Association’s Civil Liberties Committee.


Book Review, Give Us the Ballot


7

By Susan N. Denaro, Esquire

In mid-December, I travelled with a couple of girlfriends to Longwood Gardens, 1001 Longwood Road, Kennett Square, Pennsylvania, to see it decked out for the holidays. I had never been and was awestruck by the creativity on display at every turn. All the indoor and outdoor areas on the DuPont Estate looked and felt magical. Even Ebenezer Scrooge would have gotten into the holiday spirit walking around seeing the abundant, festive floral designs and creative Christmas lights.

I thought our plan was to tour the gardens and then grab a casual meal somewhere nearby but my friend who orchestrated our outing made reservations for the 1906 dining room at Longwood to surprise us. To our culinary delight, that’s where we found the real magic that day.

As we were being seated, I gazed around at the tables hoping to catch a glimpse of the food but I only saw empty plates waiting to be bused. The most intriguing plate I noticed had traces of something red, something yellow and something beige smeared all over it. It actually looked a bit artistic but I could not hazard a guess as to what had been served based upon those remnants.

Since I knew nothing about the place, I asked the hostess what her favorite dish was and she simply responded, “The salmon.” Her pronouncement was like she just introduced royalty to us and needed to say nothing more. Scanning the menu, I quickly found the salmon dish and was surprised by its description—Crispy Skuna Bay Salmon with salsify, citrus farro and a birch beer reduction. The birch beer element was what piqued my interest as I could not remember the last time I drank a birch beer.

While we sipped our cocktails and waited for our meals, we were presented with an amuse bouche of a pomegranate goat cheese crostini that was salted. I would never think to salt a cheese before serving it but the salt sprinkle really brought out the flavor of the cheese.

Spellbound in the 1906 Room

7

1906 at Longwood Gardens1001 Longwood Rd, Kennett Square, PA 19348

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It was a lovely way to awaken our palates and start our dining experience. The next item to arrive was a piece of their “potted bread.” It was a delightfully light brioche roll that was baked and served in a small white flower pot. I would go back again just for that roll.

When the salmon was placed before me, I was struck by the plating. It had both pureed and fried salsify on it. Both of those elements were about the same beige color as the farro. The main color contrast on the dish was provided by the dark crisped skin, a vibrant yellow citrus sauce for the farro and the bright red birch beer reduction. The salmon was cooked perfectly and was served with the crispy skin sunny side up to keep it from steaming and becoming soggy before it reached the table. Normally, I do not eat the skin and prefer it grilled off so it does not touch the plate. But that crispy skin has changed my thinking as it was like biting into a delicate potato chip.

Although I had heard of it, I had never tasted salsify before. Salsify. Just the word alone sounds like something Hermione Granger would say with authority while flicking her magic wand. Its flavor was elusive. It did not really add anything to the dish but it did not distract from it either. I liked it for the novelty factor but would be hard pressed to really assign a similar flavor to it. I must admit that I just like the word Salsify.

As for that delightful birch beer drizzle that compelled me to eat all

of the salmon skin, it was the star of the plate. While it was sweet, it had that distinct birch beer bite I remember from my childhood. It was a perfect accompaniment to the richness of the salmon. I have had salmon with a maple syrup drizzle before, but the birch beer put this dish into a league of its own. The magic of the combination of flavors helped me make everything on the plate disappear. Hands down, it was the best salmon dish I have ever been served in a restaurant.

One of my friends had the butternut squash soup followed by duck confit fritters served with chestnuts, blood orange and a maple aioli. The other ordered the mushroom soup and a pan roasted chicken breast served with oyster mushrooms and fingerling potatoes. The soups were predictably delightful. I found the duck fritters a little heavy and disappointing as an entrée—but as a starter to be shared with others, it was a nice offering. The chicken dish was earthy and satisfying but not as mystical as the salmon.

The three of us joined the clean plate club and understood why, when we were seated, all we saw around the room were empty plates. It was then that I realized my plate looked just like the “artistic” one that caught my eye on the way to our table. We all vowed to return again and again. If you are looking for a magical place to cast a romantic spell, you will not be disappointed by the 1906 Room at Longwood Gardens.

Susan N. Denaro, Esquire, is a principal in the Wyomissing law firm of Rabenold, Koestel, Goodman & Denaro.


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Elizabeth A. Magovern and Christopher J. Hartman exchanged wedding vows on October 31, 2015. Yes, on Halloween and not a day later on All Saints Day. The newlyweds are both principals of Hartman, Valeriano, Magovern & Lutz, P.C.

The new member of the Reading Liederkranz’s Board of Directors, as its Financial Secretary, is Susanna M. Fultz, Law Clerk to the Honorable James M. Lillis.

Dawn M. L. Palange, of Palange & Endres, P.C., was elected as a member of the school board for the Governor Mifflin School District in November. Dawn also serves on the Board of Directors for the Berks County Bar Association.

A Presidential Pair—Alexa S. Antanavage is now the President of the Law Foundation of Berks County while her husband, Russell E. Farbiarz, was recently chosen to serve as President of the Northeast Berks Chamber of Commerce. They are the principals in the Hamburg law firm of Antanavage Farbiarz, PLLC.


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Building Family Traditions

Assistant District Attorney Justin D. Bodor and his wife, Jessica, welcomed their first child on December 9, 2015. Their daughter’s name is Charlotte Jane. Justin is the Treasurer of the Berks County Bar Association.

The Law Foundation’s leadership also includes Edwin L. Stock (on the left), of Roland Stock, LLC, as the newly elected Vice President, and Michael J. Noon, of Connors Investor Services, Inc., as the re-elected Secretary-Treasurer.


HOLIDAY RECEPTION CRUISEThe 2015 Holiday Reception was held on a “Cruise Ship” that somehow came to be anchored in Wyomissing Hills! The Captain’s navigation skills are not always the best, but the culinary and decorating skills of the caterer, Bravo for Rose, are always the best.

Jay Nigrini surveys the ship’s buffet table

The retiring Brett Huckabee and the not-retiring Jim Snyder

Bob Hobaugh and Past Presidents Dan and Dick Bausher

Matt Mayer, Andy George and Herb Karasin

Brian Kulp and Judge Boccabella

Alexander Yatron, Igor Litvinov, Todd Mays and Chris Connard

Cheryl Allerton, Drew Muir, Richard Grimes and Rebecca Bell

Kelsey staged a brief mutiny. A much better looking Captain!

George Lutz, Tina Boyd (one of the few appropriately dressed for the Captain’s Table) and Marc Sigal

Fred Nice, Latisha Schuenemann, Max Nice and Osmer Deming

Gabby Raful with BCBA’s Community Outreach Coordinator Rainy Leonor-Lake

Paul Herbein and Nicole Manley Jesse Leisawitz, Daniel Troy, Ken Kelecic and Christie Billman

Ian Michener, Jay Kurtz, Chad Rick and Sandy Liberatori

Dennis Skayhan and Jeff Boyd

Judge Sprecher, Melissa Krishock, Jennifer Grimes and Eden Bucher

Judge Bucci, 2016 President Jill Koestel, Rob Levengood and comedian Greg Henry who was appearing in the ship’s night club


Rachel Bashore, Judge Rowley, Richard Kupersmith and Jeff Elliott

Kurt Geishauser, Mark Merolla, Jim Polyak, Jim Mancuso and Zach Morey

Past President Fred Mogel (you’ll never guess what his tie is made of ), Judge Fehling and Phil Edwards

Linda Epes, Charles Younger and Judge Barrett

The Captain and his guests

Barrie Gehrlein, Kevin Moore and 2016 Vice President Joan London

Sara Clipp, Susanna Fultz and Kelsey Frankowski

Beth Auman, Toby Mendelsohn and Brenna Mendelsohn

Susan Denaro, Stacey Scrivani, Law Foundation Trustee Debbie Sottosanti, Marcia Binder, Suzanne Palmer and Silas Ruiz Steele

Past President Tom Bell, Jeff Franklin and Deb Franklin Julie Ravis, Elizabeth Ware and

Julie Marburger

Judge Antanavage and Jon Malsnee

Sean O’Brien and Past President Jill ScheidtJennifer Nevins, Board Director Dan Nevins and Dan Emkey Ed Houseman and Mike Wolfe

Mike Boland and Carl Mantz

Mickey Restrepo and Dave Miller


Board Director Pete Schuchman and Chuck Shurr

HOLIDAY BENEFIT LUNCHEON BENEFITING LAW FOUNDATION WAS BIG SUCCESS AGAIN!

Abe Cepeda hoping to complete his Christmas shopping for his mother.

Past BCBA President Dan Huyett keeping an eye on the Cunningham autographed jersey bid sheet

Law Foundation Trustee Franki Aitkin is not shy about selling raffle tickets to the Sidney D. Kline, Jr. Award recipient, Chris Pruitt. All for a good cause.

Foundation Staffer Karen Loeper charmed Judge Lillis into buying tickets.

Chris Muvdi and Mike Gombar

Dan and Randy Rabenold Russ Farbiarz, 2015 Law Foundation Vice President Alexa Antanavage and Judge Antanavage

Dave Miller, Valeen Hykes and District Attorney John Adams Amy Good and Law Foundation Trustee Val West


I had forgotten about Becker. A World Affairs Council trip to the Naval Academy brought back memories. I, along with others on the bus from Berks County, attended the cyber security lecture at the Academy. We learned, or relearned for some of us, that the Chinese military has a dedicated

section of the Red Army devoted to hacking into America’s network of military, intelligence and diplomatic data. The recent Target fiasco and other retailer security breaches had made us aware of how insecure our personal data is. We should also be concerned about secrets far more important.

On the bus ride home, the Naval Academy lecture brought to mind a man I saw once for a few hours on a cold winter day in Chicago. It’s called the windy city for a reason. On my one day off a month I volunteered to paint the rec room walls at St. Theresa’s parish in Chicago’s Chinatown. It beat studying Latin twenty-five hours a week. After graduating from St. Joseph’s College, I studied at the Maryknoll Seminary in Glen Ellyn, Illinois.

Maryknoll, The American Catholic Foreign Mission Society, begun as a China / Japan mission society, had been refocusing in 1959 to more welcoming countries than the People’s Republic of China. My fellow wall painters and I didn’t see the pastor until mid-afternoon. Father Becker thanked us for coming. We continued painting and he smoked.

To no one in particular, he blurted out, “I’m going to get a call in the middle of the night. I always do when the car comes for me.”

I had enough painting for the day. He wasn’t talking to anyone in particular.

“They asked me to explain what happened during my time in the Chinese prisons.”

Becker wasn’t the only Maryknoll priest who spent time in Chinese prisons. He continued the monologue.

“It could be the CIA or the FBI that I’ll be talking to. I won’t know until I get there.”

I had spent too many hours of my college years reading the new books that made their way to the college library. I had already read 22 STAYED — the account of the 22 American

soldiers who stayed in North Korea after the war ended. We called it brain washing at the time. Becker needed to keep talking.

“They always know when I’m telling what they don’t want known.”

It didn’t take a genius to figure out that what he experienced in the past came back to haunt him in the present. Becker didn’t tell us what he talked about after the car picked him up.

He lit the second cigarette. “They call in the middle of the night. It’s always the same

message. The male voice hangs up after he says, “Becker, when we let you leave, we told you not to talk.””

Such an ordinary looking man—approaching his mid-forties. He had a full head of black hair. I’m sure he didn’t mean to frighten me. I mean how could he? We were a world away from a remote village in Communist China. We were in Chicago’s Chinatown — the heart of the United States of America and Ike was President. How safe could it be?

He couldn’t change his phone number or not answer the phone. A parishioner in need of a Chinese speaking priest might be calling. He also wanted to speak his mind about his ordeal in China.

We knew that the Soviet Union had turncoats in Washington and clandestine agents trained in Moscow waiting for orders to harm America. In 1959 I learned a new lesson. You don’t have to see the enemy for the enemy to see you.

“BECKER, WE TOLD YOU NOT TO TALK”

By Francis M. Mulligan, Esquire

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Bridge Builder ($1000 or more)Barbara J. KlineJim and Lori Lillis (In memory of The Honorable Forrest G. Schaeffer, Jr.)Donald F. Smith, Jr. (In honor of Judges Antanavage, Boccabella, Keller and Lieberman)

Juris ($500 to $999)John & Cathy BadalRichard A. BausherEdward HousemanEdwin H. KershnerHeidi B. Masano (In memory of The Honorable Thomas M. Golden)Leon A. Miller (In memory of The Honorable James W. Bertolet)

President ($250 to $499)Antanavage Farbiarz, PLLC Tom and Leslie Bell The Honorable and Mrs. John A. Boccabella Brett and Joanne Huckabee Dan & Ellen Huyett Honorable Scott D. Keller Howard and JoAnn Lightman (In memory of The Honorable Arthur Ed Saylor)Chip Lutz Ken Millman Frederick R. Mogel Frederick and Nancy Nice Charles and Sharon PhillipsRiverfront Federal Credit UnionJim and Kathy Snyder Sodomsky and Nigrini Carl and Debbie SottosantiJohn Speicher (In honor of Donald F. Smith, Jr.)Terry D. Weiler

The Law Foundation of Berks County’s 2015 Annual Giving Campaign is now complete.

As of January 29, 2016, those listed below have graciously given to the Foundation. The Board of Trustees thanks all who have provided contributions to the Law Foundation.

LAW FOUNDATIONOF BERKS COUNTY2015 ANNUAL GIVING CAMPAIGN

Partner ($100 to $249)Franki AitkenGeorge Audi - The Settlement AllianceMary Ellen BatmanDaniel and Deirdre BausherMark S. Caltagirone Al CrumpPamela A. DeMartinoMerle and Wendy DunkelbergerDavid R. EshelmanJohn T. Forry (In memory of John H. Forry and William Forry)James A. GilmartinBonnie Hartman (In memory of The Honorable Forrest G. Schaeffer, Jr.) Frederick K. Hatt (In memory of Lee E. Sapira)Herbert Karasin David M. KozloffChris G. Kraras, White Star ToursJohn J. MiravichDaryl F. Moyer (In honor of Judge A. Joseph Antanavage) Daniel and Jennifer NevinsMichael & Mary Jean NoonPaul R. OberRick Oppenheimer and Joanne M. Judge Scott C. Painter Jesse L. PleetJames M. PolyakGary and Karen RightmireWilliam Rush Christopher R. Heslop and Jill M. ScheidtPeter F. Schuchman, Jr. Honorable Jeffrey K. Sprecher Betsy Hawman Sprow Edwin L. Stock John M. StottJohn M. and Collen L. Stott (In memory of John Bradley, Jr.)Honorable Mary Ann Ullman Honorable Eugene F. Wisniewski Greg Young


Special Gifts to the Law Foundation In Honor of Brett

Huckabee’s RetirementDyanne and Robert Adams

Constance and Eric BlowBarbara A. Bradley

Mauro and Angel CammaranoPatricia and Bernard Donahue

Beth and Richard CaputoSusan J. Caputo

Melanie and Daniel CascianoAnna and Daniel Casciano

K.J. and P.L. ChristianBrian W. Clements

Kelly and Richard CloseMarisa and Scott HunsickerAlice and Nicholas Karetas

Sharon S. KeatingAnn and Chris Kraras

Jennifer and Dean KrarasMr. and Mrs. Edward McKeaney

Louis T. MehosRhonda and Keith Petrillo

Jeffrey M. PowerAnn L. Prendergast

Mr. and Mrs. Jeffrey R. RushSteven C. Silverman


AssociateHonorable A. Joseph AntanavageConnors Investor Services, Inc.Laura CooperAmy Nieves-FebresLynn FeldmanBarry D. GroebelHonorable Madelyn S. FudemanAmy B. GoodCharles and Alisa HobartDarlington Hoopes, Jr.Jack LintonJ. Randall MillerMiller Law Group, PLLCRobert MooreKenneth C. MyersMichael J. RestrepoVictoria A. Gallen SchuttMichael C. WiederMichael G. WolfeThe Honorable George C. and Shirleen Yatron

In November, then Law Foundation Vice President Alexa Antanavage attended a special dinner at Alvernia University and presented $2,500 scholarships to two outstanding criminal justice majors.


2015 ADMISSION CEREMONY AND RECEPTION On November 12 the Berks County

Bar Association’s Admission and Membership Committee, chaired by Carmen Stanziola, hosted the annual Admissions Ceremony, presided over by President Judge Paul M. Yatron. A reception honoring the admittees and their families followed in the Batdorf Room and Kittrell Suite of the Bar Building.

CLASS OF 2015 (L-R): Mari Andracchio, Sarah Hart, Jennifer McAteer, Karissa Rodriquez and Alexander Yatron

Judge Bucci with Jennifer McAteer

Parents of Alexander Yatron, ALJ and Mrs. George Yatron

CURRENT AND FUTURE PROSECUTORS (L-R): Amanda Kosmerl, Karissa Rodriguez, Jasilyn Moncada (Karissa’s daughter), Edriana Symia, Sarah Hart, Daniel Troy, Mari Andracchio and Alexander Yatron

Judge Keller and 2015 BCBA President Jesse Pleet


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through e-mail and fax, store and protect electronic files and sensitive

data, and print hardcopy documents.

Stratix Systems has helped several Berks County Bar Association

members address their technology needs with IT and Cloud Services,

Document Management, and Printing and Imaging solutions.

Learn more. For more information, call (610) 374-1936 or visit

Stratix Systems online at www.stratixsystems.com.

No one knows technology solutions like Stratix.

Legal Technology Solutions:Helping you meet the technology needs of your partners, associates, staff, and clients.

Mike Wieder and 2015 YLS President Thad Gelsinger

Board Director George Gonzalez enjoying the repast

Kevin Feeney and ADA Adam McNaughton

The ADAs turned out to support their new colleagues. Here are ADAs Matthew Rossi and Jonathan Kurland.

Spend 10 jazz- and blues-filled days and nights in the Greater Reading area! Over 120 scheduled events, plus great shopping and dining in one area, make the 25th annual Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest your perfect spring getaway.

For tickets, call Ticketmaster toll free at 1-800-745-3000 or visit www.ticketmaster.com to order online.

* LINEUP AS OF 11/27/15. SUBJECT TO CHANGE

Mavis Staples Keb’ Mo’

The Manhattan Transfer

Chick Corea & Béla Fleck

Taylor Dayne

BWB: Rick Braun, Kirk Whalum, Norman Brown

Boney James

Follow us on Twitter@berksjazzfest

April 1-10, 2016Reading, PA

berksjazzfest.com

PROUD SPONSOR OF THE BOSCOV’S BERKS JAZZ FEST

CHICK COREA & BÉLA FLECK • THE SUMMIT: THE MANHATTAN TRANSFER & TAKE 6 • KEB’ MO’ WITH SPECIAL GUEST GERALD ALBRIGHT • MAVIS STAPLES • BONEY JAMES

FOURPLAY: BOB JAMES, NATHAN EAST, HARVEY MASON, CHUCK LOEB • PHIL PERRY & HOWARD HEWETT • NAJEE FEATURING CHANTE MOORE, NICK COLIONNE

THE RIPPINGTONS FEATURING RUSS FREEMAN • JOEY ALEXANDER TRIO • GOSPEL ACCORDING TO JAZZ CELEBRATION: KIRK WHALUM, DONNIE MCCLURKIN, JONATHAN

BUTLER, KEVIN WHALUM, JOHN STODDART, DOXA GOSPEL ENSEMBLE • JACKIEM JOYNER & SELINA ALBRIGHT • KEIKO MATSUI • BWB: RICK BRAUN, KIRK WHALUM,

NORMAN BROWN • MICHAEL LINGTON FEATURING TAYLOR DAYNE • JAZZ FUNK SOUL: CHUCK LOEB, EVERETTE HARP, JEFF LORBER • ROBBEN FORD • JAZZ MEETS JAMES:

NICK COLIONNE, KIM WATERS, ERIC DARIUS, MARION MEADOWS, JEFF BRADSHAW, JEANETTE HARRIS, JAY ROWE • BRIAN BROMBERG BAND WITH THE BERKS HORNS

FOUR80EAST FEATURING MATT MARSHAK, ART SHERROD • POPA CHUBBY • PIECES OF A DREAM • GREG ADAMS & EAST BAY SOUL • DAVID BROMBERG BIG BAND

BLIND BOY PAXTON • KIM SIMMONDS & SAVOY BROWN • ERIC MARIENTHAL • ANDY SNITZER • GERALD VEASLEY & FRIENDS FEATURING BOBBY LYLE, NELSON RANGELL,

CHIELI MINUCCI • THE MUSIC OF DAVE BRUBECK: BRUBECK BROTHERS QUARTET AND THE READING POPS ORCHESTRA • CRAIG THATCHER BAND & FRIENDS • THE ROYAL SCAM

SHERRIE MARICLE & FIVE PLAY • LIVE AT THE FILLMORE: TRIBUTE TO THE ORIGINAL ALLMAN BROTHERS • ZOE’ • DAVID P STEVENS & DEE LUCAS • ERICH CAWALLA

QUARTET FEATURING BENNIE SIMS, CLIFF STARKEY, MARKO MARCINKO • DEVON ALLMAN BAND • PHILADELPHIA FUNK AUTHORITY • THE ORIGINAL GROOVEMASTERS &

FRIENDS • UPTOWN BAND FEATURING ERICH CAWALLA & JENIFER KINDER • BLITZ DYNETTE • GREG HATZA & TIM PRICE ORGAN QUARTET • DJANGOHOLICS ANONYMOUS

AMY HELM & THE HANDSOME STRANGERS • KUTZTOWN UNIVERSITY JAZZ ENSEMBLE I • U.S. NAVY BAND COMMODORES • U.S. AIR FORCE RHYTHM IN BLUE JAZZ ENSEMBLE

BERKS HIGH SCHOOL ALL-STAR JAZZ BAND AND CHORUS • STOLEN MOMENTS: THE FIRST 100 YEARS OF JAZZ FEATURING JAZZREACH’S METTA QUINTET AND MORE!*

Date post:	26-Jul-2016
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The Berks Barrister | Winter 2016

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