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Swearing-In Ceremony
On Monday, January 4th the 39th Judicial District will be swearing in the recently elected Common Pleas Judge, Todd Sponseller, in Courtroom 1 at 9 a.m.
Other FCBA members will be sworn in during this ceremony:
David S. Keller as County Commissioner
Matthew D. Fogal as District Attorney
Timothy S. Sponseller as Prothonotary
Please join us after the ceremony in the Jury Assembly room for light refreshments.
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FCBA Admission Ceremony
The Franklin County Bar Association admitted 4 new members at its Admission Ceremony held on Friday, December 4, 2015.
The new members include Jessica Weaver, of Mooney and Associates; Zachary Rice, Law Clerk for the 39th Judicial District; Erich Hawbaker, of Mercersburg, PA.; and Daniel Conlon, of Salzmann Hughes, P.C.
The ceremony, held in historic Courtroom One of the Franklin County Courthouse, included words of advice to the new admittees from the Honorable Shawn D. Meyers, Pennsylvania Bar Association President-elect Sara Austin, Franklin County Bar Association President Clint Barkdoll and Young Lawyers Division Chair Annie Gomez Shockey.
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Jessica Weaver, Zachary Rice, Erich Hawbaker, and Daniel Conlon
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Read Judge Meyers' advice to the attorneys and see more pictures from the ceremony in our
since our last chat section.
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Women's Club of the FCBA Decorates Couthouse Planters for the Holidays
The courthouse pots were decorated for Christmas on Dec. 5. Major kudos go to Eileen Finucane and Dale Stouffer who cut fresh greens from their property and delivered them. Amelia Ambrose provided some extra greens. Helping to decorate were Stacy Pineo Hurt, Annie Gomez Shockey, Barbara Townsend, Kristin Hamilton and her daughter Emma, and Marty Walker. David Spang removed the cabbages and kales before the group started laying the greens.
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Stacy, Kristen, Emma, Annie and Marty
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Commissioner David Keller was effusive in his praise at the bar meeting of the women's bar group's yearlong project of keeping the pots beautifully, seasonally decorated and asked Marty to pass that compliment along to all who have helped in 2015.
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FCBA's Find a Lawyer Added to Local Rule for Notice to Defend
Good news! As discussed at the Annual Meeting, the Board of Judges has agreed to change the contact for the Notice to Defend to be the FCBA's Find a Lawyer service. The change to local rule 39-1018.1 Notice to Defend has been published in the PA Bulletin on Saturday, December 12th. The change goes into effect 30 days after the published date.
Our contact information should be listed as:
Franklin County Bar Association Find A Lawyer Service
100 Lincoln Way East, Suite E
Chambersburg, PA 17201
Telephone: 717-660-2118
www.franklinbar.org/find
You may read the PA Bulletin update by clicking HERE.
The email sent to members on December 14th incorrectly showed the URL www.franklinbar.org/find as underlined. Please note that the published version does not have the URL underlined. Sorry for any confusion this may have caused.
You may view our Find a Lawyer webpage by clicking HERE.
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FCBA Newsletters and Memorial Resolutions
The members' section of the FCBA website has been updated to include past editions of the Causeway, 39th Judicial District memos, recent emails sent to members, and Memorial Resolutions.
http://www.franklinbar.org/for-members/memos/
Memorial Resolutions dated from 2004 to 2015 are on the website. If you have a memorial resolution dated before 2004 please send a copy to the FCBA office so we may include it on the website.
Having trouble accessing the members' section of our website? Please contact Amelia Ambrose for assistance at 717-267-2032 or
director@franklinbar.org
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Free PBI Books Available
It's that time of year again. The Franklin County Law Library is removing the 5 year-old PBI books from the shelves to make room for the 2016 books. These books are free to FCBA members. Please stop by the Law Library during the month of January to get your free PBI books.
Please click HERE to view a list of books. All books were published in 2011.
The books are available on a first come, first serve basis, however you may contact Amelia Ambrose to hold books for you.
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Corporate Basketball League
The Chambersburg YMCA will be hosting a corporate basketball league. You will have the opportunity to play against teams from Volvo, Manitowoc, and Martin's.
Games will be played on Wednesdays at 6 & 7 p.m. starting January 13th. Tony Cosentino has volunteered to be the contact person for our team. Please contact Tony if you are interested in joining. The registration form and fee need to be turned into the YMCA by January 8th.
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Annual Meeting Follow-Up
With regard to the annual meeting, Tony Cosentino wanted to note that Senator Alloway's office answered Tony's phone calls prior to the sales tax vote.
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FCB Foundation Donation Letters
The FCB Foundation began accepting donations in 2015. We collected $9897 during the year. Many members contributed in honor of Judge Herman's retirement or by designating their arbitration fees to the Foundation. We also raised money by enjoying yoga.
We are sending out donation letters to everyone who contributed in 2015, next week. If you have any questions or concerns about your donation confirmation letter please contact Amelia Ambrose.
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Press Releases, Memos and Important Notices
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Upcoming PBI CLEs at FCBA
Please see below for the current list of PBI CLEs we are hosting.
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Member News
* Nichole Huffman, managing attorney of MidPenn legal Services, has changed her name to Nichole Sipe. Her new email address is nsipe@midpenn.org.
* Tammy Dusharm is now with Scaringi & Scaringi, P.C. She may be reached at 14 South Second Street, Newport, PA 17074, 717-567-0380.
* Mary Beth Shank is now with Salzmann Hughes, P.C. She may be reached at mbshank@salzmannhughes.com or 79 St. Paul Drive, Chambersburg, PA 17201, 717-263-2121.
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Newsletter items deadline
The deadline to submit items for The Causeway is the 20th of each month.
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"Since our last chat..."
"Since our last chat..." is a periodic column in The Causeway by Bar member Barb Townsend.
We had a great turn out for the Admissions Ceremony. We thought that those present and members who couldn't attend the ceremony would enjoy Judge Meyers' advice to new attorneys.
The following is a copy of Judge Meyers' prepared remarks for the 2015 Franklin County Bar Association Admission Ceremony. Not all comments may have been offered during the ceremony due to time constraints.
In preparing for today's address, I thought back to prior words of advice and encouragement that I have heard offered to newly admitted attorneys at prior ceremonies. Many of you may assume that you will be hearing words of advice that are specific only to the practice of law. I hope my words of advice reflect matters of common sense and things that you likely already do in your everyday life.
The noted humorist Will Rogers said "You never get a second chance to make a first impression." As you begin the practice of law, you will be making first impressions to judges, courthouse staff, your fellow attorneys and their staff, and your clients and those who are connected to them. This will be your chance to make an impression on people with whom you will be working with for most of your career. I encourage you to think about the golden rule. Treat others as you would wish to be treated. How you interact with the Court and the Court's staff, the staff of the various offices within the courthouse, opposing counsel and their staff, and your own clients will quickly reveal how it is that you wish to be treated as well. Once an impression is made, it is often hard to alter, especially if it is negative. Of course, if you make a very favorable impression, you will likely get the benefit of the doubt if you are having a bad day. Also to that end, I wish to point out that if you or your office staff receives a phone call from a judge, you can pretty much assume that they are not calling to ask about a recent Netflix movie or whether or not you had a chance to see the last quarter of last night's football game. In all likelihood, the phone call is going to be directly related to an important issue within a case that you have before the court. I was given sound advice from the moment I joined the bar that when a judge calls, you interrupt what you are doing and take it.
The same can be said for interaction with your fellow colleagues. If you are unable to immediately accept a phone call or to supply a meaningful response to a letter or email, in lieu of silence for several business days while you are in trial or traveling to various jurisdictions, consider issuing a brief acknowledgment that you received their call or email and explain that due to your schedule you are unable to respond to the request that was made. Even that brief acknowledgment will at least let other counsel know that you are aware of their contact and that you are not simply ignoring it. Good communication is a key to success in the practice of law.
As I look around this courtroom I see multiple practitioners who regularly are able to work with their clients and opposing counsel to reach an accord without the use of court time. In fact, I usually assume that if the Court is asked to hear a matter, it is because the parties have been unable to reach an agreement after diligent efforts to settle a case.
On occasion though, I have taken the bench only to see two attorneys sitting at the tables with stony faces. When I ask if counsel has discussed the case, they have responded that they have not. This is a source of disappointment to the Court, and I would encourage you as new members to always make an effort to reach out to opposing counsel to discuss the case before coming to court. In this world of social medial and technology, sometimes there is nothing like face-to-face meetings here at the courthouse to prompt an agreement, so I encourage you to arrive prior to the hearing so you can discuss the case. While you are advocates, you are also responsible for ensuring the best outcome for your client, and many times that best outcome is for them to conserve their resources and to reach an agreement or settlement without need of your services.
I also want to talk about pro bono services. When asked by the Court to serve, we hope that you would do so willingly. If you are uncertain as a young lawyer as to what skills you may be able to offer the Court, reach out to more experienced members of the Bar. Of course, if you are concerned that you lack a certain skill set, see whether or not it is possible for you to shadow or partner with an attorney on a pro bono basis to get some experience in a particular area. If the Court is satisfied that your level of experience is such that you would be an appropriate appointee, please make sure your names are listed on the roster of attorneys accepting court appointments, and it can range in the areas from family law, criminal, and even in commercial and real estate and estate matters. As our community grows and our local population and economy expands, we are seeing a greater demand for court services and legal representation. Every case that you agree to handle on a pro bono basis makes a difference to the ultimate efficiency and the delivery of justice to the citizens of the 39th Judicial District.
I Googled what makes a good lawyer. Sadly most of the links led me to articles about marketing, time management, advocacy, self-promotion, but one article caught my interest. Eleonora Lee, a lawyer from California, had the following observations. She said, "Not to knock my own kind, but one of the best compliments I ever received from someone was that you don't seem like a lawyer. It made me beam for days. Why? There are a few generalizations people make of lawyers, whether they are fair or not." I have paraphrased her list: Lawyers project a know-it-all vibe. They are usually pessimistic. They are normally persons who like to use fancy words and are micro-managers. Many either have social skills that cause them to schmooze, or others exhibit a total lack of social skills. Lawyers are risk adverse, lack feeling, are highly competitive, and self-focused.
I challenge her characterization and direct you to get to know your fellow members who are here today to witness your admission: In looking around the room I see attorneys who if people told me you could tell they were lawyers, why? Because they have empathy for clients, they care about the outcomes of their cases, they are respectful to the Court, court staff, related offices, opposing counsel and their staff. They are attentive to each and every case that they agree to handle, and project to the outside world that as a lawyer and as a person, they are worthy of respect and that they treat others with respect. This is what these lawyers prompt non-lawyers to think when asked what is a lawyer.
Finally, we recently observed the passing of a member of the Bar, Rick Bushman. By now Rick would have already told a joke to those sitting around them and had them stifling laughter. But Rick was someone who if you talk to any member of the Bar will tell you that although he took the practice of law seriously and was a vigorous advocate for his clients, he never took himself so seriously that he didn't have time to talk to you about your personal life, common interests, and to share a good joke. I encourage all of you to approach your practice in the same way. Congratulations on your admission.
Note from Barb Townsend: I'm seeking ideas for a talent night, attorneys only. Please send me ideas for songs by e-mail, such as "Estop in the Name of Love' or 'Lean on Me if You've been Sued". Let your imagination be your guide.
If you play an instrument, please let me know.
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| Jessica Weaver presented by Forest Myers |
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| Zachary Rice presented by Judge Van Horn |
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| Erich Hawbaker presented by Judge Meyers |
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| Daniel Conlon presented by Samuel E. Wiser, Jr. |
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| Judge Meyers gives advice to new attorneys |
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| FCBA President Clint Barkdoll |
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| PBA president elect Sara Austin |
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| YLD Chair Annie Gomez Shockey |
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Calendar of Events
CLOSED, New Year's Eve & Day
Thurs. -Fri., Dec. 31 - Jan. 1
Swearing-In Ceremony
Mon., January 4
YLD Meeting
Fri., January 8
Board of Directors Meeting
Fri., January 15
YLD Meeting
Fri., February 5
Conference of County Bar Leaders
Thurs. - Sat., Feb. 25 - 27
YLD Meeting
Fri., March 4
Board of Directors Meeting
Fri., March 18
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Visit the Franklin County Bar Association's website.
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The Bar is on Facebook! "Like" the Franklin County Bar Association page for event reminders and news of interest to the bar and see photos of member activities.
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Follow the Franklin County Bar Association on Twitter.
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Contact the Bar
Amelia Ambrose
Executive Director
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