The ACBA Judiciary Committee is accepting applications from candidates seeking ratings for the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas until Friday, Jan. 24. Candidates that do not submit an application by Friday, Jan. 24 at 4 p.m., will receive a Not Recommended rating from the ACBA Judiciary Committee for failing to appear before the Committee for an interview, evaluation and rating.

Candidates requesting an interview must submit an application that is available online at www.acba.org. To download a candidate questionnaire and other related materials please click on this link or visit the homepage of the ACBA website. If you have questions about the candidate questionnaire, contact ACBA Executive Director David Blaner by phone at 412-402-6601 or by email at dblaner@acba.org.

The ACBA Judiciary Committee will meet at 4 p.m. on Tuesday, Feb. 4 at the ACBA Headquarters in the Koppers Building to consider candidates seeking ratings for the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas. The Judiciary Committee will interview Heather Schmidt Bresnahan, the Hon. Michele K. Santicola and Michael B. Sullivan.

Written comments from ACBA members are invited and shall be received and maintained as confidential by the Committee. Written comments should be sent to David A. Blaner, Executive Director, ACBA, by email to dblaner@acba.org by Friday, Jan. 31 at 4 p.m. For the full notice, click below.

In the below video, ACBA President Regina Wilson recaps the Jan. 21 ACBA Board of Governors meeting. She discusses growing ACBA membership numbers, with 143 new members being approved this week. Wilson also discusses Judiciary Committee matters, potential by-law changes, and a request from the Criminal Litigation Section. 

The ACBA Homer S. Brown Division's 26th Annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King was held Monday at the Mt. Ararat Baptist Church in Larimer, and the event was very well received. The Hon. Joseph K. Williams received the Drum Major for Justice Award, the POISE Foundation received the Legacy Award, and a number of dignitaries offered comments, including Lt. Gov. Austin Davis, Congresswoman Summer Lee, Allegheny County Executive Sara Innamorato, and Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey. The event garnered substantial media coverage, including:

Your firm’s success and reputation hinge on establishing client trust. The more your clients trust your firm, the more likely they are to use your services again or recommend them. One of the easiest ways to prove your firm’s dedication to providing outstanding client experiences and outcomes is by communicating your firm’s payment processes, IOLTA compliance, and other critical policies from the very beginning. 

The ACBA Partners at LawPay have created a set of Legal Billing Templates to help you get started.

Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers is an organization exclusively dedicated to helping lawyers, judges, law students and their family members who are at risk as a result of drug use, gambling, depression and other serious mental illnesses. LCL help is available 24 hours per day, 365 days per year. Services include counseling, rehabilitation services and more. For more info, click the link below.

The ACBA Women in the Law Division is inviting all members to enjoy lunch with Pennsylvania Supreme Court Chief Justice Debra Todd on Thursday, Feb. 27 at the Fairmont Hotel in downtown Pittsburgh. The event will feature comments from Justice Todd regarding her career in law, ascent to leadership, and ultimately, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. The deadline to register is Thursday, Feb. 20.

Quiet quitting is an act done by people who are not satisfied or engaged at their jobs – they do the minimum level of work and are usually looking for a new job at the same time. The below article covers more. For more on ACBA Legal Employment Services, contact Jennifer Pulice at jpulice@acba.org.

The Pennsylvania Statewide Mock Trial Competition – presented by the ACBA  and the Pa. Bar Association – kicks off in Allegheny County on Monday, Feb. 3. ACBA members are asked to support these high school students by volunteering to be a scoring juror or a presiding judge for the competition. There are 31 high school teams participating, and at least 24 volunteers are needed on each night of the competition. Volunteers do not need to be a litigation attorney to support this program, and prior experience as a scoring juror is not needed.

Volunteers are asked to commit to an entire evening; volunteers need to arrive at the City-County Building by 4:45 p.m. and should be prepared to judge two back-to-back trials, completed by approximately 9:00 p.m. The nights of the first round of the competition are as follows:

• Feb. 3
• Feb. 4
• Feb. 10
• Feb. 12

Additional dates will be scheduled for playoffs, semifinals and finals. Volunteers can sign-up at this link. For additional information, contact Julie Brennan at the button below.

The Pittsburgh Legal Journal – the official legal journal of the Allegheny County Court of Common Pleas containing trial lists, legal notices, sheriff sales and more – is published five days per week and is available only to subscribers. It is delivered via email as an easy-to-print, 8.5x11-inch pdf. For an informational video on the PLJ, click here.