There are currently five vacancies on Pennsylvania Supreme Court boards and committees and they have been posted on the UJS website. The first vacant position is on the Disciplinary Board. Applicants must be members of the Pennsylvania Bar and be knowledgeable about the Pennsylvania Rules of Professional Conduct and Pennsylvania Rules of Disciplinary Enforcement. The second vacancy is on the Juvenile Court Procedural Rules Committee. Applicants should be knowledgeable about the Pennsylvania Rules of Juvenile Court Procedure and experienced in juvenile law practice in Pennsylvania, including dependency and delinquency matters. The third and fourth vacancies are on the Pennsylvania Lawyers

Partner Bonnie Stein has been appointed annually as a Member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession since it was established in 1993.  The Commission analyze the current status of women in the legal profession and identify barriers that prevent women from full participation in the work, responsibilities and rewards of the profession.  Recommendations are made to the PBA Board  of Governors and House of Delegates for possible action to solve identified problems.  Members of the Commission develop educational programs to address discrimination against women lawyers and unique problems women encounter pursuing professional careers and mentor

Due to the implementation of the AOPC’s Guardianship Tracking System, the Clerk of the Orphans’ Court has modified its fee bill in the following manner: 1.       Annual Reports (electronically filed) – No Charge 2.       Annual Reports (paper filed) – $ 75.00 3.       Inventory (electronically filed) – No Charge 4.       Inventory (paper filed) – $75.00 The fee changes are effective December 17, 2018.  Kiosks are available within the office of the Clerk of the Orphans’ Court for those who need online access.  Fee wavier applications continue to be available for indigent cases. Contact Clerk of the Orphans’ Court, Don Petrille dpetrille@buckscounty.org

H. Jeffrey Brahin, Esq. served as faculty at the 22ndAnnual PBI Real Estate Institute for the seminar Confessions of Judgment – The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. The course was a comprehensive review of confessions of judgment, including negotiating and drafting the warrant of attorney, filing the judgment, Petitions to Strike and Open Judgment, and appeal issues. The seminar covered both substantive and procedural matters and provided practical insight into the litigation of confession of  judgment issues. Mr. Brahin concentrates his practice in commercial and real estate litigation, transactional real estate, as well as corporate matters and general civil

The Courts; Judicial System General Provisions; Judicial Salaries ·        https://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol48/48-50/1921.html The Courts; Judicial System General Provisions; Order Amending Rule 402 of the Pennsylvania Bar Admission Rules; No. 783 Supreme Court Rules Doc. ·        https://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol48/48-50/1920.html The Courts; Local Court Rules; Bucks County; Clerk of Courts—Criminal Division; AD 2-2018 ·        https://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol48/48-50/1925.html The Courts; Local Court Rules; Rules of Civil Procedure; Proposed Adoption of Pa.R.C.P. No. 1065.1 ·        https://www.pabulletin.com/secure/data/vol48/48-50/1922.html The Courts; Local Court Rules; Rules of Criminal Procedure; Order Adopting New Rule 556.13, Amending Rule 556.11 and Revising the Comments of Rules 502, 513, 516, 517 and 518 of the Rules of Criminal Procedure; No. 505 Criminal

Partners Frank A. Mazzeo and Joseph M. Konieczny were named 2018 Super Lawyers. Frank A. Mazzeo is the founder and past chair of the Intellectual Property Section of the Bucks County Bar Association.  He also is past Chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Intellectual Property Section. As a partner in the intellectual property law firm Ryder, Mazzeo and Konieczny, LLC, Mr. Mazzeo practices in the areas of intellectual property litigation, trademarks, copyrights and patent prosecution. He has litigated all types of intellectual property cases, including complex patent infringement cases involving multiple patents and trademark and copyright infringement cases.  Mr. Mazzeo also

New Rule Provides Direction to Attorneys with Unclaimed Funds in their IOLTA Account After several years of receiving calls from attorneys seeking guidance on the ethical distribution of unclaimed and unidentifiable funds in their IOLTA trust account, the IOLTA Board is pleased to share that recently adopted Pennsylvania Rule of Professional Conduct 1.15(v) provides such guidance. It is an especially common question when an attorney is winding down a law practice in preparation for retirement or when his or her attempts to contact a former client are unsuccessful. The new rule provides that after reasonable efforts have been undertaken to

Friedman Schuman, PC, a law firm with offices in Montgomery County, PA and Camden County, NJ, congratulates two of its attorneys, Peter Friedman and Bob Alston, for having represented Gwynedd Mercy University in  its recent acquisition from Merck & Co. of the 154-acre property located at 1201 Sumneytown Pike, Lower Gwynedd, PA, immediately east of the University’s existing campus.  This acquisition results in the doubling of Gwynedd Mercy’s campus to 314 acres.  The acquisition included a 157,000 square foot building. This eight-figure dollar transaction will enable the University to meet the needs of the existing undergraduate professional and healthcare programs

MEMORANDUM Posted: December 13, 2018 08:53 AM From: Representative Russ Diamond To: All House members Subject: Property Tax Elimination In the near future, I plan to reintroduce legislation (2015-16 HB 1115, 2017-18 HB262) to place a Constitutional Amendment on the ballot so voters can decide whether to eliminate all property taxes in the Commonwealth by a certain date. Acquiring, possessing and defending property are declared as Inherent Rights of Mankind in Article I Section 1 of Pennsylvania’s Constitution. That declaration was made by contemporaries of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, which cemented the idea that governments are created

MEMORANDUM Posted: December 12, 2018 12:42 PM From: Representative Russ Diamond To: All House members Subject: Regional Appellate Court Districts In the near future I will be introducing legislation (2015-16 HB2210; 2017-18 HB829) to amend the PA Constitution to change the way Pennsylvania elects appellate court judges. Specifically, my legislation would divide the Commonwealth into nine (9) Commonwealth Court districts, fifteen (15) Superior Court districts, and seven (7) Supreme Court districts. These districts would be defined by the General Assembly following the redistricting principles found in our Constitution, requiring populations as equal as possible in each district with compact and