CONSTITUTION PROGRAM

Scott F. Griffith, a partner in the Philadelphia office, presented a program on the U.S. Constitution to students and teachers from Philadelphia’s Holy Cross Parish School in May. The Constitution Program is presented annually by Rawle & Henderson in partnership with the Women for Greater Philadelphia (website: www.womenforgreaterphiladelphia.org), stewards of Laurel Hill Mansion, the restored summer home of William Rawle (founder of Rawle & Henderson LLP) and the Rawle family on the banks of the Schuylkill River in Philadelphia.

Rawle & Henderson donated copies of the booklet The United States Constitution: What It Says, What It Means to the students at this year’s Constitution Program. The booklet, produced by Oxford University Press, provides a clear explanation of each Article and Amendment, and features an introduction by Caroline Kennedy and afterword by David Eisenhower. The event was held at Holy Cross Parish School.  This was the fifth annual presentation on the Constitution the firm has made to the Holy Cross Parish School students.

Scott Griffith concentrates his practice in the areas of environmental, toxic and mass torts, product liability, professional liability, and white collar criminal defense. A seasoned trial attorney, Scott has tried over 60 civil and criminal matters to verdict.  A 1987 graduate of Hofstra University (B.A., Literature) and a 1993 graduate of the Temple University School of Law, Scott is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York, as well as in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania, the U.S. District Court for the District of New Jersey and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Scott can be reached directly at: (215) 575-4323  • sgriffith@rawle.com

KOMEN RACE FOR THE CURE

Rawle & Henderson LLP participated in the 2015 Philadelphia Komen Race for the Cure in May and raised $10,150 to help find a cure for breast cancer.  The firm won the race category “Law Firms for the Fight” by raising more funds than any other participating law firm.  Over the last eight years, Rawle & Henderson’s team has raised over $63,000. Our 2015 team was named “Henderson for Higgins and Sabo presents Harvan’s Heroes” to honor Christine Harvan, Rawle & Henderson’s long-time law librarian, who lost her courageous battle with breast cancer in March 2015. Christine was the law librarian at the firm from 1987 to 2015.  In addition, the firm honored for the eighth year in a row the firm’s former partner, Ann-Michele Higgins, who died from breast cancer in September 2007 and for the second year in a row honored Nancy J. Sabo, wife of partner Michael G. Sabo, Esq., who lost her fight against breast cancer in January 2014.

CHRISTINE HARVAN MEMORIAL LAW LIBRARY

Fred B. Buck, partner at Rawle & Henderson, and Linda-Jean Schneider, Law Librarian at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, participated in the dedication of Rawle & Henderson’s law library to the memory of the late Christine Harvan, the firm’s law librarian for 28 years.

Rawle & Henderson LLP dedicated its law library in the firm’s Philadelphia offices at One South Penn Square in June to the late Christine Harvan, who served as the firm’s librarian from 1987 to 2015.  Ms. Harvan passed away after a courageous battle with breast cancer on March 23, 2015.

A plaque was placed in the firm’s library to formally dedicate it as the Christine Harvan Memorial Law Library. “This dedication was not just to celebrate Chris’s life and career,” said partner Fred B. Buck, “but to create a permanent memorial to the qualities and values she embodied, which will live on at Rawle & Henderson in her memory.”

The dedication of the Christine Harvan Memorial Law Library was attended by nearly 100 colleagues and friends of Ms. Harvan, including a number of her peers and acquaintances from Philadelphia area law firms. Linda-Jean Schneider, Law Librarian at Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP, was a close friend of Ms. Harvan and spoke at the dedication ceremony.  Also in attendance was Regina Smith, Executive Director of the Jenkins Law Library, who worked closely with Ms. Harvan for many years on the hundreds of requests for information on legal cases that came from Rawle & Henderson attorneys.

Christine Harvan, center left, in April 2014 with other members of Rawle & Henderson’s race team for the Philadelphia Komen Race for the Cure.

Christine Catherine Harvan graduated magna cum laude from Millersville State College in 1975 with a major in English Literature.  She received her master’s degree in Library Science from Villanova University in 1977.  She was the law librarian for the Lancaster County Law Library from 1977 to 1982 and for the Chester County Law Library from 1982 to 1987.  She served as president of the Greater Philadelphia Law Library Association (GPLLA) from 1985 to 1986.

Ms. Harvan became the law librarian at Rawle & Henderson on March 9, 1987.  The firm was then located at 211 South Broad Street and, apart from a rudimentary LEXIS terminal, the library’s collection consisted of thousands of volumes of hard-bound case reporters, statutes, reference works, and advance sheets.  Over the next 28 years, Ms. Harvan assisted the firm’s transition to a technologically advanced facility where most legal research and reference work are performed electronically.

PHILADELPHIA BAR ASSOCIATION EVENTS

(L.-r.) Dr. William R. Hite, Jr., Superintendent of the School District of Philadelphia; Erin E. Lamb, Chair-Elect of the Philadelphia Bar Association Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Executive Committee and an associate at Rawle & Henderson LLP; Maria E. Bermudez, current Chair of the YLD Executive Committee; and Albert S. Dandridge, III, Chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association gather for the kickoff of Law Week 2015 at the Murrell Dobbins Vocational High School in Philadelphia.

Erin E. Lamb, an associate in our Philadelphia office, participated in several events during the Philadelphia Bar Association Law Week 2015 in late April.  Erin was the Chair of Law Week 2015 and the Chair-Elect of the Young Lawyers Division (YLD) Executive Committee.  Law Week offered a range of free community service events presented by volunteer lawyers.

Erin Lamb and Joseph Skale, another attorney from our Philadelphia office, participated in Legal Advice Live! and provided free, confidential legal advice to the public at the Central Branch of the Free Library of Philadelphia and several Philadelphia high schools.  Erin also participated in Lawyers in the Classroom, where she and other volunteer lawyers visited Philadelphia schools to address students’ questions about the law and the legal profession.

Rawle & Henderson LLP sponsored a room at Philadelphia’s City Hall for the Law Week 2015 Goldilocks Program, a legacy program of Retired Judge Annette M. Rizzo, who is also a former Rawle & Henderson attorney. Rawle & Henderson presented the “Big Bad Wolf” Mock Trial as part of the Goldilocks Program. The trial was attended by students from the Alfred M. Greenfield K-8 Elementary School, who served as jurors.  Rawle & Henderson attorneys (l-r: Kenneth O’Neil, Jennifer Frechie, Joseph Skale, Fred Lorusso, President Judge Sheila Woods-Skipper, Brian Welsh, Jesse Endler and Yulia Foster) acted out parts that included B.B. Wolf, Curly Pig, Wilbur Pig, Babe Pig, Dr. Kate Lupus, the District Attorney, and Defendant’s Counsel.

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