The Bar Foundation

 

Our People

Board Of Trustees

Officers

Wendy Beetlestone, Esq. – PRESIDENT
Hangley, Aronchick, Segal&Pudlin

After serving on the Bar Foundation's Board of Trustees since 2005, Wendy began her two-year term as president in 2011. She has served as treasurer of the Bar Foundation from 2007-2009 and was the first co-chair along with Philadelphia Bar Association chancellor, Alan Feldman of the Raising the Bar effort. She has served as chair of various Bar Foundation committees and in 2009 she was responsible for the success of the Andrew Hamilton Benefit which raised over $210,000.

After working as general counsel of the School District of Philadelphia, Wendy returned to the private sector and has continued her commercial litigation practice.



Deborah R. Gross, Esq. – PRESIDENT - ELECT
Law Office of Bernard M. Gross, P.C.

Debbie was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2004 and was vice president in 2009. She will be president of the Bar Foundation in 2012. Debbie co-chaired the Andrew Hamilton Gala in 2006 and 2007 and is co-chair of the Cy Pres Committee. Debbie's work is responsible for many of the cy pres distributions the Bar Foundation has received in recent years.

An expert on class action, Debbie is an attorney at the Law Offices of Bernard M. Gross.



Steven E. Bizar, Esq. - SECRETARY
Buchanan Ingersoll&Rooney PC

Steve joined the Board of Trustees in 2007. He became board secretary in 2011 and was re-elected as secretary for 2012. With his wife, Lisa Brody, he was the 2008 co-chair of the 30th Anniversary of the Andrew Hamilton Gala and has chaired the Raising the Bar committee.

Steve has significant experience in the trial defense of multi-district class actions and regularly represents clients in government antitrust and securities fraud investigations and enforcement proceedings and before administrative agencies and self-regulatory organizations.



Thomas A. Brophy, Esq. – TREASURER
Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman&Goggin

Tom was elected to the Bar Foundation Board of Trustees in 2009. He became treasurer in 2011 and was re-elected for 2012. With Rudolph Garcia, Tom co-chaired the 2010 Andrew Hamilton Benefit which raised $275,000.

Tom has served as president and CEO of Marshall, Dennehey, Warner, Coleman&Goggin since 2005 and, as such, maintains administrative responsibility for all firm-wide activities.



Richard Grobman - ASSISTANT TREASURER
Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Rich was elected as assistant treasurer for the 2012. He has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2006 and serves as the chair of the finance committee.

Rich is Senior Managing Director at Oppenheimer & Co. Inc., one of the nation’s largest and most respected financial services companies.

Trustees

Michael E. Adler, Esq.
Weber Gallagher Simpson Stapleton Fires&Newby LLP

Michael serves on the board of trustees as chair of the grants committee since 2011.

Michael Adler focuses his practice on the representation of publicly-traded and privately-held corporations, developers and property and financial management companies in complex commercial and litigation matters. He recently was elected a Committeeman in Lower Merion Township and has been selected by his peers as a "Lawyer on the Fast Track" and in Philadelphia magazine as a Pennsylvania "Rising Star Super Lawyer."



Michael Barrett, Esq.
Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett&Bendesky

Michael was elected to the Bar Foundation’s Board of Trustees in 2010.

Michael is his firm's Managing Shareholder, combining his lifelong interests in trial law and medicine to champion the cause of medical malpractice victims and to raise the level of care provided by healthcare providers.



Nadeem A. Bezar, Esq.
Kolsby, Gordon, Robin, Shore and Bezar

Nadeem was elected as a trustee in June 2011. He is a member of the civil justice center exploration committee.

Nadeem concentrates his practice on medical negligence and other cases involving catastrophic personal injuries. Recognized as a Rising Star Among the Minority Bar, he is active in a number of legal organizations including being a member of the Board of Governors of both the PA Trial Lawyers Association and the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association.
Nadeem also participates in the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program and is co-chair for the Philadelphia Bar Association Medical Legal Committee.


Glenn D. Blumenfeld, Esq.
Tactix Real Estate Advisors, LLC

Glenn was the 2008 co-chair of the strategic planning committee and the Bar Foundation secretary in 2009. He co-chaired the 2010 planned giving committee, and in 2011 he became the chair of the civil justice center exploration committee.

Since joining Tactix Real Estate Advisors, Glenn has led some of the largest and most complex real estate transactions in the region.


Anthony J. Bolognese, Esq.
Bolognese&Associates, LLC

Tony was elected to the Bar Foundation Board of Trustees in 2009 and serves on the Cy Pres committee and as a co-chair for the By-laws committee.

Tony is the founding principal of Bolognese & Associates and has had extensive experience as counsel in complex commercial litigation in state and federal courts throughout the nation.



Wilson M. Brown III, Esq.
Drinker Biddle & Reath

Wilson was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2009 and serves as a co-chair of the Individual Giving committee and chair of the Awards committee.

His practice is concentrated in the areas of commercial litigation, intellectual property and technology litigation, and insurance coverage disputes; he is recognized as one of the premier trial attorneys in the country.



Richard L. Cantor, Esq.
Attorney in Private Practice

Rick was elected to the Board of Trustees in June 2011. He continues his work on the grants and Mission Vision Action committees. Rick is also a member of the finance, civil justice center and 50th Anniversary committees.

A practicing attorney for 35 years, Rick is currently General Counsel for Massey Powell. A long-time member of the Bar Foundation’s Grants Committee, Rick is also a member of the board of directors of Southeastern Pennsylvania Legal Aid and a past-president of the board of directors of Pennsylvania Legal Services. Rick has been active in Abington Township as a trustee of the Abington Art Center, chairman of Abington Township/Rockledge Borough Republican Organization, a director of the Abington School Board and as a Republican committeeman.


Edward F. Chacker, Esq.
Gay Chacker&Mittin, P.C.

Ed served as the Bar Foundation’s president in 2004 and has served on its Board of Trustees since 1998.

Ed, a past chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association (1999) and former president of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, is recognized as one of the outstanding trial lawyers in Pennsylvania. Ed lectures frequently, with a special emphasis on trial techniques.




Andrea J. Cho
U.S Trust, Bank of America Private Wealth Management

Andrea Cho was elected as a trustee in September 2011. She is the co-chair of the 2012 Andrew Hamilton Benefit. She is also a member of the strategic planning committee.

Andrea is a Private Client Manager with over ten years of Private Wealth Management experience. She initially joined Bank of America in January 2007.

Prior to joining Bank of America, she was with Wachovia Bank. Andrea is a member of Team Bank of America (the company’s associate-led volunteer program active in local communities), and committee member of both Women’s Way and the annual Shane Victorino Foundation All-Star Celebrity Fashion Show. She is a supporter of the Asian American Bar Association.


Kevin P. Gilboy, Esq.
Teeters Harvey Gilboy & Kaier LLP

Kevin was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2009 and serves as chair of the planned giving committee and as a member of the grants committee.

Kevin is a fellow of the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel, listed in The Best Lawyers in America and as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for Estate Planning & Probate in Philadelphia Magazine.





Amy B. Ginensky, Esq.
Pepper Hamilton LLP

Amy was president of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation in 2009 before which she served as president-elect and Secretary. She co-chaired the Andrew Hamilton Ball, a significant source of funds for the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, in 2006 and 2007.

Amy has co-chaired the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Law Firm Pro Bono Committee for many years and was chair of her former law firm’s pro bono program. Amy is a senior partner in Pepper Hamilton LLP’s Philadelphia office.



Leslie E. John, Esq.
Ballard Spahr

Leslie was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2010. She is a member of the awards committee and co-chair the Raising the Bar committee.

Leslie is Vice Chair of Ballard Spahr’s Litigation Department and partner-in-charge of the Antitrust Group. She is the Co-chair of the firm’s Diversity Committee and serves as General Counsel to WOMEN’S WAY, the nation’s oldest women’s funding federation. Leslie focuses her practice in the areas of antitrust and complex litigation, and has substantial class action experience, including the defense of product liability, securities, antitrust, and ERISA class actions. She also serves as a co-chair for 2011 Raising the Bar.



David J. Kessler, Esq.
Kessler Topaz Meltzer & Check, LLP

David Kessler was elected to the Board of Trustees in 2010 and is a member of the cy pres committee and co-chair of the Golf committee, a significant source of funding for the Bar Foundation's grantmaking efforts.

David serves on his firm's management committee and manages the firm’s nationally recognized securities department. In addition, David is currently representing lead plaintiffs and their respective classes in numerous securities class actions related to the subprime crisis brought against financial institutions, including Bank of America, Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and Wachovia.



Michael L. Kichline, Esq.
Dechert, LLP

Michael was elected to the Board of Trustees in December 2011. He is the co-chair of the Individual Giving committee.

At Dechert, LLP, Michael co-chairs the Complex Commercial Litigation Group. He litigates high-stakes matters for corporations and their boards of directors and executives, financial institutions, investment banks, private equity firms and professional firms. His experience covers a wide range of matters, including securities class actions, derivative suits, M&A disputes, consumer class actions, contract claims and business torts.



Douglas W. Kreitzberg – ASSISTANT TREASURER
USI Affinity

Elected to the Board of Trustees in 2004. Doug was the assistant treasurer in 2011. He is the co-chair of the Five-year Strategic Planning committee. as the chair of the marketing committee, he has been instrumental in developing this website as well as many of the other Bar Foundation marketing initiatives including: the Access e-newsletter and the Case for Support. Doug is also a memeber of the Mission Vision Action committee. br>
In March 2004, Doug became chief executive officer of USI Affinity, an insurance services company.



Nilam S. Sanghvi, Esq.
Georgetown University Law Center

Nilam joined the board of trustees in 2011 and served as chair of the Auction Committee of the 2011 Andrew Hamilton Benefit.

A partner at Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP, Nilam has taken a two-year sabbatical to teach in the Appellate Litigation Program at the Georgetown University Law Center. Prior to joining Schnader, she was an antitrust, appellate and litigation associate at law firms in Washington, D.C. and in New York. As part of her law firm responsibilities, Nilam has served as a mentor and supervisor to summer associates, new hires, legal assistants and staff attorneys.


John E. Savoth, Esq. – CHANCELLOR, Philadelphia Bar Association
Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett & Bendesky

John serves on the board of trustees in his capacity of chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association. John is co-chaired the 2011 Andrew Hamilton Benefit.

He is of Counsel to the Firm of Saltz Mongeluzzi Barrett and Bendesky, PC, concentrating his practice in civil litigation. John is licensed to practice in both the State and Federal Courts of Pennsylvania and New Jersey. John has held numerous leadership positions in various professional organizations including being the past Chairs of the Board of Governors and Young Lawyers Division of the Philadelphia Bar Association. John became Chancellor of the Association in January 2012.



Kenneth Shear – Ex Officio
Philadelphia Bar Association
Ken serves on the Board of Trustees in his capacity as executive director of the Philadelphia Bar Association.







Brennan Torregrossa, Esq.
GlaxoSmithKline Brennan was elected as a trustee in October 2011. He is a member of the marketing, finance, grants and cy pres committees.

As Assistant General Counsel, Dispute Resolution and Prevention, he manages product liability, government investigation, consumer fraud class action, and commercial litigation matters for GSK. He is also a member of the company’s e-discovery team. Before joining GlaxoSmithKline, Brennan was a mass tort and products liability partner at Dechert LLP in Philadelphia. Before joining Dechert as an associate, he clerked for the Honorable Herbert J. Hutton of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Brennan previously served on the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent (VIP) Board of Directors from 2004-2009.



Norman W. Weinstein, Esq.
Weinstein Schleifer & Kupersmith, P.C.

Elected to the Bar Foundation’s Board in 1997, Norm chairs the Mission, Vision, Action committee and is a member the grants committee.

Norm concentrates his practice in the areas of workers’ compensation and Social Security disability matters. He has donated substantial time to performing pro bono work for the Support Center for Child Advocates, Legal Clinic for the Disabled and Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program (VIP)He is president of the board of HIAS and Council.




Kathleen D. Wilkinson, Esq.
Wilson, Elser, Moskowitz, Edelman & Dicker, L.L.P.
Kathleen serves on the Bar Foundation's board of trustees in her capacity as chancellor-elect of the Philadelphia Bar Association. She is the 2012 co-chair of the Andrew Hamilton Benefit with trustee, Andrea Cho.

Honorary Board

Christopher Ritchie
Huntington National Bank

Chris was elected to the Board in 2004 and moved to the honorary board in 2011. Chris served as co-chair of the Cy Pres Committee and has been instrumental in helping advance the Bar Foundation as an appropriate beneficiary of cy pres awards.

Chris is senior vice president of the National Settlement Team at Huntington Bank. For more than 20 years, Chris has assisted attorneys with their financial needs.



Rod E. Wittenberg, Esq.
Reed Technology and Information Services, Inc.

Rod has been a trustee of the Philadelphia Bar Foundation since 2001 and moved to the honorary board in 2011. Rod has chaired the Bar Foundation's Golf Classic since 2002 and has been a co-chair of the event since 2011.

After managing the business relationship between LexisNexis and the top 100 law firms in the mid-Atlantic and leading a team of 50 professionals, Rod helped launch Reed Technology and Information Services, Inc. in 2011. He currently serves as Reed Technology's Director of Web Archiving Solutions.


Staff

Lynne Brown, Acting Executive Director
215-238-6347

Elisa Fine, Administrative Assistant
215-238-6337