Philly Justice Ball: For Justice Everywhere
Event Information
Event Details
BECOME A SPONSOR for the Philly Justice Ball!
Please join us as one city and one region, working together, to help Philadelphia’s civil legal aid organizations and attorneys reach more people and expand access to justice.
By sponsoring the Philly Justice Ball, you’ll help the Philadelphia Bar Foundation raise much-needed funds to sustain unrestricted annual grants to our nonprofit partners, as well as support other initiatives that strengthen civil legal aid services. This is a major celebration and fundraising event that will direct more resources to help Philadelphians access whatever civil legal information, resources, and services they need, regardless of background, income, or zip code.
Whether you’re a business, organization or individual that works with the legal community, or you have a vested interest in building a more equitable Philadelphia, we would love to have your support. (Law firms, please join us in our Unified Giving campaign and receive the same benefits as sponsors).
As a sponsor, you’ll receive a host of benefits and prominent recognition at the Philly Justice Ball itself as well as in all promotional materials for our 60th anniversary. Hundreds of legal professionals and business and community leaders will recognize your role in supporting access to free legal assistance and equal justice for all. See below for more details.
Questions? Contact Jessica Hilburn-Holmes at [email protected] or Mary Mance at [email protected].
Event Highlights
Join us on November 9! Over 300 members of the legal, business, and nonprofit communities are expected to attend. The event will be emceed by WHYY’s Cherri Gregg, with special guest speaker Mayor Cherelle Parker.
Marc Bookman, director of Atlantic Center for Capital Representation (ACCR), will receive the 2024 Philadelphia Bar Foundation Award, presented by legendary death penalty defense attorney Stephen Bright. Before becoming director of the ACCR in 2010, Bookman served in the Homicide Unit of the Defender Association of Philadelphia. During that time, he successfully argued for expanded discovery in death penalty cases, the right to quash an aggravating circumstance pre-trial, expanded voir dire, and other changes. None of his clients received a death sentence. His book A Descending Spiral: Exposing The Death Penalty In Twelve Essays was published in Spring 2021 by The New Press. Award presenter Stephen Bright is the subject of a new book, Demand the Impossible: One Lawyer’s Pursuit of Equal Justice for All (W.W. Norton, 2024), and the author of The Fear of Too Much Justice: Race, Poverty, and the Persistence of Inequality in the Criminal Courts (The New Press, 2023).
Troutman Pepper is receiving the 2024 Pro Bono award for their extraordinary initiative in creating The Pepper Center for Public Service. The Pepper Center, created in 2018, is a unique organization established to draw on the talents of the firm’s retired or senior partners and counsel to ensure their continued engagement in wrestling with tough problems facing our communities. It has four areas of focus: public education, civics, voting rights, and immigration. The Pepper Center, led by its founding Executive Director (and former Bar Foundation President), Amy Ginensky, has achieved remarkable success in providing legal assistance to asylum seekers, co-created the Law and Justice Mentoring Program (featured at our 2022 Access to Justice Celebration), and has provided legal support and expertise on matters involving voter protection. In addition, Center lawyers meet with national and local leaders and experts to delve deeply into unresolved justice issues to develop innovative approaches and solutions.
The Philadelphia Bar Foundation has only presented its Trailblazers for Justice Award three times in its sixty-year history. This year, we will add another name to that list as we honor the late Professor Frank McClellan with the award recognizing an extraordinary individual who led the way in creating equal access to justice for all in Philadelphia. Professor McClellan was a highly respected lawyer, civil rights advocate, law professor, and author. He was a law professor at Temple University’s Beasley School of Law for over three decades and served as the co-director of the Center for Health, Law, Policy, and Practice. In addition to his teaching, Professor McClellan was a member of numerous boards, including the AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania, the American Law Institute, the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the National Institute of Health.
Leslie John, former partner at Ballard Spahr LLP, will be honored as a Philly Justice Champion for her 14 years of extraordinary service as a Bar Foundation Trustee, including a two-year term as Bar Foundation President (2019-2020). John is known for her efforts to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion in the legal industry, formerly serving as co-president of the Philadelphia Diversity Law Group.