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Philadelphia Bar Association Gets New Leader

By Cherri Gregg

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Bar Association welcomed its 87th Chancellor this week.

The new leader is focused on community.

William Fedullo is Of Counsel at the Rosen, Schafer DiMeo law firm in Center City. The Temple and Widener Law School grad plans to focus the 13000-member bar association on education, entrepreneurship and improving judicial retention. Fedullo says he's created a task force that will focus on how to use the bar to improve education.

"We plan to increase advocacy for public school funding and look at ways businesses can get involved," says Fedullo, "a lot of firms are already involved in this...but we can do more to ensure that kids who graduate from the public schools in this city have the option to go on to college and become lawyers like so many of us have done."

The husband and father noted that law firms contribute billions annually to the Philadelphia economy. He wants the firm to use its power for good.

"We have economic power, we have political power...we have clout," he says, "and we should use it."

This spring, Fedullo says the Philadelphia Bar Association will partner with the Barristers Association of Philadelphia to create a series of programs that take a look back at one of the most important Supreme Court decisions of all time-- Brown v. Board of Education-- as it turns 60.

"One of the events hopefully will be at Mother Bethel Church, one of the events will be at the constitution center and one of the events will be a film that includes interviews of Philadelphia lawyers and judges impacted by the decision," says Fedullo.

Other plans include stepped up efforts to help lawyers run better businesses through a law firm incubator program. Fedullo says the bar will also focus on providing more information to the public about candidates running for judge.

Click here for more on the Philadelphia Bar Association.

A full podcast is below:

William Fedullo Interview

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