Philadelphia Lawyer Michael H. Reed to Receive Lifetime Achievement Award at Pennsylvania Bar Association Minority Attorney Conference

HARRISBURG (Jan. 27, 2016) � Philadelphia lawyer Michael H. Reed will be honored with the A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award during the 28th Annual Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Minority Attorney Conference, �Ain�t No Mountain High Enough: The Legal Frontier Towards Socio-Economic Empowerment.�

The conference takes place March 17 and 18 at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute CLE Conference Center in Philadelphia. Reed will receive the award during the March 18 luncheon.

The A. Leon Higginbotham Jr. Lifetime Achievement Award recognizes the accomplishments of a lawyer or judge who has demonstrated dedication to the legal profession and the minority community through civil, community or legal service. Higginbotham, who died in 1998, was a civic leader, author, academic and federal appeals court judge who fought tirelessly against racial discrimination.

Reed is special counsel in the Philadelphia office of Pepper Hamilton LLP. He joined the firm as an associate in 1972 and was a partner in the firm from 1980 until 2014 when he became of counsel.

Reed is a past president of the PBA and the first person of color to lead the association. He previously served as chairman of the PBA House of Delegates and as a member of the association�s Board of Governors. He co-founded and served as the first chair of the PBA Minority Bar Committee. In 1988, he helped organize the first PBA Minority Attorney Conference. Reed also served on the executive committee of the PBA Conference of County Bar Leaders and as a member of various PBA committees.

Reed has been a fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy since 1994 and a member of the American Law Institute since 2002. He appeared on brief before the U.S. Supreme court in U.S. v. Quality Stores, 134 S. Ct. 1395 (2014).

Reed chairs the Subcommittee on Federal Courts of the American Bar Association�s Standing Committee on the American Judicial System and is the State Delegate for Pennsylvania in the ABA House of Delegates. He previously served on the ABA Board of Governors and Presidential Advisory Council on Diversity in the Profession. Active in the Business Bankruptcy Committee of the ABA Section of Business Law for more than 25 years, Reed previously chaired its Subcommittee on Secured Creditors (co-chair), Subcommittee on Committees, Subcommittee on Avoiding Powers, Subcommittee on Mass Tort and Environmental Claims and Subcommittee on Labor and Employment Law. He also previously served on the Business Law Section�s Publications Board.

During 1997-98, he served a one-year term as chair of the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Bankruptcy Conference. Reed has served on three bankruptcy judge merit selection committees for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Reed is a past member of the Pennsylvania Judicial Inquiry & Review Board and a former chairman of the Professional Guidance (Ethics) Committee of the Philadelphia Bar Association. He has served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Young Lawyers� Section of the Philadelphia Bar Association and as first vice president of the Barristers� Association of Philadelphia. Reed served for six years as a member of the Pennsylvania Interest on Lawyers Trust Account (IOLTA) Board. From 1974 to 1984, Reed helped to lead Law Explorers Post 913 of the Boy Scouts of America sponsored by the Philadelphia Bar Association.

Reed has served as a member of the Board of Ethics of the City of Philadelphia since March 2011 and he has chaired the Board since December 2012. Reed also serves as vice chairman of the board of the Academy of Natural Sciences of Drexel University, on which he has served since 1988. He was a member of the Committee of Seventy for thirty years and previously served on the boards of The Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia and The Episcopal Hospital of Philadelphia. He also served on the board of directors of the United Way of Southeastern Pennsylvania. He currently serves as general counsel of the Temple University Alumni Association.

Reed lectures nationally and regionally on bankruptcy matters. He has been an adjunct professor at Temple Law School and Rutgers-Camden Law School.

A native of Philadelphia, Reed is a 1969 graduate of Temple University and received a JD from Yale Law School in 1972. Reed and his wife, Yalta Gilmore-Reed, reside in Philadelphia. The Reeds have two children, Alexandra, who resides in New York City, and Michael, Jr., who resides in San Jose, CA.

The two-day PBA Minority Attorney Conference also will feature speakers and panel discussions during these sessions: �You�ve Really Got a Hold on Me: Mandatory Prison Sentencing,� �Nothing but Heartaches: Immigration Law and Detention Centers,� �The Supremes: Recent Supreme Court Updates,� �Ain�t Too Proud to Beg: Capital, Funding and Counseling for Minority Businesses,� �I Wish It Would Rain: Government Contracts and Procurement for Minority Businesses,� and �It Takes Two: Criminal Defendants� Collateral Effects of Plea Arrangements.�

The conference, which is being organized and hosted by the PBA Minority Bar Committee, will offer up to 9.5 CLE credits, including 1.5 in ethics.

For more information about the conference and the award presentation, visit the PBA website at www.pabar.org or contact the PBA Member Service Center at 800-932-0311.

Founded in 1895, the Pennsylvania Bar Association strives to promote justice, professional excellence and respect for the law; improve public understanding of the legal system; facilitate access to legal services; and serve the 27,000 lawyers who are members of the association.