HARRISBURG (April 19, 2007) — Lawyer and author Michael G. Trachtman has been named the 2007 winner of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Plain English Committee’s Clarity Award for conveying legal principles to the public in understandable language. Trachtman recently published The Supremes’ Greatest Hits – The 34 Supreme Court Cases that Most Directly Affect Your Life. He also is the author of What Every Executive Better Know About the Law.
The award will be presented to Trachtman at the noon luncheon during Pennsylvania Bar Association Committee/Section Day at the Radisson Penn Harris Hotel, Camp Hill, on April 25.
Trachtman is the founder and president of Powell, Trachtman, Logan, Carrle & Lombardo P.C., a litigation and business practice law firm in King of Prussia, Pa. He also is CEO of Counsel Consulting Group L.L.C., a national consulting and management training firm that assists companies seeking to avoid employment practices liabilities and related problems.
The PBA Plain English Committee rewards and encourages efforts that improve access to the law by demystifying legal language and removing “legalese.”
“In the biographical sketch of Mr. Trachtman for his most recent book, it says that Mr. Trachtman has spent ‘thousands of hours learning how not to write like a lawyer.’ He has admirably succeeded,” said Superior Court Judge Richard B. Klein, co-chair of the PBA Plain English Committee. “He has distilled the essence of major Supreme Court cases in understandable language and put them in the context of the time to highlight the impact of the Court on our way of life.”
Fellow committee co-chair and Harrisburg lawyer Brett Woodburn said the book is informative for lawyers and non-lawyers.
“Many of us who specialize in one area of the law or another are not experts in Supreme Court jurisprudence,” said Woodburn. “We lawyers, as the advocates and messengers of our legal system, should be the first to grasp the significance of major Supreme Court decisions on our daily life.”
In his recent book, Trachtman explains how Supreme Court rulings affect every person’s life every day.
“The Supreme Court serves as the ultimate interpreter and protector of our most fundamental rights,” said Trachtman. “It keeps our Constitution alive because it allows the Constitution to be applied to changing circumstances. While we think of the Supreme Court in terms of deciding ‘hot button’ issues, it has created the framework of our society – a society of laws, not men.”
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 29,000 lawyers who are members of the association.