Five PBA Leaders Commence New Roles Representing Pennsylvania Delegation in American Bar Association House of Delegates

HARRISBURG (Aug. 20, 2019) — On Aug. 13, five Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) leaders began new terms representing the Pennsylvania delegation in the American Bar Association (ABA) House of Delegates.

As the policy-making body of the association, the ABA House of Delegates has the ultimate responsibility for establishing association policy on professional and public issues. The House meets twice each year, at ABA Annual and Midyear meetings.

These are the PBA delegates starting new two-year terms:

  • Sara A. Austin, a partner in the Austin Law Firm LLC in York, is a former PBA president and chair of its Solo and Small Firm Section. Austin was the first woman PBA president from York County and the third woman president since the association’s founding in 1895. Austin served on the PBA Board of Governors from 2009 until 2012 as the zone governor for Adams, Cumberland, Dauphin, Franklin, Juniata, Lancaster, Lebanon, Perry and York counties. She is a member of the PBA House of Delegates, the association’s policy-making body. She also is a past president of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the continuing legal education arm of the PBA.

    Austin previously served as a Pennsylvania delegate to the ABA House of Delegates and has been active in the ABA Young Lawyers Division and the ABA Labor and Employment Law, General Practice, Solo & Small Firm Practice and Tort Trial and Insurance Practice sections along with various ABA committees. She is a life fellow of the American Bar Foundation.
  • Charles Eppolito III, a partner at White and Williams LLP in Philadelphia, is the immediate past president of the PBA. Eppolito previously served as the 2017-18 PBA president-elect, 2016-17 PBA vice president, PBA secretary from 2007 until 2010 and as chair of the PBA House of Delegates from 2011 until 2013. He has served as a member of the PBA House of Delegates since 2001. He was the 2002-03 chair of the PBA Young Lawyers Division and is active in the PBA YLD High School Mock Trial Competition for Pennsylvania students.

    He has been active in the ABA, serving in its House of Delegates and on the House Select Committee and the Tellers Committee. He also served as a member of the ABA Medical Professional Liability Standing Committee, and the Bioethics and the Law Special Committee. Additionally, Eppolito is a former chair of the Medicine and Law Committee of the ABA Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section and received its Exceptional Achievement Award in 2010. He previously held a number of leadership positions in the ABA Young Lawyers Division.
  • Michael H. Reed, special counsel and former partner at Pepper Hamilton LLP in Philadelphia, is a past president of the PBA and was 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. In addition, Reed is a founding member of the PBA Minority Bar Committee.

    Reed is chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Constitution and Bylaws. He formerly chaired the ABA Standing Committee on Federal Judicial Improvements and served as the state delegate for Pennsylvania in the ABA House of Delegates. Reed previously was a member of 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 over 25 years, Reed has served the committee and its subcommittees in many leadership positions and on the Business Law Section Publications Board.
  • David E. Schwager, a partner in the Wilkes-Barre law firm of Chariton, Schwager & Malak, is president-elect of the PBA. He will become the association’s 2020-21 president. Schwager previously served as vice president and treasurer of the PBA and as chair of the PBA Finance Committee, PBA Investment Committee, PBA Planning Committee, PBA Bylaws Committee, PBA Statutory Law Committee, and the PBA Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Section, and was zone governor for Bradford, Lackawanna, Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Sullivan, Susquehanna, Wayne and Wyoming counties.

    He is a past vice chair of the American Bar Association Young Lawyers Division’s Real Property, Probate and Trust Law Committee.

The state delegate serving a new three-year term:

  • Thomas G. Wilkinson Jr., a partner in Cozen O’Connor’s Philadelphia’s office, is a past president of the PBA and a past president of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute. Wilkinson currently chairs the PBA Bylaws Committee and is a former zone one governor representing Philadelphia lawyers on the PBA Board of Governors. He is a past chair of the PBA Civil Litigation Section and the PBA Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee and is vice chair of the Standing Committee on Civility in the Profession.

    Wilkinson will lead the state delegation on the ABA House of Delegates and serve on the ABA Nominating Committee. He also serves on the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism and is an active member of the ABA Section of Litigation.

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 of legal services; and serve the lawyer members of the state’s largest organized bar association.

Source: Pennsylvania Bar Association, 100 South Street, Harrisburg, PA 17101