Philadelphia Lawyer Riley Ross to Receive PBA Civil and Equal Rights Champion Award

HARRISBURG (May 4, 2021) — Riley H. Ross III, a partner at Mincey Fitzpatrick Ross LLC in Philadelphia, will be presented with the third annual Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) Civil and Equal Rights Champion Award virtually at an awards ceremony during the PBA Virtual Annual Meeting, May 19-21.

Developed by the Civil and Equal Rights Committee (CERC), this award honors an individual who champions for civil rights for all Pennsylvanians by making a significant impact through constitutional advocacy, legislative acts or advocacy or individual representation and development of case law.

With nearly 20 years of trial and litigation experience, Ross fights every day for his clients’ rights at his firm, ensuring that they are treated fairly. Whether it is a criminal defendant facing the overreaching power of the government, an employee harassed and unfairly terminated, a motorist unfairly detained because he fit a profile or a person injured because of someone else’s negligence, his clients look to him to protect them. His previous positions include assistant federal public defender in Norfolk, Va., and private positions at Williams & Connolly in Washington, D.C.; Miller, Alfano & Raspanti; Drinker Biddle & Reath and Tucker Law Group in Philadelphia.

Throughout his legal career, Ross has gained extensive experience in the areas of state and federal criminal law, white collar criminal defense, civil rights litigation, corporate compliance, internal investigations, employment law and personal injury. These areas are varied because he has represented a wide variety of clients, including individuals charged with state and federal criminal violations, victims of police brutality, individuals asserting civil rights claims against private and public colleges and universities, major companies accused of defrauding the federal government, quasi-governmental entities accused of due process violations, executives and partners seeking to renegotiate employment contracts and individuals asserting a variety of personal injuries.

Complementing his professional work, Ross has been a champion for advancing the cause of civil rights through various leadership positions in the PBA and other legal organizations. At the PBA, Ross is a member of the Civil and Equal Rights Committee and served as its chair from 2018 to2020. He is a current member of the PBA House of Delegates, the Federal Practice Committee, Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee and Minority Bar Committee.

In addition, Ross chairs the Philadelphia Bar Association Board of Governors and serves the following boards of directors: ACLU of Pennsylvania as vice president, No Longer Bound, Lawyers Concerned for Lawyers, Defenders Association of Philadelphia as secretary, the Barristers’ Association of Philadelphia Advisory Board, Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Hearing Committee, and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania Criminal Rules Committee. He is a member of the executive committee of the Federal Criminal Law Committee of Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Ross previously served as the vice president of Pennsylvania Innocence Project Board of Directors and U.S. Sentencing Commission Practitioner’s Advisory Group.

Ross received a J.D. from University of Virginia School of Law, an M.A. from Western Kentucky University and a B.S. from Longwood College.

For more information on the PBA Virtual Annual Meeting, visit https://www.pabar.org/pdf/2021/2021AnnualMeeting.pdf.

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.