HARRISBURG, Pa. (May 1, 2023) — James A. Wells of Gay and Chacker PC, Philadelphia, will begin his first year of a two-year term as chair of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) House of Delegates at the conclusion of the association’s Annual Meeting on May 5 in Philadelphia. The House of Delegates is the policy-making body of the PBA.
Wells is active in the organized bar at the local, state and national levels.
Since 2018, Wells has served as an appointed member of the PBA Professional Liability Committee. He is a member of the PBA Civility in the Profession Committee, PBA Civil Litigation Section and PBA Membership Development Committee. Wells has been a member of the PBA House of Delegates since 2001 and served on the PBA Board of Governors from 2003 to 2006. He was the 2004-05 chair of the PBA Young Lawyers Division. He previously was a member of the PBA Finance, PBA Law-Related Education and the PBA Long Range Planning committees.
From 2009 to 2014, Wells served as a member of the Board of Directors for the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the PBA.
He is a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association, the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association, and the Pennsylvania Association for Justice.
Active at the national level, Wells has served in leadership positions with the American Bar Association (ABA) Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section (TIPS). He is a current member of the TIPS Special Standing Committee on Ethics and Professionalism and the Plaintiff’s Practice Standing Committee. In 2014, he was elected to serve on the TIPS Council, the governing body of the section. He previously served as chair of the ABA Medicine and Law Committee, chair of the ABA Plaintiff’s Policy Task Force and was a member of The Brief Editorial Board.
Wells is a frequent writer and speaker for organized bar association’s publications and educational programs.
Wells has more than 25 years of legal experience, primarily representing clients impacted by catastrophic personal injuries resulting from medical negligence, workplace accidents, automobile accidents, unsafe premises and civil rights violations.
Wells graduated cum laude from the University of Pittsburgh and obtained his Juris Doctor from West Virginia University College of Law, where he served as an articles editor for the Law Review and graduated as a member of the Order of the Coif. He is licensed to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey.