Susan Rubinovitz attended The 2010 Annual Philadelphia Bench Bar Conference at The Borgata Hotel in Atlantic On Friday October 15 and Saturday October 16, 2010.  This Conference was extremely well put together.  The CLE courses were interesting and informative.  The venue was perfect, and it was a great chance to catch up with old friends and make new ones.  The 2010 Bench Bar Annual Conference Committe made up of Scott F. Cooper, Chancellor, Regina M. Foley, Co-chair, John E. Savoth, Co-chair, Maria Feeley, Jeffrey S. Gross, Michael B. Hayes, Jeffrey M. Lindy, The Honorable Sandra Mazer Moss, Lisa Muench, and Tara Phoenix did a wonderful job.

The event had a very creative and different opening. It started with an opening lunch performance of a reenactment of the trial of John Peter Zenger touching 275 years of issues of Freedom of the Press.  It was interesting how some of the same issues of freedom of the press are still quite relevant to today.

The other interesting and informative classes offered were :

Challenges in Removal from State to Federal Court.

Trial Advocacy:  The Power of Ideas.

Diversionary Programs as Alternatives to Incarceration: What They Offer and What to Do an an Advocate.

Discovery in Criminal Division of Philadelphia Municipal Court and the Court of Common Pleas.

To Prep or Not to Prep?  That is the Question: Ethical Considerations for Family Law Practitioners.

The Philadelphia JPT Program: A Fresh Perspective on What it Takes to Be and Appear Before a JPT.

Social Media and the Practice of Law.

Civility - Nice Guys and Gals Do Not Finish Last.

Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program Litigaiton.

Counseling the Corporation.

My Witness Went South - What Now?

and Technology in the Courtroom.

The final program of the conference wasa closing lunch and informational presentation by Pennsylvania's judicial leaders updatin gus on the state of the courts.  The presentation was given by Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille of The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, President Judge Pamela Pryor Dembe of the Court of Common Pleas of the First Judicial District, President Judge Bonnie B. Leadbetter of The Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania, President Judge Marsha H. Neifield of The Municipal Court of Philadelphia and Judge Correale F. Stevens of The Superior Court of Pennsylvania. 

There was a common theme in the presentations of each of these judges, the need for more funding for the Pennsylvania Courts and the great job that the courts have done in doing more with less.

I know that I am not alone when I state how grateful I am to all of the distinguished judges and attorneys who took time away from their busy court schedules and practices to provide such useful and interesting information to the Philadelphia bar.

In addition to all of the great  CLE's, what Philadelphia Bench Bar Conference would be complete without a party?  There was a wonderful reception held at the Borgata's MIXX Nightclub on the evening of Saturday October 15, 2010.  It was a perfect venue with a downstairs level for general networking and catching up with old friends and an upstairs with individual spaces to conduct more private conversations.

All in all, this was a very well done conference!