Schnader Honors H. Lee Schwartzberg and Paul Titus with Harrison Awards

July 21, 2011 – Philadelphia, PA: Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP is pleased to announce that H. Lee Schwartzberg is the 2011 recipient of the Earl G. Harrison Pro Bono Award, and Paul H. Titus is the 2011 recipient of the Earl G. Harrison Community Service Award. Mr. Schwartzberg and Mr. Titus were given their respective awards and recognized at a firm-wide reception. Photos of the event can be seen here. 

In recognizing Mr. Schwartzberg, Firm Chairman David Smith noted that “he has been a champion [for pro bono service] within the Firm and has served as a shining example to all that you don’t have to be a litigator to actively take on pro bono matters.” In accepting the award, Mr. Schwartzberg emphasized the importance of pro bono service, noting “we can bring about tremendous change in our client’s lives, and become better lawyers while we do it.”

Mr. Schwartzberg was recognized for the significant commitment he has made to pro bono matters, particularly with regard to adoptions and other family court matters. He has handled a number of cases on behalf of children referred to Schnader by the Support Center for Child Advocates. An experienced business lawyer, Mr. Schwartzberg handled a number of matters in which he was forced to play the role of a litigator – and he did so with aplomb. In addition to honing his litigation skills in the matters for the Support Center, he was required to coordinate the efforts of multiple agencies and interested parties to ensure that his clients ended up in safe and loving environments with welcoming adoptive parents. Mr. Schwartzberg has also contributed to the pro bono culture at Schnader through his active membership on Schnader’s Pro Bono Committee. In all that he does, Mr. Schwartzberg embodies the principles upon which the Harrison Pro Bono Award was founded.

In recognizing Mr. Titus, David Smith emphasized “he has been a guiding light on what it means to serve the community.” In accepting the award, Mr. Titus noted that “as a lawyer, you try to put your learning to work to help and serve others.”

Mr. Titus has a long and impressive record of service to the community. Throughout his notable career, he not only has served as a leader and a mentor to attorneys at Schnader, but has also served as a leader and role model through his work with many different educational, civic and community organizations in and around Pittsburgh as well. He is one of the most respected lawyers in the state, for both his litigation skills and his unwavering commitment to justice. Less well-known is his work on behalf of numerous community organizations. Most notably, Mr. Titus has been very active with the Thea Bowman Academy in Wilkinsburg, a working-class suburb of Pittsburgh. He teaches constitutional law to the school’s 7th and 8th grade students, and also runs a mock trial program for 8th grade students, through which Mr. Titus meets with the students monthly and recruits other attorneys in town to serve as coaches. He set up the program and essentially runs it himself. As part of this program, he also takes the students on trips to Harrisburg and Washington D.C., where they visit the Supreme Court and local legislators. In all that he has done and continues to do, he is a shining example of the ideals and standards set by Earl G. Harrison.

The Earl G. Harrison Pro Bono Award – named for one of the Firm’s original named partners – is presented annually to a Firm attorney or staff member who has a distinguished record of pro bono service. The Firm selects an honoree with a demonstrated record that consists of a single outstanding achievement of enduring value to the public good, a leading role in inspiring and sustaining pro bono service by other firm personnel, or a sustained record of personal pro bono service over a number of years. The Earl G. Harrison Community Service Award is presented annually to a Firm attorney or staff member who has a distinguished record of community service. Both awards reflect the tradition and collective belief of the Schnader firm: that law is more than a business, and it should include using our skill, talent and wisdom to improve access to justice for every individual and to advance the common good. Earl G. Harrison‚ in whose memory the Firm gives this Award‚ was both a great lawyer and a remarkable humanitarian, who – after World War II – worked to convince the western nations to both open their own borders to those displaced persons liberated from the Nazi concentration camps‚ and to support the creation of the State of Israel‚ where Jews who could not face returning to their former homes could emigrate.

ABOUT SCHNADER HARRISON SEGAL & LEWIS LLP
Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP is a law firm of 200 attorneys with offices in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, New York, California, Washington, DC, New Jersey and Delaware. Schnader serves local, national and international clients ranging from large corporations to start-ups and entrepreneurs to individual clients in more than 40 areas of the law. In addition to the Firm’s traditional strengths in complex litigation, commercial transactions, wealth management, and family law, the Firm has significant experience and depth in intellectual property, international commerce and labor laws, financial services, construction law, real estate development, corporate governance, appellate services, technology-based companies, media and communications, environmental, energy, nonprofit, government relations and regulatory affairs, aviation issues, business reorganization, and securities and shareholder litigation. For more information contact Caroline Brobeil Nassan, Public Relations Manager for the Firm.

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