New Head of Phila. Bar Association Stresses Importance of Public Service
By Cherri Gregg
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The Philadelphia Bar Association has a new leader. Al Dandridge will take the reins of the 13,000-member organization this week, with a focus on the community.
Born and raised in West Philadelphia, Dandridge is chair of securities practice at the center city law firm Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis.
An Overbrook High School graduate and decorated US Marine who served in Vietnam, Dandridge says he'll use his year as chancellor to focus on diversity, veterans, and community.
"We as lawyers are good at trying to solve people's problems and we're good at writing checks and we're good at serving on boards and at doing pro bono work," he says, "but maybe not so much at rolling up our sleeves and actually getting down and helping people in our community."
Listen to the full interview on the CBS Philly Podcast (trt: 12:28)...
As the 88th chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, Dandridge says his administration will work to find ways for lawyers to become more "hands on" by helping more than two dozen nonprofit organizations, including Big Brothers Big Sisters and many more.
Dandridge says his focus is inspired by his grandfather, Al Dandridge Sr., civil rights attorney Cecil B. Moore, and Bernard Segal, the first Jewish chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association.
"The obligation of a lawyer is to serve his client, but the obligation of an organized bar is to serve mankind," says Dandridge, quoting Segal.