PENNSYLVANIA RECORD

An accomplished African American attorney from Philadelphia and a

Scranton, Pa. lawyer who has been practicing since the mid-1970s are the two newest members of the Pennsylvania Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court late last month appointed Philadelphia litigator Rhonda Hill Wilson and attorney Lucille Marsh, who works with Kreder Brooks Hailstone LLP in the northeastern part of the state, to terms on the commission expiring in December 2015.

The commission, which has 24 members, was established in 2005 with the

goal of addressing inequities and securing fairness and equal justice in the commonwealth’s court system, according to its website.

The high court formed the group after a three-year study looking into whether racial or gender bias played a role in the justice system.

The commission is considered a model among the country’s courts for addressing judicial bias.

According to its mission statement, the group seeks to “raise both public and professional awareness of the impact of race, ethnic origin, gender, sexual orientation or disability on the fair delivery of justice in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania; suggest ways to reduce or eliminate such bias or invidious discrimination within all branches of government and within the legal profession; and increase public confidence in the fairness of all three branches of government in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

The commission is funded by the Pennsylvania General Assembly through the judicial branch.

Each branch of government appoints members of the commission.

Wilson, who runs a private practice in downtown Philadelphia, launched her own firm after leaving an insurance defense practice in 1994, according to a profile on her firm’s website.

She generally concentrates her practice in nursing home litigation, handling medical malpractice, catastrophic personal injury, wrongful death, motor vehicle and premises liability cases.

Wilson has also lectured on topics such as nursing home litigation, deposition strategies, ethics, damages, direct and cross-examination, and the essentials of civil litigation, according to her biography.

She has been named one of the Top Black Lawyers in the Tri-State Area by The Network Journal, she has received the Presidential Award from the National Bar Association, and she’s been made a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum.

Wilson was also once the president of the National Bar Association’s Women’s Law Division-Philadelphia.

Marsh, the other new member, is a graduate of Penn State’s Dickinson School of Law who was first admitted to practice law in Pennsylvania back in 1975.

The attorney specializes in civil litigation, mediation and arbitration, family law and insurance law, according to her professional biography.

Marsh has lectured for the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Institute, and she was once the recipient of the Lackawanna Bar Association’s President’s Award.

Marsh belongs to a number of professional and community groups, including, but not limited to, the Pennsylvania Bar Association, the Pennsylvania Defense Institute, the Pennsylvania Association for Justice, (which was formerly known as the Pennsylvania Trial Lawyers Association,) the Lackawanna Bar Association, the Third Circuit Lawyers Advisory Committee and the Pennsylvania Bar Association’s Judicial Evaluation Commission.

Her bio shows that Marsh had previously served a term on the Interbranch Commission for Gender, Racial and Ethnic Fairness when the group was first formed back in 2005.