This year I was asked to lead the Lawyer’s Have Heart Team for the American Heart Association’s Philadelphia Heart Walk. In this role I am creating a team, along with the Philadelphia Bar Association to get lawyers, paralegals, and other legal professionals and their friends and family members involved. The goal is twofold, to raise awareness for heart related illnesses and deaths and fundraise for the Association in order to provide research, prevention, and help save lives.

As lawyers, we have an ethical obligation to engage in community service and pro bono work to give back to our community. And what better way than to give back to a cause that affects nearly all of the population. For example, for American women, cardiovascular disease is the number 1 cause of death, claiming over 400,000 deaths each year. The American Heart Association provides awareness, policy initiatives, CPR training, and funding for research and services.

The Heart Walk is an event I first participated in last year with a small but mighty group of lawyers in Philadelphia. It is a free event for everyone, with chances for teams to fundraise for the cause. This year, I am hoping to create teams under the larger Philadelphia Bar Association Lawyer’s Have Heart Team. Teams can be created by lawfirm, practice area, Bar Association committees and sections, or even families. But we will all join together as a community of professionals of law to walk for the greater good.