Matthew Kloiber is currently an attorney at the law firm of Lesavoy Butz & Seitz.  He is on the Board of Directors for the Bar Association of Lehigh County where he is actively involved on the Law Day and Community Service Committees.  He is the past president of the Thomas More Society, an organization of judges and attorneys from Berks, Carbon, Lehigh, Northampton, and Schuylkill Counties committed to ethical development and practice.  He previously served for four years as the first full-time City Solicitor for the City of Allentown.  Prior to that he served as the First Assistant County Solicitor for the County of Berks and as an Assistant Solicitor for the City of Bethlehem.  He was a law clerk for the Honorable James Knoll Gardner of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.  He worked at the Commonwealth Court for approximately eight years where he spent most of his time serving as a law clerk and then Judicial Clerk for the Honorable Renée Cohn Jubelirer.  He also clerked at the Court of Common Pleas of Lehigh County for the Honorable Alan M. Black.  He earned his Juris Doctorate from the Dickinson School of Law of the Pennsylvania State University and received an LL.M. in Trial Advocacy from the Temple University Beasley School of Law.  He is an honors graduate of Dickinson College.  

Stuart Knade served as the in-house Chief Legal Officer for the Pennsylvania School Boards Association for nearly 25 years before retiring in 2023, where he led the judicial advocacy, continuing legal education, member legal information and other legal services of the Association. Mr. Knade is an AV-rated education law attorney with prior private practice experience as a public school solicitor, defense litigator and appellate advocate who has represented public school entities and their officials across the Commonwealth in state and federal lawsuits involving a wide range of civil rights, employment, contract, local taxation and other school governance issues. His appearances before state and federal appellate courts have included multiple cases attracting statewide and national interest in the field of education law. Mr. Knade has been a frequent speaker on school law topics at state and national workshops, seminars and conferences, and has authored numerous articles on legal issues affecting public school operations. He also served for nearly 32 years as a U.S. Army Judge Advocate active duty and reserve officer before retiring in 2012, which included three activations in support of the post-911 Global War on Terrorism. During a deployment to Iraq in 2008-2009, he was detailed to the Political Section of the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad as a senior legal advisor on a hand-picked team specially created to assist Iraqi national leaders in developing measures for strengthening the capacity and efficiency of the Iraqi law-making process and in devising legislative solutions for challenges facing Iraq at the national, provincial and local government levels. Mr. Knade was appointed by Governors Corbett and Wolf to successive terms as a member of the state council guiding Pennsylvania’s participation in the Interstate Compact on Educational Opportunity for Military Children, on which he continues to serve as the representative of PSBA. Mr. Knade served previously as general counsel to the Pennsylvania League of Urban Schools and to the Pennsylvania Association of School Retirees.

Ms. Smith serves on the Minority Attorney Conference Planning Committee. She has been a course planner, keynote speaker, panel moderator and presenter for PBI. She is currently serving as a co-facilitator for the PA Supreme Court CLE Board’s “Project Objection” interactive CLE program on avoiding discriminatory conduct. She serves on the Dauphin County Bar Association (DCBA) CLE Committee, which plans 23 Lunch/Learns and other CLE programs each year. She chaired the PA Office of Attorney General’s (OAG) Professional Development Committee, planned and presented CLE programs for the National Association of Attorneys General and Commonwealth agencies, and taught transportation engineers and medical professionals seeking legal guidance. She has served as an adjunct faculty member for the Dickinson School of Law (now Penn State Dickinson Law) teaching Trial Advocacy, and as a faculty member for the Minor Judiciary Education Board, which provides mandatory legal education for Magisterial District Judges. She was a chapter co-author of the Pennsylvania Ethics Handbook. Ms. Smith is a Past Co-Chair of the PBA Women in the Profession Commission and was the founding Vice-Chair of the PBA Diversity Team. She is an active member of PBA committees, including the Agricultural Law (Past Chair), Animal Law, Civility in the Profession and Minority Bar Committees. She has also served on the ADR, Charitable Organizations, Community and Public Relations (Co-Chair), Government Lawyers, Membership Development, Health Care Law, Judicial Campaign Advertising and Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committees, and was a member of the Civil Litigation Section and Solo & Small Firm Sections. She is a member of the PBA House of Delegates, a former Member of the PBA Board of Governors (2010–2013) and chaired its Audit Committee, and a Past President and board member of DCBA. Ms. Smith serves on the PA Supreme Court’s Interbranch Commission on Gender, Racial & Ethnic Fairness; the board of PASA (PA Association for Sustainable Agriculture); and was Board President of the Humane Society of Harrisburg Area. Ms. Smith retired from the Commonwealth as a Senior Deputy Attorney General in the OAG Health Care Section, which investigates and litigates on consumers’ behalf instances of unfair or deceptive practices by health care providers, insurers, and drug and device manufacturers. She drafted OAG’s first Diversity & Inclusion Plan. She was formerly Deputy Secretary for Dog Law Enforcement at the PA Department of Agriculture, implementing former Governor Edward G. Rendell’s reform agenda for improving kennels and dog welfare in Pennsylvania; Chief of the OAG Torts Litigation Section, which defends Commonwealth agencies in negligence cases in the 67 county courts; and in private practice with McNees Wallace & Nurick, concentrating in civil litigation. She has served as a Dauphin County Court Arbitrator and Panel Chair. Ms. Smith is a graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law and The Pennsylvania State University. She is also a trained mediator.

Mr. Pierce is a principal at the firm of Pierce and Hughes P.C. located in Media, Pennsylvania. His practice focuses primarily on Civil Litigation with concentrations in Municipal Law, Family Law, Personal Injury and General Practice. Mr. Pierce is admitted to practice before the United States Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Supreme Court of New Jersey, the United States District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and New Jersey as well as the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit. He is a former member of the Executive Board of the Delaware County Bar Association having served in multiple capacities including a term as its President in 2011 and currently serves as President of the Delaware County Bar Association Foundation. Mr. Pierce served as the Zone 9 Governor for the Pennsylvania Bar Association as well as currently serving in the House of Delegates. He served as member of the Executive Board of the Conference of County Bar Leaders serving as President in 2018. He is a municipal solicitor for multiple municipalities including, Darby Township, Upper Chichester Township, the Delaware County Office of Human Services, Folcroft Borough Zoning Hearing Board, the Muckinapates Sewer Authority and the Tinicum Township Sewer Authority. Mr. Pierce is also the Solicitor for the Eastern Region of the Pennsylvania State Association of Township Commissioners as well as the Delaware County and Montgomery County First Class Township Commissioners Associations. In addition to his legal positions Mr. Pierce served as the President of Council of the Borough of Chester Heights for 15 years and completed 18 years of service as a Borough Councilman. Michael resides in Chester Heights which is located just outside of Media, Pennsylvania. He is a founding member of a municipal tax collection and administration company, Municipal Resource Recovery Systems. Mr. Pierce received his J.D. from Temple University in 1985 and his B.A. from Saint Joseph’s University in 1982 double majoring in International Relations and Spanish with a certification in Latin American Studies,

Ms. John is a private
practitioner in Uniontown, Fayette County. Ms. John served as President of
the Pennsylvania Bar Association from May 2019 – May 2020, as secretary from
2013-2016, and Zone 6 Governor from 2009-2012. During her tenure as
President, Ms. John’s initiatives included creation of the Committee on
Civility in the Profession, the Legal Academics Committee, and the COVID-19
Task Force. She continues her service with numerous PBA committees, and has
served as past co-chair of the Shale Energy Law Committee, past chair of the
Leadership Recruitment and Development Committee, past chair of the Review
and Certifying Board (2017-2018), and chair of the House of Delegates Draft
Committee. She has served as a member of the PBA Diversity Team, as well as
its predecessor, the Diversity Task Force. A Life Fellow of the Pennsylvania
Bar Foundation, she currently serves on its Board of Directors, having
previously served from May 2019 to May 2020, and served on the Foundation’s
Special Events Committee. Ms. John is currently a member of Advisory Council
on Elder Justice in the Courts, which was established by the Supreme Court of
Pennsylvania in 2015 to advise the Office of Elder Justice in the Courts
regarding the implementation of the Elder Law Task Force’s Report and
Recommendations, which include best practices, judicial rules and legislation
to benefit elder citizens of the Commonwealth. Ms. John previously served the
Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania as a Hearing Committee
member from 2016-2020. She has served as course planner and speaker for the
Pennsylvania Bar Institute, the continuing legal education arm of the
Pennsylvania Bar Association, on numerous issues, including civility, oil and
gas lease interpretation, groundwater contamination, and litigation. An
active Bar member at the local level, Ms. John is a past president of the
Fayette County Bar Association, where she has also served as secretary. She
is active in the community, serving as a past member of the Board of
Directors of the Mt. Lebanon Aqua Club, where she was awarded the 2019
Service Award, Advantage Credit Counseling Services, Inc. and the Better
Business Bureau of Western Pennsylvania, Inc. Ms. John earned her B.A. from
Dickinson College and her J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law in Carlisle,
PA, where she studied at the Law School’s first summer abroad program in
Florence, Italy.

Mr. Wilkinson is a member of Cozen O’Connor in its Philadelphia office, where he concentrates his practice in commercial and appellate litigation in federal and state courts and in lawyer professional responsibility and liability matters. He is also a leader of the firm’s Legal Profession Services practice group. He is a past President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association (PBA) and Pennsylvania Bar Institute (PBI). He is a former PBA Zone Governor, a member of the PBA House of Delegates, and is active in various other PBA and Philadelphia Bar Association committees and sections. Mr. Wilkinson is a past Chair of the PBA Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee, and is a past Chair of the Civil Litigation Section. He is a Co-Chair of the PBA Civility in the Profession Committee. Mr. Wilkinson is the co-editor of the Pennsylvania Ethics Handbook (5th ed. 2017-PBI Press) and has for many years edited ethics opinion summaries for publication in The Pennsylvania Lawyer. He was a Lecturer in Law on professional responsibility at Villanova Law School and has written and presented extensively on various civil litigation and professional responsibility topics. He is a member of the Board of Governors of the American Bar Association (ABA) and previously served as the Pennsylvania State Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates. He is active in the ABA Section of Litigation and its Ethics and Professionalism Committee. He has served as a member and Board liaison to the ABA Standing Committee on Professionalism, and the Profession, Public Service and Diversity Committee. He is a member of the Association of Professional Responsibility Lawyers (APRL). He also has served in various leadership capacities with the Villanova Law J. Willard O’Brien American Inn of Court. He is frequently retained as counsel to lawyers and law firms on risk management and disciplinary matters and as an expert witness in lawyer professional liability actions. He is a contributing author for the book entitled The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania: Life and Law in the Commonwealth 1684-2017. Mr. Wilkinson is admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court, and various other federal courts. He received his law degree from Villanova University School of Law where he was managing editor of the Law Review, and thereafter served as a law clerk in the U.S. District for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.