Melissa A. Smart is the Director of Education at the Illinois Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission of the Supreme Court of Illinois (ARDC) where she develops, implements and presents programs and materials to educate lawyers regarding their professional responsibilities, and supervises a team of lawyers and paraprofessionals dedicated to helping lawyers serve their clients effectively within the bounds of the Rules of Professional Conduct. She also investigates and prosecutes lawyer disciplinary cases, including cases involving allegations of conversion, billing fraud, conflicts of interest and public corruption. Ms. Smart obtained her B.A. in Liberal Arts and Sciences from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She received her law degree from The John Marshall Law School, graduating cum laude. Ms. Smart began working at the ARDC as a law clerk in 1997 and became Counsel for the Administrator in 1999. As a member of the Commission’s staff for over twenty years, she has investigated thousands of charges of professional misconduct and has been responsible for over 100 different formal disciplinary proceedings filed in the Supreme Court of Illinois or before various Commission Boards. She has tried dozens of matters before the Commission Hearing Board. Ms. Smart is past Chair of the YLS Professional Responsibility Committee of the Chicago Bar Association and currently serves on the Illinois State Bar Association Standing Committees on Continuing Legal Education and the Attorney Registration and Disciplinary Commission. She is active in the National Organization of Bar Counsel where she serves on the Executive Board as the Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates. She is also the Editor of the National Organization of Bar Counsel Current Developments Project. In that capacity, she summarizes professional responsibility statutory changes and case law throughout the United States and analyzes and summarizes developments and trends at national conferences held twice a year. Ms. Smart served as a member of the Ad Hoc Committee of the National Organization of Bar Counsel to review and make recommendations regarding the Report from the National Task Force on Lawyer Well-Being. She has lectured and presented workshops regarding professional responsibility and disciplinary law to numerous bar association groups, government agencies, law firms, private organizations and law schools. She has appeared as a guest on various programs to discuss her knowledge of the Rules of Professional Conduct and issues related to professional responsibility. She has been selected to work on pilot programs for the Illinois Supreme Court Commission on Professionalism, which have developed model courses on professional responsibility and CLE course facilitation. She was named a Member of the Joint Illinois State Bar Association/Chicago Bar Association Special Committee on Ethics 2000 which reviewed existing Illinois ethics guidelines and suggested changes to the Illinois Supreme Court, which formed the basis for the New 2010 Illinois Rules of Professional Conduct. She is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Loyola University Chicago School of Law where she teaches Professional Responsibility.

Robert T. Repko, Esquire is the founding partner of Repko Law, LLC in Doylestown, Pennsylvania, where he has built a successful practice focusing on representing individuals in matters related to divorce, custody, support, domestic violence and protection from abuse, as well as criminal and juvenile defense.  Mr. Repko was also unanimously appointed Solicitor for Bucks County Health Services in 2020.  He received his B.A. from College Misericordia (now Misericordia University) and his J.D. from the Dickinson School of Law, now of the Pennsylvania State University.  Prior to entering private practice, Mr. Repko served as an Assistant District Attorney in both Monroe and Bucks Counties, where he gained significant trial experience prosecuting both jury trials and bench trials.  He has also served as an adjunct professor at Delaware Valley College, teaching such classes as Real Estate Fundamentals and Business Law.  Mr. Repko remains very active within the legal profession, having served as the Chair of the Finance Committee, Chair of the Bench Bar Committee, Chair of the Fee Dispute Committee, Treasurer, Vice-President and President of the Bucks County Bar Association.  He is also a member of the Association’s Diversity Committee, Family Law Section, Solo and Small Practice Section, and has previously served as Vice-Chair of the Young Lawyer’s Division.  Mr. Repko also belongs to the Montgomery County Bar Association and the Pennsylvania Bar Association, where he currently serves as Chair of the Membership Development Committee, is a Delegate to the PBA House of Delegates, and is a member of the Family Law Section, Solo and Small Practice Section, Minority Bar Committee and the Civility in the Practice Committee.   In addition, Mr. Repko is actively involved in his community, where he currently serves on the Board of the Pair-Up Society and the Board of the Corporate Business Partners for the James A. Michener Museum, and has previously served on the Board of Directors for the Bucks County Opportunity Council, was the League Director and coach for the Doylestown Athletic Association 12U girls’ softball program, and was a Parish Religious Education Program (P.R.E.P.) teacher for Mary, Mother of the Redeemer Parish.  Mr. Repko is licensed to practice law in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Illinois, as well as the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey and the United States Supreme Court.  

Philadelphia lawyer Kathleen D. Wilkinson, a partner at Wilson Elser Moskowitz Edelman & Dicker LLP, past president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association, was the 2021-22 president of the Pennsylvania Bar Association. Ms. Wilkinson was the 2020-21 president-elect. From April 27 to May 20, 2021, she served as president due to the resignation of the previous president. Her recent efforts to support the organized bar have focused on issues related to attorney wellness and wellbeing in the legal profession as well as issues dealing with the ongoing pandemic. She served on the PBA COVID-19 Task Force that provided timely information to assist lawyers in their practices during the pandemic. She was a member of the Joint Task Force on Continuity of Delivery of Legal Services that issued a comprehensive report offering recommendations such as technology enhancements so that citizens have access to justice during the current pandemic and future emergencies. Ms. Wilkinson is the current co-chair of the Legislative Committee of the PBA Commission on Women in the Profession. She also is a PBA appointed delegate to the American Bar Association House of Delegates and has served as an ABA delegate for many years. Ms. Wilkinson has represented Philadelphia lawyers on the PBA Board of Governors. She has served in the PBA House of Delegates and has been a member of numerous PBA committees and sections. She is the chair of educational programs for the Federal Practice Committee Executive Council, past co-vice chair of the PBA Planning Committee, a co-chair and past co-vice chair of the PBA Quality of Life/Balance Committee, past co-chair of the Commission on Women in the Profession Quality of Life Committee, past co-chair of the Commission on Women in the Profession and past chair of the PBA Civil Litigation Section. Ms. Wilkinson is a member of other committees, including the Bylaws, Membership Development and Minority Bar committees. She was chair of the PBA Membership Engagement Blue Ribbon Panel on Millennials, Mothers and Minorities. In addition, Ms. Wilkinson served on the board of directors for PBI (Pennsylvania Bar Institute) and was a zone one director for the PABAR-PAC, the PBA’s political action committee, and co-chair of the 2007 PBA Midyear Meeting. She is a Life Fellow of the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation, the charitable affiliate of the PBA, and previously served as the foundation’s zone one director. In 2013, Ms. Wilkinson served as the 86th chancellor of the Philadelphia Bar Association, only the sixth woman to serve in that position in the association’s history. She has filled a variety of leadership roles in the Philadelphia Bar Association since 1998 when she co-chaired the association’s Women in the Profession Committee, and later when she chaired the State Civil Litigation Section in 2005, for which she was one of the founding members in 2004. She was the bar association’s secretary, vice chancellor, chancellor-elect and a member of the bar association’s cabinet. She served on the Board of Governors for a total of 16 years. Ms. Wilkinson was the 2019 chair of the Federal Courts Committee. Ms. Wilkinson received the 2023 American Inns of Court Professionalism Award for the Third Circuit. Ms. Wilkinson was named by named on the Power 100 2022 List of Pennsylvania attorneys by City & State PA, and as a “Power Woman,” and received an award from Main Line Magazine in 2021. Ms. Wilkinson is the recipient of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s 2019 Sandra Day O’Connor Award, which is presented to a woman attorney who has demonstrated superior legal talent, achieved significant legal accomplishments and has furthered the advancement of women in both the profession and the community. In 2019, Ms. Wilkinson received the C. Dale McClain Quality of Life/Balance Award, an annual award presented by the PBA Quality of Life Balance Committee that recognizes the substantial contributions made by Pennsylvania attorneys in identifying issues relevant to balancing the professional and personal lives of their peers, as well as the progress made in assisting attorneys in maintaining and improving their overall quality of life. She received the Gilbert Nurick Award from the PBA Conference of County Bar Leaders in 2014 for outstanding service to local bar associations. She was the recipient of the PBA Commission on Women in the Profession’s Anne X. Alpern Award in 2008 for her demonstrated leadership in the legal profession and professional impact on women in the law. The Legal Intelligencer and Pennsylvania Law Weekly named her “Woman of the Year” in 2007-2008. Ms. Wilkinson has been named as a Pennsylvania Super Lawyer for many years. She is a summa cum laude graduate of Kean University, which named her “Alumni of the Year” in 2010. She received her juris doctorate from the Villanova University School of Law. In 2013, the Villanova Law Alumni Association named her the recipient of the Gerald Abraham Alumni Association Award for service to the law school. She is also a member of the Alumni Association Board of Advisors of the law school. Ms. Wilkinson was a member of the Executive Council of the National Conference of Bar Presidents, a division of the ABA, from 2013 to 2016, and remains an active member of the NCBP Program and Diversity Committees. Wilkinson served on the boards of directors for the Philadelphia Bar Foundation, Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program (VIP) and Philadelphia Defender Association. She served on the board of the Forum of Executive Women from July 2014 until June 2016 and was the program chair. She has served on other boards in the community. Ms. Wilkinson is a member of the Chester County Bar Association, Delaware County Bar Association (honorary) and the Montgomery Bar Association. She has been a board member, secretary, and most recently vice-president of programs for the Philadelphia Association of Defense Counsel in 2020-2021, which presented her with the William J. O’Brien Award for achievements in legal advocacy and improvements in the legal profession in 2016. She is a founding member of Villanova University’s School of Law J. Willard O’Brien Inn of Court, was its first woman president in 2004 and serves as an Honorary Member of the Inn. Ms. Wilkinson received the Inn’s J. Clayton Undercofler III Award for exemplary leadership, integrity and dedication to the rule of law in 2013. Ms. Wilkinson is also a member of the Villanova Law School Alumni Board. A civil litigator with more than 30 years of experience, Ms. Wilkinson is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey, defends complex cases involving employment, professional liability, construction, products, toxic tort, medical devices and pharmaceuticals. She also serves as a judge pro tem and special master in state and federal court. Ms. Wilkinson has been a member of Wilson Elser’s Women Attorneys Valued and Empowered (WAVE) initiative that focuses on advancement and well-being of women in the profession.

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.