Chris Baxter
Tim Tai | Philadelphia Inquirer
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In 2021, a handful of politicians will wield power over one of the most consequential and overlooked aspects of our democracy: redrawing Pennsylvania’s political districts.
They can dictate who belongs in their districts, and who doesn’t; who keeps their seat, and who loses it; and who gets representation, and who gets left out. And all of that has ripple effects.
I am a proud Philadelphia Lawyer. Some people would smirk at my pride in the title, particularly since lawyers have traditionally gotten a bad rap in the press, and even more particularly since the now archaic term âPhiladelphia Lawyerâ has acquired negative connotations.Â
But before it came to mean a shifty, manipulative sort of swindler, calling someone a âPhiladelphia Lawyerâ honored her with the assumption that this was a professional of competence, ingenuity and courage. Iâve met legions of attorneys who fit that description, all of them from the Philadelphia area, and one of them extremely dear to me, my own father.