Justice, Then and Now

The new book Sidebar: Reflections of a Philadelphia Lawyer details cases and characters M. Kelly Tillery ’76 encountered throughout his legal career.

“I’m hoping to provoke and inspire others to speak truth to power,” says the debut author and partner at Pepper Hamilton LLP, “but to do so with respect for science, history, and compassion.”

Tillery’s personal interest in history—specifically the life of Quaker revolutionary abolitionist Benjamin Lay (1681–1759)—recently inspired him to organize efforts to create a memorial marker for the Abington, Pa., cave in which Lay lived.

“In this era of bullying, when many believe ‘might makes right,’” Tillery said at the Sept. 22 dedication, “it is fitting and proper that we erect a memorial to a man who believed and lived precisely the opposite, that ‘right makes might.’”