The Legal Intelligencer: The Legal's Lifetime Achievement Awards

As part of its 170th anniversary, The Legal for the first time awarded some of Pennsylvania's most influential attorneys with Lifetime Achievement Awards. Each honoree was asked to provide a brief quote or anecdote about what the law has meant to them. ...

Barbara Mather ['65]

"The law has presented the chance to solve interesting puzzles and use both intellect and professional skills; the chance to work in an environment where logic and right are your best weapons and usually prevail; colleagues - for and against - who are stimulating and interesting; from time to time, a chance to make things better - serving as city solicitor, representing the city in the domestic partners benefits case, defending funding for the convention center and its affirmative action contracts, and quietly advising numerous boards and managers, particularly of charities."

Pepper Hamilton's Barbara Mather is a trailblazer. Mather was Philadelphia city solicitor in the mid-1980s before joining Pepper Hamilton. She was one of the first female leaders of a law firm in Pennsylvania, serving as Pepper Hamilton's managing partner in the early 1990s. It wasn't until Nina Gussack took over leadership of Pepper Hamilton in 2007 that a large Philadelphia firm again had a female leader. Mather has become a leader in her practice as well. She is the former chairwoman of Pepper Hamilton's litigation and dispute resolution department. She focuses her practice on professional responsibility and malpractice, antitrust, securities and corporate governance, and other commercial matters. She also handles higher-education law. Mather currently serves as Pepper Hamilton's general counsel and heads the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. ...

Barbara Mather '65 is a former chair of the Swarthmore Board of Managers. During her tenure as chair, the College successfully weathered the global economic crisis. Mather also oversaw the process that brought Rebecca Chopp to Swarthmore in 2009 as the College's 14th president. Pepper Hamilton LLP is ranked among the 100 largest firms by revenue in the United States and provides corporate law, securities law, complex litigation, and other legal services to leading businesses and organizations.