Celebrating Juneteenth: Its History and Role in Lancaster County’s Legal Landscape

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Event Description

This CLE panel discussion will celebrate Juneteenth by exploring its historical significance and examining its relevance to contemporary discrimination cases in Lancaster County. Participants will gain a deeper understanding of Juneteenth’s origins, its journey to becoming a federal holiday, and its role in the ongoing fight for racial justice. The panel will also highlight notable discrimination cases in Lancaster County, discussing their outcomes and implications for the community.

CREDIT(S):

1.5 SUBSTANTIVE CREDIT

SPEAKERS:

Lance Greene, Esquire
Chair, Lancaster Bar Association’s Diversity Committee
Senior Counsel, Saxton & Stump

Lance, a dedicated litigator and counselor, proudly serves Lancaster, Dauphin, and York counties in Pennsylvania. Originally from Brooklyn, NY, and raised in Bay Shore, Long Island, he now resides in Lancaster County with his wife, Courtney, and their 3-year-old daughter, Zoe. Lance’s versatile practice spans civil and criminal investigations, commercial litigation, and Title IX cases, we he assists in the representation of K-12 school and higher education institutions. Additionally, he provides compassionate legal support to juveniles facing criminal charges as a court-appointed attorney in both Lancaster and Dauphin counties.

Lance started his practicing legal career as an Assistant District Attorney in Lancaster County, where he was appointed supervisor and Chief prosecutor of the Juvenile Court Division. His trial experience—ranging from jury trials to suppression hearings and everything between—earned him respect for his fair and empathetic approach to resolving cases, particularly in shaping brighter futures for youth.

Lance’s legal journey includes a summer internship at the United States Attorney’s Office and selection as 1 of 5 in a national search as a NAACP Kellogg’s Summer Law Fellow,  in which he worked on high-profile civil rights and environmental justice projects for the legal department of the NAACP.

He is deeply involved in professional and civic organizations, He is currently a member of the Lancaster, York, Dauphin, Philly and Pennsylvania Bar Associations. Lance also serves on the boards of director of the Lancaster Law Foundation, Assets of Lancaster, and Leadership Lancaster. Lance’s leadership roles include Chair of the Diversity Committee of the Lancaster Bar Association, Co-Vice Chair of the PBA Minority Bar Committee, Chair at large to the PBA’s Young Lawyer’s Division Council, Zone-3 Member of the PBA House of Delegates, Diversity liaison for the Criminal Justice Section of the PBA,  all showcasing his commitment to diversity, mentorship, and justice.

Lance’s unwavering dedication to his clients and community exemplifies his belief in the transformative power of the law and its potential to create meaningful change.

Robert “Bob” Pfannebecker, Retired Lancaster Attorney

Robert Pfannebecker is a former managing partner in the Lancaster law firm of Zimmerman, Pfannebecker, Nuffort & Albert. A native of Lancaster and a distinguished alumnus of Franklin & Marshall College, Mr. Pfannebecker is one of Lancaster’s staunchest defenders of legal and social equality for all.

Mr. Pfannebecker became a central figure in the history of Lancaster County when, in the early 1960s as a young attorney, he litigated three famous civil rights cases challenging the practice of segregating local swimming pools. At issue in these cases was blatant discrimination against African Americans, who were prevented from using the public facilities in violation of law. Taking an unpopular position in a time when many took segregation for granted as a fact of life, Mr. Pfannebecker was profoundly moved by the activism of local civil-rights organizations and church congregations. Accustomed, in his own words, to “rocking the boat,” he took up the cause and won all three cases, one of which was argued before the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Over the years he has championed numerous causes that have pitted the disadvantaged against the established, successfully protecting citizens’ rights.

Robert Pfannebecker graduated from Franklin & Marshall with a degree in German and earned his law degree from the University of Pennsylvania School of Law in 1958. He has long served his hometown of Lancaster in a variety of capacities, including membership in the Lancaster Bar Association and the Lancaster Redevelopment Authority. He has served as a city solicitor.

Andrea C. Farney, Esquire
Triquetra Law

Ms. Farney is a founding partner of TRIQUETRA LAW ®, an award-winning plaintiff’s law firm in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, focusing exclusively on employment law, civil rights, and appeals.  Her employment practice concentrates on discrimination, retaliation and harassment cases, ADA, wrongful termination, separation and severance agreements, unemployment compensation, and family and medical leave.  She represents both public and private employees in all phases of litigation, administrative processes, alternative dispute resolution and appeal.  She primarily practices in the Eastern and Middle Districts of Pennsylvania and is admitted in the Third Circuit and the U.S Supreme Court.  Ms. Farney is a former chair of the Lancaster Bar Association’s labor and employment law section and the LBA Diversity Committee.  She is the current chair of the LBA Nominating Committee. At the state level she serves as Vice-Chair of the PBA Disability Services Committee and as a Women in the Profession Executive Council Member.  She has been selected as a Super Lawyer for Plaintiff Employment Litigation since 2016.

Ms. Farney graduated cum laude from the University of Michigan Law School in 1990. She started her legal career as a legal aid lawyer in Minnesota, before moving to Pennsylvania in 1998 and working in multiple roles for the PA Coalition Against Domestic Violence. She identifies as an individual with a chronic mental health condition, depression, and shares this diagnosis in the hopes of destigmatizing mental health conditions in the profession. She and her husband, Ed, are die-hard Pittsburgh Pirates fans. She proudly supports her law partner, Sharon López, the 123d President of the PBA.

Patricia Hopson-Shelton
Criminal Justice Chair, NAACP Executive Committee

Patricia Hopson-Shelton is a community activist and servant. She serves on the Lancaster NAACP Executive Committee as Criminal Justice Chair and the Board of Trustees of Thaddeus Stevens College of Technology. She was past chair of the Pennsylvania Advisory Committee for the United States Office of Civil Rights. She retired from Millersville University where she was chief diversity officer and a member of the president’s executive cabinet. She was honored with the title of emerita. She is most proud of her children Paul “Phamous” Shelton, Sydney Patrice Shelton-Hood (deceased) and foster daughter Dorjia Dorcius, four grandchildren and six great-grandchildren.

Leroy Hopkins, Ph. D.
Lancaster Historian 

Dr. Leroy Hopkins is a native Lancastrian. He attended School District of Lancaster schools and graduated from J. P. McCaskey High School. He attended Millersville University (then called Millersville State College) and, in 1966, received a BA in German and Russian. Dr. Hopkins was awarded the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Germanic Languages and Literatures from Harvard University in 1974. A professor emeritus of foreign languages at Millersville University, he taught German there from 1979 to 2015.

Dr. Hopkins is a recognized authority about the relationships among Germans, German-Americans, Africans, and African Americans in Lancaster County. His knowledge of local Black history is deep. He lectures widely on these topics and is the author of eleven articles published in the Journal of Lancaster County’s Historical Society. Recently, he authored “African American Entrepreneurs in Lancaster County,” which was published in September, 2022, in a special edition of the Journal honoring the 150^th Anniversary of the Lancaster Chamber of Commerce.

Dr. Hopkins has generously lent his expertise and support, in a volunteer capacity, to numerous state and regional history initiatives. He was a member of the Black History Advisory Committee of the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission (1976-1996), and served two terms as a member of Pennsylvania Humanities. He has served as a board member of LancasterHistory (Lancaster County’s Historical Society) since 1983, including a term as board president.

Dr. Hopkins is past president of the African American Historical Society of South Central Pennsylvania and is currently its Historian. He served on the AdHoc 100^th Anniversary History Committee for the Lancaster Branch of the NAACP. He is a member of the William Chester Ruth Legacy Project, of Lancaster’s Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., annual breakfast committee, and of the advisory committee of the Crispus Attucks Community Center.

Dr. Hopkins’ awards include being named a Fellow of LancasterHistory in 2024 and receiving the Essence of Humanity Award from the Crispus Attucks Community Center.

QUESTIONS?

Email Lexi Driendl (cle@lancasterbar.org), Continuing Legal Education & Marketing Coordinator