
Alan L. Yatvin
Alan Yatvin has joined the law firm of Weir Greenblatt Pierce LLP (WGP) as a partner, where he continues to be available to serve Popper & Yatvin’s clients. Alan chairs the firm’s Civil Rights and Special Education Practice Groups. WGP is a full-service law firm that handles a broad range of legal matters practically, effectively, and economically, for both businesses and individuals. The firm has offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Delaware and New York. Alan is based in WGP’s Philadelphia office, 1339 Chestnut Street, Suite 500, Philadelphia, PA 19107. He can be reached at (215) 665-8181, or through the WGP website. You can also find Alan on LinkedIn, where he posts his latest news.
Alan has tried cases ranging from death penalty homicides to municipal liability police misconduct cases. He has also briefed and/or argued appellate matters before the United States Supreme Court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, the Pennsylvania Commonwealth Court, the Pennsylvania Superior Court and United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY).
Alan is also a frequent lecturer on police misconduct litigation. In March of 1999, Alan was named one of Philadelphia’s Best Lawyers by Philadelphia Magazine. Alan has been selected as a Pennsylvania SuperLawyer every year from 2004 through 2020. Alan is the recipient of the 2012 Thurgood Marshall Criminal Justice Award from the Philadelphia Bar Association. On January 24, 2011, the Court of Common Pleas for the First Judicial District of Pennsylvania presented Alan with the 2010 Pro Bono Publico Award.

Alan arguing a motion at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, The Netherlands.

Alan being sworn into the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia in Phnom Pehn.
Alan L. Yatvin @ SuperLawyersAlan was a member of the National Board of Directors of the American Diabetes Association from 2015-2017. He was National Chair of Legal Advocacy for the American Diabetes Association from 2010 – 2013. Alan also represents special needs students and their parents. Alan is a recipient of the 2007 American Diabetes Association Volunteer Leadership Professional Award for his work in the Rosen v. City of Philadelphia Class Action and the Association’s 2019 Steve Bieringer Award for his work in enhancing the Association’s volunteer networks.
American Diabetes Association
Letter of AppreciationSince April of 2006, Alan has been admitted to Practice before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in The Hague, The Netherlands. He served five terms as elected Chair of the Membership Committee of the Tribunal’s Association of Defence Counsel (ADC-ICTY). In February 2014, Alan was admitted to the list of counsel of the United Nations International Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (UN- IRMCT) for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda, sitting in The Hague, The Netherlands, and Arusha, Tanzania. On May 21, 2014, Alan was admitted to the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia, the list of international counsel at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Court of Cambodia (ECCC). He is also admitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) List of Counsel and the List of Victims Counsel at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). Alan served as Senior Legal Consultant to the Kilolo Defense in the case of The Prosecutor vs. Jean-Pierre Bemba et al. (ICC-01/05-01/13).
Martindale-Hubbell has consistently honored Alan with the highest possible level of professional excellence – AV Preeminent. This peer review rating reflects a combination of achieving a Very High General Ethical Standards rating and a 5/5 Legal Ability rating.
Referring to Yatvin in a 2017 decision, the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit wrote: “[W]e note that the litigation here was conducted by highly qualified and experienced counsel…” M.R. v. Ridley School District, 868 F.3d 218, 230 n.9 (3d Cir. 2017).

The Philadelphia Lawyers by Benjamin Wallace
Research assistance by Leah Popowich and Erica Brand
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL CRAMER
The 154 best,
brightest,
wiliest,
winningest,
most tenacious
and efficacious
attorneys
in a city with
more than
its share…
If State of California v. Orenthal James Simpson
further tarred the perpetually besieged class of Americans whose names end in Esq., the past 12 months confirm that these are the fat years of lawyer-bashing. Thanks much, Bill “That Depends How You Define ‘Is'” Clinton. Truly obliged, Ken “On All Nine of Those Occasions, the President Fondled and Kissed Her Bare Breasts” Starr. A Civil Action may break ground in lionizing ambulance chasers, but there’s nothing new in its demonization of corporate attorneys.
Maybe we love to hate them because we hate that we need them, be it to draft a will, sue our broker, or help our Ukrainian third cousin obtain that elusive work visa. In Philadelphia, we’re blessed with one of the strongest legal traditions in the country, but having 14,000 lawyers can also be a curse. How do you begin to figure out who to go to?
Well, we asked them who they’d go to.
First, we sent surveys to 4,000 Philadelphia lawyers randomly selected from the rolls of the Philadelphia Bar Association and asked which attorneys they would turn to for legal help. Next, to guard against ballot stuffing, cliquishness, parochialism and hype, we talked to more than 100 acknowledged leaders of the bar, legal head- hunters, prosecutors, clients and corporate in-house coun- sel, to make sure the survey results reflected consensus within the various practice areas. Several attorneys of great stature didn’t make the cut, because the focus here was more on day-to-day practitioners than on lawyers best known for their connections or administrative prowess.


Continuing Legal Education Presentations
Intensive Trial Advocacy Program (ITAP),
Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law (1985-2014)
The Basics of Litigation Involving State and Local Government,
PBI, Philadelphia (June 2013)
Advocating for the Rights of Students with Diabetes,
15th Annual Conference of The Council of Parent Attorneys and Advocates (COPAA), Albuquerque, New Mexico (March 2013)
Police Misconduct and the Defense of Criminal Cases,
PBI, Philadelphia (March 2013)
Defending Assault Against Police Cases,
Defender Association of Philadelphia and Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (November 2012)
Rights and Needs of Students with Diabetes,
Exceptional Children Conference, PBI, Lancaster, PA (October 2012)
Police Misconduct and the Defense of Criminal Cases,
PBI, Philadelphia (11/16/10), Mechanicsburg, PA (12/1/10)
Confidential Informants: Problems, Issues and Strategies,
PBI, Philadelphia (September 2010)
Fighting for Fairness: Ending Discrimination Against Students and Workers with Diabetes,
American Diabetes Association, Atlanta, Georgia (October 2009)
Constitutional Litigation in the Current Political Climate,
PBI, Mechanicsburg, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia (June 2008)
So You Want to Take Misdemeanor Court Appointments,
PBI, Philadelphia (November 2007)
Fighting for Fairness: Ending Discrimination Against Students and Workers with Diabetes,
American Diabetes Association, Chicago, Illinois (November 2007)
The Fundamentals of Sec. 1983 and Constitutional Tort Litigation,
PBI, Philadelphia (March 2006)
Fighting for Fairness: Ending Discrimination Against Students and Workers with Diabetes,
American Diabetes Association, McLean, Virginia (October 2005)
What the Criminal Practitioner Should Know About Police Misconduct Litigation,
PBI, Philadelphia (December 2004)
20th Annual NAACP Convention CLE – Police Misconduct,
NAACP, Philadelphia (September 2004)
The Fundamentals of §1983 and Constitutional Tort Litigation,
PBI, Philadelphia (September 2003)
Police Liability in Pennsylvania,
Lorman Educational Services, Philadelphia (January 2003)
Police Misconduct & the Defense of Criminal Cases,
PBI, Philadelphia (December 2002)
Police Misconduct Litigation,
Suffolk University Law School and University of Pennsylvania Law School, Philadelphia (May 2002)
Police Misconduct,
American University, Washington, D.C. (April 2001)
Litigation Under § 1983,
PBI, Philadelphia and Pittsburgh (October 1996)
Federal Civil Rights Actions: A Primer,
Philadelphia Bar Education Center, Philadelphia (September 1996)