Observations on legal sundry
Popper & Yatvin is no longer an operating entity, having ceased doing business at the end of 2020.
About us
After 33 years, Popper & Yatvin closed its doors in December of 2020. Popper & Yatvin was a Philadelphia law firm established in 1988 by Alan Yatvin and Howard Popper. We concentrated our practice in criminal defense in state and federal courts, police misconduct litigation and representation of special education students. When reading the blog, be aware that words highlighted in blue are links to related documents or websites. 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. … Read more
The Bar Exam — Does it Pass the Test?
In the Spring my friend Julianne Romy received her L.L.M., magna cum laude, from Fordham Law School. Unfortunately, thanks to Covid-19, her New York City job offer evanesced and her visa along with it. So in August she was on her way home to France. In October she took the New York Bar Exam remotely from Paris, where she was taking a French Bar course. As we near the release of the New York Bar results, I share this 1983 essay in her honor. July 27, 1983, Somewhere in New Jersey. I am aboard Amtrak’s Garden State Special from Philadelphia … Read more
Yatvin a 2020 Super Lawyer – 17th Consecutive Year
The 2020 list of Pennsylvania Super Lawyers includes Alan L. Yatvin of the Philadelphia Law Firm Popper & Yatvin. This is Yatvin‘s 17th consecutive year of being honored, having been named a Super Lawyer every year since the program’s creation in 2004.
Litigation helps special needs students in Philadelphia
After a six-year campaign, Kathleen and Sean, parents of twin girls with Autism and an Intellectual Disability, have succeeded in changing the policies and procedures of the School District of Philadelphia regarding identifying and assigning 1:1 assistants to children who need them.
Court grants class certification in suit against New York Department of Education on behalf of students with diabetes.
On June 18, 2019, United States District Judge Nina Gershon, of the Eastern District of New York, certified a class defined as: All students with diabetes who are now or will be entitled to receive diabetes related care and attend New York City Department of Education schools. The case, M.F., et al. v. The New York City Department of Education, et al., was brought by the parents of three New York City public school students with diabetes and the American Diabetes Association, suing as an organizational plaintiff on behalf of its members who who include children with Type 1 and Type 2 … Read more
Yatvin a 2019 Super Lawyer
The 2019 list of Pennsylvania Super Lawyers includes Alan L. Yatvin of the Philadelphia Law Firm Popper & Yatvin. This is Yatvin’s 16th consecutive year of being honored, having been named a Super Lawyer every year since the program’s creation in 2004. The Super Lawyer distinction is given to only a very small percentage of Pennsylvania\’s attorneys each year. Attorneys are only considered for inclusion in the list of top rated attorneys if they have attained a high degree of peer recognition and professional achievement across 12 indicators. Lawyers cannot buy their way onto the list. The selection process, recognized as … Read more
Brown v. Board of Education at 65
65 years ago the Supreme Court of the United States issued the decision in Brown v. Board of Education, a historic decision on desegregation in public education, outlawing so-called separate but equal discrimination in public education. One might think that the issue was well-settled, but Brown is once again in the news. As a Washington Post op-ed noted yesterday: “More than two dozen of President Trump’s judicial nominees have declined to answer whether Brown v. Board of Education was properly decided.” On the 50th anniversary of the Brown decision, I wrote an essay for Philadelphia’s newspaper serving the legal community, The Legal Intelligencer. On the occasion of the 65th anniversary, I am republishing that essay.
January 22, 1973, at about 10 AM
Memory is strange. My son, Dan, has a savant-like ability to precisely place and describe even the most mundane events, going back to nursery school. My recall of even important moments is foggier. Unlike most people born before 1960, I do not remember where I was when I learned that John F. Kennedy had been shot. However, one very distinct memory I have from my youth is where I was on January 22, 1973, at about 10 AM.
Yatvin co-counsels suit against New York Department of Education on behalf of students with diabetes.
Popper & Yatvin partner Alan L. Yatvin is serving as co-counsel in a federal class action lawsuit filed on November 1, 2018, alleging the New York City public schools routinely violate the rights of students with diabetes by denying them necessary services and even excluding them from some school activities altogether. Almost two months into another school year, many parents of children with diabetes still face the impossible choice of sending their child to school without knowing whether their child will receive the necessary diabetes-related care or keeping them at home. Disability Rights Advocates (“DRA”), the American Diabetes Association (“ADA”), and … Read more
World Serious