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About us

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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 … Read more

On the passing of Linda Brown: Remembering Brown v. Board of Education

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On Sunday, March 25, 2018, Linda Brown of Topeka, Kansas, passed away at age 75.  Brown was an educational consultant, civil rights activist and public speaker.  But to many she was also the face of a historic decision on desegregation in public education.

In 1950, then seven year old Linda Brown asked her father, Oliver, why she had to make a long walk across train tracks and a busy street to catch a bus to an elementary school across town, when the Sumner Elementary School, attended by her friends from the integrated neighborhood in which she lived, was just four blocks from her house. Oliver Brown promised his daughter he would try to change that. Topeka’s high schools and junior high schools were already integrated, but its elementary schools remained segregated.  On the advice of the NAACP, he took her to Sumner to enroll, but they were turned away.  Oliver Brown then agreed to be a plaintiff in a suit against the Topeka Board of Education.  That suit led to a landmark decision from the United States Supreme Court outlawing so-called separate but equal discrimination in public education.  By the time of the 2004 ruling, Linda Brown was enrolled in an integrated junior high school.1

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 Linda Brown’s passing, I am republishing that essay about the case her father brought to fulfill a promise to her.

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  1.  https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/03/26/597154953/linda-brown-who-was-at-center-of-brown-v-board-of-education-dies[↩]

Sex-Shamed To Death: How Oklahoma Prosecutors Used Sex And Infidelity To Put A Woman On Death Row

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Today we write to recommend an essay by our long-time friend and colleague, Marc Bookman.  Marc is the co-director of the Atlantic Center for Capital Representation, a non-profit agency helping adults and juveniles facing severe punishments. Marc’s essay, Sex-Shamed To Death: How Oklahoma Prosecutors Used Sex And Infidelity To Put A Woman On Death Row, was published … Read more

Traffic Pain in Philadelphia

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The hardest part of writing something I am pleased with, is accepting when I can’t get it published. Newspaper and magazine editors only have so much space and they have to triage. When the piece is geographically specific, the available outlets are few. Or maybe what I wrote was junk and I just don’t know it. For better or worse though, because I run a blog I can always self-publish. So before you read on, be forewarned: the following Philadelphia-centric piece has received multiple rejections. I think the message is still worthwhile. But then, I would, right?

It’s 5:30 on a mid-week afternoon, and I am driving north on 16th from Locust Street to JFK Boulevard in Center City Philadelphia. The distance is about seven blocks. The trip will take more than 15 minutes.

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NYT Publishes Yatvin Letter

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The New York Times has published a letter from Alan L. Yatvin commenting on the need for training of police to recognize and respond to people with medical conditions affecting their mental health, in emotional distress or with mental health issues, in response to the  February 14, 2016 article: When the Hospital Fires the Bullet.  … Read more

Yatvin gives Diabetes Safe at School Presentation

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On March 28, 2015, Alan Yatvin presented at the Annual Conference of the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Living Well with Diabetes: Now and in the Future.

Alan’s session was entitled: Keeping Kids with Diabetes Safe at School.  Attendees included parents, children with diabetes, healthcare providers, advocates and even a diabetes service dog in training.

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Yatvin profiled in The Philadelphia Lawyer

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The Fall 2014 issue of The Philadelphia Lawyer, the quarterly magazine of the Philadelphia Bar Association, features an article on Popper & Yatvin partner Alan Yatvin. INTERNATIONAL DEFENSE By Richard G. Freeman Our world – from Filbert Street courthouse to Market Street courthouse, perhaps interspersed with a bold junket to West Chester – is too … Read more

Yatvin on ethics panel in The Hague

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Program attendees included ADC-ICTY members, interns and staff, as well as defence team members from the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), staff of the ICTY/ICTR/MICT Registry, Prosecution and Chambers, and students from various universities around The Hague. At the ADC’s General Assembly on November 9th, Alan was elected to … Read more

Care of Young Children With Diabetes in the Child Care Setting: A Position Statement of the American Diabetes Association

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Popper & Yatvin partner Alan L. Yatvin was a member of the writing group for Care of Young Children With Diabetes in the Child Care Setting: A Position Statement of the American Diabetes Association, published September 23, 2014, in the journal Diabetes Care, October 2014 vol. 37 no. 10 2834-2842.1 2 3

The statement  addresses legal protections for young children with diabetes and how they can be safely cared for by childcare providers with appropriate training, access to resources and a system of communication with parents and the child’s diabetes health care provider.

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  1. Diabetes Care is a journal intended to increase knowledge, stimulate research, and promote better management of people with diabetes.[↩]
  2. A position statement is an official American Diabetes Association (ADA) point of view or belief that contains clinical or research recommendations.

Position statements are issued on scientific or medical issues related to diabetes. They are published in ADA journals and other scientific/medical publications. ADA position statements are typically based on a systematic review or other review of published literature. Position statements undergo a formal review process. They are updated annually or as needed. Key ADA position statements: These are select position statements that represent official ADA opinion on topics not adequately covered in the Standards of Care but that are necessary to provide additional information on quality diabetes management. These position statements also undergo a formal review process.[↩]

  • The American Diabetes Association is a nationwide nonprofit voluntary health organization founded in 1940, and has over 485,000 general members, 15,000 health professional members, and 1,000,000 volunteers. The mission of the ADA is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. As of 2011, there were 25.8 million Americans with diabetes. The ADA is the largest, most prominent nongovernmental organization that deals with the treatment and impact of diabetes. The ADA establishes and maintains the most authoritative and widely followed clinical practice recommendations, guidelines, and standards for the treatment of diabetes.[↩]