Attorneys Julie Steinbacher, Landon Hodges and Jenna Franks, all partners at the elder law firm of Steinbacher, Goodall & Yurchak, were sworn into the U.S. Supreme Court Bar during a ceremony held at the Court in Washington, D.C. earlier this year.
Being admitted to the Supreme Court to practice before the Court allows them to argue cases before the Court - essentially practice law in its jurisdiction. Though far more attorneys are admitted to the Court than will actually ever argue a case before it, it nonetheless is considered a tremendous accomplishment and one of the greatest honors of a career for any attorney.
To qualify for admission to the U.S. Supreme Court Bar, an attorney must already be admitted to practice law in the highest court of a state, commonwealth or territory for at least three years. All three attorneys are already members of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Bar. They also must be sponsored by two current members of the U.S. Supreme Court Bar.
Julie, Landon and Jenna join Attorney Amos Goodall from the firm as being admitted to the U.S. Supreme Court. Amos has been a member of the Bar of the nation's highest Court since 1979.
Julie graduated Magna Cum Laude from Widener University School of Law and is a Certified Elder Law Attorney (CELA) through the National Elder Law Foundation. She also earned her LL.M. in Elder Law and Estate Planning from Western New England School of Law, and is a Fellow of the American College of Trust & Estate Counsel (ACTEC), one of only 94 in Pennsylvania, and one of just three in northeastern quadrant of the state stretching from the Poconos and west to State College. Julie is also one of only 68 Certified Elder Law Attorneys (CELA) in the state, with Amos being one of the others.
Landon has been with SGY since 2017 and became a partner in 2021. A native of Mount Airy, N.C., he graduated cum laude from Elon University School of Law in Greensboro, N.C. He currently serves on the Board of the North Central Pennsylvania Estate Planners Council and the Road to Freedom Center for Independent Living of North Central Pennsylvania. He was a Super Lawyers rising star in 2020, 2021 and 2022.
Jenna also joined SGY in 2017 as an associate attorney after beginning her law career in Florida, where she attended law school and remains licensed to practice law. She became a partner of the firm in 2022, and has been a Super Lawyers rising star in 2020, 2021 and 2022. Jenna has also co-authored, along with Julie, the 2021 and 2022 Supplements to the Pennsylvania Trust Guide: A Handbook for Trustees and Their Advisors.
