Stephen Joseph Harmelin (born May 7, 1939) is an American lawyer who specializes in

corporate A corporation is an organization—usually a group of people or a company—authorized by the state to act as a single entity (a legal entity recognized by private and public law "born out of statute"; a legal person in legal context) and re ...

and

transactional law Transactional law is the practice of private law relating to money, business, and commerce. Areas of focus include providing legal aid to entrepreneurs through contract drafting, real estate acquisition, and intellectual property affairs. Transactio ...

. He is the co-chairman of the Philadelphia based law firm Dilworth Paxson LLP. He also served as the

White House Director of Speechwriting The White House Director of Speechwriting is a role within the Executive Office of the President of the United States. The officeholder serves as senior advisor and chief speechwriter to the President of the United States The president o ...

and as a

White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. It is located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., and has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams in 1800. ...

aide for President

Lyndon B. Johnson Lyndon Baines Johnson (; August 27, 1908January 22, 1973), often referred to by his initials LBJ, was an American politician who served as the 36th president of the United States from 1963 to 1969. He had previously served as the 37th vice ...

from 1964 to 1965.

Early life and education

Harmlein was born to a Jewish family in

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

. Harmelin attended Central High School. He later went on to graduate from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and

Harvard Law School Harvard Law School (Harvard Law or HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, it is the oldest continuously operating law school in the United States. Each class ...

. He served in the

United States Coast Guard The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...

Career

Harmelin began practicing law in 1964. From 1964 to 1965, Harmelin served as the

and as a White House Aide to President Lyndon B. Johnson. Johnson tasked Harmelin with the creation of the White House Fellows program. In 1970, Harmelin served as a Special Philadelphia Assistant District Attorney. Since 1965, Harmelin has worked as a lawyer at Dilworth Paxson LLP. In 1989, Harmelin was appointed by Pennsylvania Governor,

Bob Casey Sr. Robert Patrick Casey Sr. (January 9, 1932 – May 30, 2000) was an American lawyer and politician from Pennsylvania who served as the 42nd Governor of Pennsylvania from 1987 to 1995. He served as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate for the ...

as a Commissioner on the Board of the Pennsylvania Convention Center Authority. He served in that role until 2002. In 1992, he served as General Counsel for the Legislative Reapportionment Commission on behalf of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

and the

Pennsylvania General Assembly The Pennsylvania General Assembly is the legislature of the U.S. commonwealth of Pennsylvania. The legislature convenes in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. In colonial times (1682–1776), the legislature was known as the Pennsylvania ...

. From 2007 to 2008, he worked as the ''receiver ad litem'' for the

Commodity Futures Trading Commission The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) is an independent agency of the US government created in 1974 that regulates the U.S. derivatives markets, which includes futures, swaps, and certain kinds of options. The Commodity Exchange Ac ...

and recovered $170 million, the largest in the commission's history. He also served as a member of the

Third Circuit Court of Appeals The United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit (in case citations, 3d Cir.) is a federal court with appellate jurisdiction over the district courts for the following districts: * District of Delaware * District of New Jersey * East ...

Task Force to select counsel in certain lawsuits. Harmelin serves as a Trustee and

General Counsel A general counsel, also known as chief counsel or chief legal officer (CLO), is the chief in-house lawyer for a company or a governmental department. In a company, the person holding the position typically reports directly to the CEO, and their ...

to the

National Constitution Center The National Constitution Center is a non-profit institution devoted to the Constitution of the United States. On Independence Mall in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the center is an interactive museum and a national town hall for constitutional dia ...

. Harmelin was awarded the Replansky Award by the Philadelphia Bar Association Corporate Law Committee for distinguished accomplishments in civics, law and professionalism.

Personal life

Harmelin is the founder of the Philadelphia Constitution Foundation where he led a project to bring the

Magna Carta (Medieval Latin for "Great Charter of Freedoms"), commonly called (also ''Magna Charta''; "Great Charter"), is a royal charter of rights agreed to by King John of England at Runnymede, near Windsor, on 15 June 1215. First drafted by the ...

to Philadelphia in 1987 and 2001. He also sits on the Board of the

Barnes Foundation The Barnes Foundation is an art collection and educational institution promoting the appreciation of art and horticulture. Originally in Merion, the art collection moved in 2012 to a new building on Benjamin Franklin Parkway in Philadelphia, Pen ...

, the Atlantic Legal Foundation, the

College of Physicians of Philadelphia The College of Physicians of Philadelphia is the oldest private medical society in the United States. Founded in 1787 by 24 Philadelphia physicians "to advance the Science of Medicine, and thereby lessen human misery, by investigating the disease ...

and ''

The Philadelphia Inquirer ''The Philadelphia Inquirer'' is a daily newspaper headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The newspaper's circulation is the largest in both the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the Delaware Valley metropolitan region of Southeastern Pennsy ...

''. He appeared in the

History Channel History (formerly The History Channel from January 1, 1995 to February 15, 2008, stylized as HISTORY) is an American pay television network and flagship channel owned by A&E Networks, a joint venture between Hearst Communications and the Disney ...

show ''

Save Our History ''Save Our History'' is a television program sponsored by The History Channel. It is a national history education and preservation program that raises awareness and support for preserving local and national heritage. It partnered with Preserve Am ...

'' where he spoke about the National Constitution Center. Harmelin was close friends with former longtime Pennsylvania Senator,

Arlen Specter Arlen Specter (February 12, 1930 – October 14, 2012) was an American lawyer, author and politician who served as a United States Senator from Pennsylvania from 1981 to 2011. Specter was a Democrat from 1951 to 1965, then a Republican from ...

. He served as the Treasurer for Specter's successful re-election campaign in 2004.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Harmelin, Stephen 1939 births American political fundraisers Corporate lawyers Harvard Law School alumni Jewish American government officials Lawyers from Philadelphia Living people Pennsylvania lawyers People from Philadelphia Central High School (Philadelphia) alumni United States Coast Guard officers University of Pennsylvania alumni 21st-century American Jews