The Modern Ethics Toolkit: Discipline Prevention, Response, and Wellness 2026

Beth’s is a partner with Fox Rothschild LLP and her practice focuses on complex commercial litigation with an emphasis on white collar criminal defense and regulatory compliance work, as well as media, defamation and privacy law. She also represents attorneys in disciplinary proceedings and hearings before the Pennsylvania Board of Law Examiners. Beth has significant experience with pre-trial and trial proceedings in both state and federal courts, as well as alternative dispute resolution. Recently, Beth drafted a successful motion to dismiss a complaint asserting complex contract and due process claims in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. Beth briefed those same issues when the plaintiff appealed and the Third Circuit affirmed the trial court’s decision dismissing the complaint. Beth also recently defended a case in Pennsylvania State Court where damages in excess of $1 million were sought against her client. The bench trial resulted in a complete defense verdict. Beth serves as co-chair on the Philadelphia Bar Association Professional Guidance Committee and is a member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee. She is also a member of the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Investigative Division of the Commission on Judicial Selection and Retention, which evaluates and makes recommendations on judicial candidates. She also writes and speaks regularly on various issues related to legal ethics and professional responsibility. Before Fox Rothschild, she was a summer associate with the firm and served as a summer legal intern in the U.S. Attorney’s office, Eastern District of Pennsylvania. She is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey and before the U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Pennsylvania; U.S. District Court, District of New Jersey; U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit; and Miami Nation Tribal Court. She is a graduate of Villanova University School of Law J.D., and George Washington University (B.A., cum laude).

Barbara is Deputy General Counsel for Fox Rothschild and provides risk management advice to the firm’s national network of offices. She has significant experience in attorney ethics and professional liability, acquired in roles with the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania and as a partner with a Philadelphia-based law firm. In her position with the Office of Disciplinary Counsel, Barbara investigated disciplinary complaints and prosecuted professional conduct violations. She worked closely with investigators and auditors to develop and present the facts of cases to hearing committees, the disciplinary board and the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. She also prepared and presented continuing legal education programming on attorney ethics. Barbara’s private practice experience includes commercial liability work representing clients that included lawyers and large law firms against claims that included breach of contract, fraud, misappropriation of confidential information and trade secrets, professional liability and other matters in state and federal court. During law school, Barbara externed with the Office of the U.S. Attorney in Camden, N.J. and interned for the Honorable Robert B. Kugler, U.S. Magistrate Judge, Camden, New Jersey. She is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania and New Jersey. She is a graduate of Rutgers Law School, J.D., and Boston College, B.A., summa cum laude.

Shohin Vance is a shareholder in the Saxton & Stump Appellate Advocacy group, and also contributes his deep experience to the Business Litigation and Strategic Solutions and Regulatory and Government Affairs groups. He is widely recognized across Pennsylvania for his work in politically sensitive and high-stakes litigation, particularly in election law, government disputes, and constitutional matters. Shohin has represented prominent elected officials and legislative bodies, including the Pennsylvania Senate Republican Caucus, in cases that have shaped statewide policy. His work has included challenges to gubernatorial authority during the COVID-19 pandemic, high-profile election disputes, litigation over the legality of skill-based video games, and environmental regulatory matters such as the Delaware River Basin Commission’s fracking ban. He has argued cases before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Third Circuit Court of Appeals, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court, and other state and federal courts. Known for his rapid response in emergency litigation and deep understanding of appellate and procedural rules, Shohin is a trusted advisor to political leaders across the Commonwealth. Before joining Saxton & Stump, Shohin was a partner at a Philadelphia law firm, where he was instrumental in building its influential political law practice. He began his legal career as a law clerk to Chief Justice Thomas G. Saylor of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court and now contributes to the integrity of the profession as a member of the Disciplinary Board of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court. Shohin’s work has been recognized by The Legal Intelligencer, (“Lawyers on the Fast Track,” 2021), Best Lawyers in America® (“Ones to Watch,” 2021–2024), Pennsylvania Super Lawyers (“Rising Star,” 2024), City & State Pennsylvania (“Philadelphia Forty Under 40,” 2022), and “Lawdragon 500 X – The Next Generation” (2023). He is a graduate of Penn State Dickinson School of Law, J.D. and University of Scranton, B.S.

Heidi R. Freese is an accomplished attorney with extensive experience in federal litigation, professional responsibility, and workplace conduct matters. She previously dedicated much of her career to the defense of indigent federal criminal defendants and now brings that deep litigation and leadership experience to a broader practice that includes professional licensure defense, significant workplace investigations, and federal civil litigation. Heidi was appointed as the Federal Public Defender for the Middle District of Pennsylvania by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in September 2017 and was reappointed in 2021. During her tenure, the office’s appellate unit litigated two cases before the U.S. Supreme Court in the 2023–2024 term, reflecting her involvement in high-stakes, complex litigation. As Federal Public Defender, Heidi managed an active caseload while overseeing all aspects of the office’s operations, including attorney supervision, staff management, and the selection and oversight of Criminal Justice Act (CJA) panel attorneys. In addition to her leadership responsibilities, Heidi developed substantial experience addressing attorney conduct, ethics, and compliance issues. She has conducted and overseen sensitive workplace investigations involving allegations of misconduct, discrimination, and violations of professional standards, and she regularly advises on professional responsibility and licensure-related matters. Her practice also includes federal civil litigation, where she applies her extensive courtroom experience to complex factual and legal disputes. Prior to her appointment as Federal Public Defender, Heidi served for ten years as an Assistant Federal Public Defender. In that role, she acted as lead counsel in hundreds of federal criminal cases, litigated complex pretrial and competency motions, conducted numerous jury and non-jury trials, and represented defendants and witnesses in grand jury investigations. She also has significant experience in complex sentencing proceedings and non-capital habeas corpus litigation, including a case that resulted in the overturning of a York County murder conviction in federal court. Earlier in her career, Heidi served as a Juvenile Delinquency Master for the York County Court of Common Pleas, presiding over emergency detention and delinquency hearings, conducting restitution hearings, and drafting findings of fact and recommendations to the court. She also practiced criminal defense in the private sector, representing hundreds of court-appointed clients, serving as a CJA panel attorney, and earning death penalty certification. Heidi is also active in legal education and professional development. She serves as Adjunct Faculty at Penn State Dickinson Law, where she teaches Federal Criminal Practice and serves as the Criminal Justice Externship Faculty Advisor. She frequently lectures on ethics, leadership, workplace conduct, and litigation topics and has been involved in diversity and inclusion initiatives at the local, regional, and national levels.

Mr. Tintner is a partner at Fox Rothschild LLP in Philadelphia and co-chair of the firm-wide Pro Bono Committee. His practice involves all aspects of real estate litigation, including title insurance matters, commercial litigation, professional liability matters, the representation of attorneys and law firms, defamation and First Amendment matters and intellectual property litigation. Mr. Tintner currently handles the Ethics Hotline for the Philadelphia Bar Association’s Professional Guidance Committee.  Mr. Tintner is a co-author of “Wrongful Use of Civil Proceedings and Related Torts in Pennsylvania” published by The Legal Intelligencer. He is the 2020 recipient of the “Citizens Bank Achievement Award” from the Philadelphia Bar Association and Citizens Bank, as well as the 2016 “Difference Makers Award” from the American Bar Association’s Solo, Small Firm and General Practice Division. Mr. Tintner frequently lectures on topics related to attorney ethics, professional liability and quiet title/real estate litigation issues.  Mr. Tintner received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his B.A., cum laude, from the University of Pennsylvania School of Arts and Sciences. He is admitted to practice in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, the United States Supreme Court, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and the U.S. District Courts for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Western District of Pennsylvania and the District of New Jersey. Mr. Tintner is a member of the American, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Philadelphia Bar Associations.  Mr. Tintner presently serves on the board of directors for the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program.

Ellen Brotman is the founder of BrotmanLaw in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C., focusing her practice on legal ethics and professional responsibility. Ellen defends lawyers in licensure issues and provides ethics opinions to attorneys in public and private practice on a wide range of ethics issues. From 1995 to 1998, Ellen served as an assistant federal defender with the Defender Association of Philadelphia and is currently a member of the board of the Pennsylvania Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers. Ellen serves on the ABA’s Standing Committee on Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility and the PBA’s Legal Ethics and Professional Responsibility Committee. She has been recognized by Best Lawyers in America and Super Lawyers since 2008; in 2025 and 2026 she was named one of the top 50 Women Super Lawyers in Pennsylvania.

Ms. Livingston is trial counsel at the Office of Disciplinary Counsel (ODC), District II for the Disciplinary Board of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania. She brings her extensive litigation and conflict-management experience to bear on investigating and evaluating allegations of attorney misconduct, and she collaborates with auditors, investigators, Counsel-In-Charge, and Deputy Chief and Chief Disciplinary Counsel to prosecute ethics complaints in pursuit of discipline against an attorney’s license to practice law within The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Ms. Livingston regularly coordinates with other jurisdictions governing the practice of law, the judiciary, and federal and state organizations. She also evaluates applications for reinstatement to the practice of law in Pennsylvania. Before joining ODC, Ms. Livingston worked as an associate in private practice for several small and mid-sized Philadelphia-area law firms. Among other accolades, Ms. Livingston was named a 2016 Lawyer on the Fast Track by The Legal Intelligencer, served as a 2016 Fellow to the Leadership Council on Legal Diversity (LCLD), and has published articles on topics such as alternative dispute resolution, employment law, attorney-client privilege, products liability, and data breach. Ms. Livingston earned her B.A. from The College of New Jersey, M.A. from the University of Delaware, and J.D. from Rutgers Law School. Ms. Livingston received post-doctoral training in trial advocacy from the National Institute for Trial Advocacy (NITA) and in appellate advocacy from the National Organization of Bar Counsel (NOBC). Ms. Livingston serves on the NOBC Current Developments Committee.