Next month, two historic events will take place in Montgomery County.
On Jan. 3, Democrats will take control of the county government for the first time in more than 140 years.
Ten days later, in an event much less publicized, openly gay attorney Donald J. Martin will become president of the county’s bar association.
When the gavel is passed to him, Martin will become the first openly gay president of the Montgomery Bar Association in its 126-year history.
Though not directly connected, Martin said both events can be seen as signs of the changing times.
In January 2011, about 25 MBA board members elected Martin as MBA vice president, which automatically makes him president of the organization in 2012.
“I assume it was a unanimous vote because I ran unopposed,” Martin said. “But I wasn’t in the room when the vote was taken.”
Martin, 63, has worked as an attorney in the county for 38 years.
“Montgomery County has always been a very friendly, pleasant place to practice law,” he said.
The MBA, founded in 1885, is a professional association that represents about 2,000 attorneys in the area, he said.
It has 11 staffers and an annual budget of about $2 million, he said.
“The MBA provides the lawyers and judges of Montgomery County the opportunity to improve their professional skills by participating in more than 60 committees and sections, and taking part in continuing legal education programs,” he said.
He said the MBA also sponsors numerous community-based initiatives. “We view that as a public service that’s very important to us.”
For example, the MBA sponsors an educational program for public-school students in Norristown, which is the county’s seat.
“We teach civics to sixth-graders in the Norristown Area School District,” he said. “It’s a really great program because no one teaches civics anymore. The students love it. We began doing it two years ago. As president, I’ll be continuing the program. And I’ll keep teaching it — along with other participants.”
Martin grew up in Abington and moved to the Midwest in 1970 to study law at the University of Chicago.
Upon graduation in 1973, he returned to the area and got a job with the law firm Waters Fleer Cooper & Gallager, which has since dissolved.
Martin came out at work in 1978, he said.
In 1979, he began working as a solo practitioner, and continues to do so.
“I mainly work as a consultant, assisting other attorneys in many different areas,” he said.
He enjoys the challenge of working as a consultant.
“If I don’t have challenges I get bored and tend to slack off,” he said. “Everything gets done. But I prefer something difficult. People hire me when they’re facing something difficult. This [work] is all coming from other attorneys, so they don’t hire me to do the easy stuff.”
He’s been a member of the MBA since 1973, he said.
“Waters Fleer encouraged MBA participation,” he said. “I will be the eighth person who worked there to become president of the MBA. Perhaps [becoming president] wasn’t something I thought about from the time I became a lawyer. But it was always a possibility. It never occurred to me that being gay would stand in the way of anything I wanted to do.”
Martin will serve as MBA president on a volunteer basis and will only be compensated for food, travel and lodging expenses incurred in the performance of his duties, he said.
Martin and his partner of 32 years, Richard Repetto, live in the Fitler Square section of Center City.
“Richard attends all the MBA couples events with me, and we’re always treated very well,” Martin said.
He also said members of the Pennsylvania Bar Association — a group closely associated with the MBA — have treated the couple well.
Martin and Repetto danced at a Pennsylvania Bar Association Midyear Meeting in February 2011 at Key West, Fla.
“It was the farewell dinner, the last night of the midyear meeting,” Martin said. “There was dinner and dancing on the beach. We’re probably the only two men who’ve danced together at a Pennsylvania Bar Association function.”
Martin has a long history of activism on behalf of the LGBT community.
In 1979, he wrote an amicus brief urging the state Supreme Court to decriminalize sodomy between unmarried persons in Pennsylvania. “The statute historically had been cited as a reason to deny LGBTs their rights,” he said.
In May 1980, the state Supreme Court invalidated the statute, largely on the basis that it violated privacy rights and equal-protection guarantees.
”Having that sodomy law declared unconstitutional was one of the highlights of my career,” he said. “I hope it furthered the cause of LGBT rights. No longer would LGBTs be considered criminals in Pennsylvania. People couldn’t say, ‘They’re criminals, therefore they shouldn’t have rights.’ That was very gratifying. And I hope it did some good.”
As MBA president, Martin wants to ensure unfettered access to legal services for all people in the county, including children and the poor.
“To the extent it’s feasible, everyone should have access to quality legal representation,” he said. “Things are easier when everyone in the case has a lawyer, rather than when people are representing themselves.”
Martin also hopes to enhance the visibility of the MBA, and to increase its membership. He estimated that about 2,000 attorneys in the county haven’t yet joined the organization.
“I want people to understand the Montgomery Bar Association is for everybody,” he said. “It’s not a group of insiders. It’s not just a group of white men. It represents all the lawyers of Montgomery County. I would like them all to be members. I have another 2,000 to go.”
He will assume the MBA presidency during a luncheon event at the Meadowlands Country Club in Blue Bell on Jan. 13.
“They’ll pass the gavel to me, and Richard will be present to share in the honors,” he said. “So will my 88-year-old father.”
Robert F. Morris, a former MBA president, said the organization is fortunate to have Martin as its next president.
“Donald’s research and brief-writing abilities are widely respected,” Morris told PGN. “Most of the prominent attorneys in Montgomery County have taken credit for winning cases that would have been lost but for Donald’s keen mind. His sharp wit is perhaps the only thing about Donald that is more notable than his legal ability.”
Tim Cwiek can be reached at [email protected].