Governance news posted Monday, September 27, 2010
Mary Kohart Named Chancellor
Mary Kohart, Esq., has been named Chancellor of the Diocese of Pennsylvania to succeed Chancellor Michael F. Rehill, effective at the close of the Diocesan Convention in November, 2010. Kohart has served as Vice Chancellor since March 15, 2008.
Chancellor Rehill submitted his resignation to the Bishop and the Standing Committee on August 5, 2010 following the decision of the Court of Review restoring Bishop Bennison, “effective upon the appointment and confirmation of [his] successor.” In his letter of resignation, Chancellor Rehill recommended Mary Kohart to be his successor, stating, “She is a brilliant attorney who has been serving as Vice Chancellor for the past two years. I know that she will be a great asset to you and to the Diocese should she be named Chancellor.”
On September 5, 2010, Bishop Bennison submitted her name to the Standing Committee requesting consent to her appointment as Chancellor of the Diocese. The Standing Committee approved the appointment on Tuesday, September 21, 2010.
Chancellor-designate Kohart is a litigation partner at the Philadelphia firm of Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, specializing in complex commercial litigation. She has been handling major litigation for the Diocese for several years, and successfully defended the suit brought by the Rev. David Moyer against the Diocese and Bishop Bennison. She is currently representing the Diocese in two cases, including an action pending in the Orphans’ Court Division of the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas seeking to recover the assets and property of the Church of the Good Shepherd, Rosemont.
She is a member of St. Thomas, Whitemarsh, has three children, two horses, four dogs and has been married to her husband Dean Phillips since 1984. After graduating from the Syracuse University College of Law, she clerked for a federal judge. Besides her work at Drinker, Mary has served as the Chair of the Committee of 70 in Philadelphia, been on the Board of the Philadelphia American Civil Liberties Foundation, and currently serves as a member of the Philadelphia ACLU’s advisory legal committee and as a Board Member of Women’s Way.
Submission by J.D. Lafrance, Communications and Administrative Assistant
