Growing up in a working-class neighborhood … there were many opportunities to do the wrong thing.’

Member for six years of 26^th District PAL, then located in the basement of St. Peter the Apostle Church, Fifth Street and Girard Avenue in North Philadelphia, with PAL Officer Tommy Thomson.

“Growing up as a teenager in a working-class neighborhood in Fishtown, there were many opportunities to do the wrong thing. PAL, through mentors such as [PAL Officer] Tommy Thomson and Steve Head served as role models for many of us. I grew up a few blocks away from Steve. He was what we younger kids called one of the ‘big guys,’ meaning older than us. We looked up to him as he was one of the few who went to college, and some of us aspired to be like him.

“Through their words and example, they showed us how to be responsible and respectful individuals and taught us the value of hard work and persistence.”

Nick graduated from Villanova University and Temple University School of Law. He is a partner in the prestigious law firm Obermayer LLP where he is Chair of the firm’s Construction Law Practice Group and a partner in the firm’s Litigation Department. He practices in the areas of complex commercial disputes, construction law, alternative dispute resolution and workouts and creditors’ rights.

“Without the influence of the likes of Tommy Thomson and Steve Head, I doubt that I would be where I am today. As a parent having raised three children, my wife and I always had the philosophy of exposing our children to “people of character.”  I and many others in the community were fortunate through PAL to have been exposed to men of true character, men such as Steve Head and Tommy Thomson.”

June 2022