In 1935, following his unsuccessful bid for Governor of Pennsylvania, Schnader and Bernard G. Segal, the former Deputy Attorney General, joined with Francis A. Lewis, who had been a partner in another law firm and the treasurer of Schnader's gubernatorial campaign, to form the law firm of Schnader & Lewis in Philadelphia. Shortly thereafter, they added Bernard Segal as a named partner. In the early years, the members of the firm gained prominent clients and soon national recognition handling a major case heard by the Supreme Court of the United States. In 1948, Earl G. Harrison, after resigning as Dean of the University of Pennsylvania Law School, joined the firm as the fourth named partner.
Schnader was active in creating the Uniform Commercial Code[4] – in fact, he dedicated nearly twenty years of his life to the organization, drafting, development and promotion of a nationwide system of business law, which earned him the title, "Father of the Uniform Commercial Code." Notably, much of this work was accomplished while in a wheelchair following a crippling stroke. For this "conspicuous service to American jurisprudence," he was awarded the Gold Medal of the American Bar Association in 1960. His public service included many other contributions, including five years' work as Chairman of the American Bar Association Bill of Rights Committee (the forerunner of the present Section of Individual Rights and Responsibilities), and service as President of the Pennsylvania Bar Association in 1962–63.
Notes
^Rothrock, W. A. Jr., ed. (1931). The Pennsylvania Manual. Vol. 87. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. p. 160.
^"William Schnader, Lawyer, 81, is Dead". The New York Times. March 19, 1968. p. 44.
