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Turning a lawyer’s intellect to solving challenges of health care
By Lou Baldwin
Special to The CS&T
BRYN MAWR — Alexander Bono, who was recently appointed to the board of archdiocesan Catholic Health Care Services, thinks his father might have been prescient when he named him.
His friends all call him Lex, which is the Latin word for law, and he is a lawyer. Bono is a Latin word for good.
He must be a good lawyer — he is a partner of, and chairs, the securities litigation practice group at the Philadelphia firm of Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis L.L.P.
Now 55, he’s originally from Holy Savior Parish in Norristown. After attending the parish parochial school, he went on to the former Bishop Kenrick High School then to La Salle College and ultimately to Temple Law School.
During his last year at law school, he became interested in criminal defense work, mostly out of sympathy for disadvantaged persons in trouble with the law.
A year after graduation he switched to securities litigation with Blank Rome L.L.P. and eventually, as a partner, he chaired that firm’s securities litigation practice, with wide expertise in class action and audit issues.
In 2004, with 27 years legal experience, he joined Commerce Bank as its first general counsel.
Finally, last September, he returned to private practice with Schnader Harrison.
Backing up a bit, Bono married the former Shirley Nay at St. Mary of the Lakes Church in Medford, N.J., in 1980. They now reside in St. John Neumann Parish, Bryn Mawr.
On the parish level, he’s worked on charity drives, fundraising and CYO soccer, as well as Little League baseball.
“We have four healthy, beautiful kids,” he said. It was through his now teen and young adult children — Drew, Alexandra, Christine and Greg — that his empathy for kids emerged and he became involved in social service volunteerism, at first through United Way and other agencies.
Ultimately, his community involvement became more faith-based in emphasis. A priest friend introduced him to the late Jack Smith, who was head of child care services for the Archdiocese.
Bono served on the boards for St. John’s Hospice, St. Edmond’s Home for Children, Don Guanella Village, Women of Hope and St. Gabriel’s Hall. He was a board member of Catholic Social Services from 2000-2006.
Primarily, Catholic Health Care Services oversees the network of nursing homes and retirement homes run by the Archdiocese. It’s not a single challenge, it is several challenges, and Bono takes them seriously.
Number one is dealing with the burgeoning number of baby boomers in need of services while still providing the dignified care that Catholic Social Services has traditionally provided.
A second challenge is dealing with the ever-growing expense of medical care. The final challenge is finding the type of extraordinary personnel needed to staff the expanding services.
Voluntary service on community and archdiocesan boards, including Catholic Health Care Services, is something of a role reversal, Bono believes. Rather than advising or representing boards, as he does in his professional career, “I’m serving on them,” he said.
Lou Baldwin is a member of St. Leo Parish and a freelance writer.