PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Philadelphia City Solicitor Marcel Pratt is returning to the private sector.
The Mayor’s Office said Pratt is leaving city government next month to become a managing partner at Ballard Spahr — one of the most prestigious legal jobs in the city.
Pratt joined the Solicitor’s Office four years ago as chair of the litigation group. He became the youngest city solicitor ever when he took over in March 2018, at the age of 33.
He has successfully defended the city’s ban on asking a job applicant’s wage history, and he won a suit to stop the federal government from retaliating against the city’s immigration policy.
When COVID-19 hit, he devised the legal framework for the city’s emergency orders.
The mayor appointed current litigation chair Diana Cortes as acting solicitor. She will be the first Latina to run the 330-person office, which is one of the largest municipal law practices in the country.