I always think that “award-winning” is a sneaky term. I describe myself as “an award-winning journalist,” but that could refer to winning third place in a HS writing contest. I think it’s important for us “award-winners” to keep it up to date.
I just learned that the Pennsylvania Press Club awarded me first place in the Personality Profile category for my October 2025 Super Lawyers article aboutBroadway lawyer Jason Baruch . This is the same category I won first place in in 2023 for my Super Lawyers profile of Jeh Johnson for September 2022’s The Public Service Call.
Super Lawyers has been such a great publication to work for. I’ve talked to people from around the country and the stories are always interesting. They’re also very different, as the two profiles above demonstrate. he links to both stories are embedded above. The lede to the Baruch story starts after his photo:
Broadway is a fickle business. Years of work and millions of dollars can produce a must-see musical or an overnight flop. You never know.
But sometimes you do.
“There are moments when you are seeing or hearing something for the first time,” says entertainment attorney Jason Baruch, “sitting on the edge of your plastic seat in this small, uncomfortable rehearsal room, and you feel, ‘This is going to be something.’ It’s thrilling.”
Baruch felt that thrill when he first heard a jukebox musical about a decades-old doo-wop group (Jersey Boys), a coming-of-age rock show inspired by an 1891 German play (Spring Awakening), and a hip-hop reinvention of one of the lesser-known founding fathers (Hamilton).
Yes, Baruch admits, there have also been times when he’s left a reading or a rehearsal thinking, “There’s three hours of my life I’m not going to get back.” But even then, he says, he appreciates the energy and passion creators put into their projects. “To be successful in this job,” he says, “you have to love what you do.”