As Thomas G. Wilkinson Jr. takes the helm of the Pennsylvania Bar Association this week, Wilkinson will focus much of his leadership agenda on a constituency that is too young to be in law school, much less to be a member of the statewide bar association.

Wilkinson already has worked on the issues involving youth and the law as co-chairman of the PBA’s Task Force on the Interbranch Commission on Juvenile Justice Report. Both groups were formed in the wake of the Luzerne County judicial corruption scandal.