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Free: Failure to Supervise Pro Bono Attorney Dooms Divorce Pact
Thursday, June 18, 2009
In granting a woman's bid to void a settlement stipulation because her pro bono divorce attorney made serious errors and was inadequately supervised, a state judge has cautioned law firms and volunteer groups that in taking on pro bono cases, they should ensure that counsel "receive appropriate support and supervision, so that they can provide pro bono clients with the same careful legal representation that they provide to paying clients." The ruling comes at a time when law firms facing a decline in legal business and a surplus of attorneys are working with pro bono organizations to increase the number of cases they already handle on a volunteer basis.
SPONSOR SPOTLIGHT
Free: Accolades
Monday, June 15, 2009
Tonight at its 10th anniversary program, The Burton Foundation, a nonprofit academic organization, will present its 2009 Awards for Legal Achievement in recognition of effective legal writing. The event will be held at the Library of Congress. The Lifetime Reform in Law award will be presented to former New York Chief Judge Judith Kaye.
Attorney Volunteer Effort Meets in Bronx Tonight
Monday, June 8, 2009
NYC Legal Outreach will hold its second meeting tonight to recruit attorneys to provide pro bono representation for the growing number of unrepresented consumers with financial and immigration problems.
Accolades
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Bentley Kassal, litigation counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, will be inducted as a Chevalier of the National Order of the Legion of Honor, the highest decoration given by the French Republic, for his role as a former U.S. Army Air Force intelligence officer in the liberation of France during World War II. Also, the New York City Bar Association has presented its Fourth Annual Diversity Champion Awards, the American Jewish Committee has its Judge Learned Hand Award for outstanding service to the legal profession, the Lawyers Alliance for New York has awarded three institutions for being "outstanding partners in public service," and more.
NYU Law Graduates Pursue The Public Interest - Tuition Debt-Free
Thursday, May 28, 2009
It is one thing to express concern for the plight of migrant farm workers. It's another to live and toil alongside them and attempt to fully understand the challenges they face, as Thomas Fritzsche has done as a medical translator, a pesticide safety trainer and a farm union organizer. The 28-year-old, who graduated from New York University School of Law on May 15, plans to use his degree to continue pushing for the rights of migrant workers at the Southern Poverty Law Center's Immigrant Justice Project, but he will not have to worry about paying off a crushing law school loan debt on a public interest salary. Dallas litigation boutique Bickel & Brewer, which has been advocating for low-income clients and the Latino community for more than two decades, paid for his legal education.
Free: City, Courts Kick Off Campaign to Encourage Lawyers to Volunteer
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The first of five meetings to recruit, motivate and inform attorneys for the new NYC Legal Outreach initiative will be held tonight in Brooklyn. The campaign is an "unprecedented" joint effort by the judicial and executive branches to expand pro bono legal assistance, Corporation Counsel Michael A. Cardozo said in an interview. The joint program is an attempt to address the growing number of unrepresented consumers with financial and immigration problems brought on by the weak economy.
Free With Registration: Obituary: Brooks R. Burdette
Friday, May 22, 2009
Brooks R. Burdette, a litigation partner at Schulte Roth & Zabel, died on May 13. He was 47. Mr. Burdette began his legal career as an associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore. In 1993, he joined Schulte Roth & Zabel and was made partner in 1996.
Accolades
Friday, May 8, 2009
The New York State Bar Association has announced the winners of its 2009 President's Pro Bono Service Awards. Also, the New York City Bar Association next week will award its 20th Annual Legal Services Awards, the National Bar Association honored its 2009 Gertrude E. Rush recipients at its 29th Annual Mid-Year Conference, and the American Bar Association recognized the accomplishments of lawyers who have "paved the way to success for other women" with its 2009 Margaret Brent Women Lawyers of Achievement Award.
City Launches Program to Boost the Ranks of Pro Bono Attorneys
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
With foreclosures and evictions on the rise and consumers increasingly saddled with debt, New York City officials are enlisting attorneys to volunteer their time for a new pro bono effort. Approximately 40 representatives from pro bono organizations, the court system, several bar associations and city law schools gathered yesterday at City Hall to kick off "NYC Legal Outreach."
DLA Piper Attorneys Work to Document Rapes By Members of Ruling Party Militia in Zimbabwe
Thursday, April 16, 2009
In early February, DLA Piper partner Lewis Conwell sat in a room in Pretoria, South Africa, interviewing women who said they had been raped and attacked by militia members loyal to the regime of Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe. The lawyer remembers one Zimbabwean victim in particular who shifted her gaze as she detailed a rape incident.
Free With Registration: Lawyers Volunteer Assistance to Binghamton Shooting Victims
Monday, April 13, 2009
Seven members of the New York State Bar Association's Mass Disaster Response Committee from Brooklyn, Rochester, Albany, Orange County and Long Island traveled to Binghamton last week to join local attorneys in assisting the families of 13 persons slain by a lone gunman at an immigration services center on Friday, April 3.
Economy Prompts OCA to Create Program for Volunteer Attorneys
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Administrators of New York courts are rolling out a new program today to enlist attorneys, many of whom may be laid off or on reduced work schedules due to the sour economy, to provide legal advice and expertise to pro se litigants. The initiative will differ from traditional pro bono work in that lawyers will not represent poor clients in court nor provide assistance throughout their cases. Rather, lawyers in the new Volunteer Attorney Program will make themselves available to multiple pro se litigants to help them prepare petitions and other court paperwork, advise them about what might happen in court and interpret orders from courts.
Accolades
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
The New York State Bar Association's Commercial and Federal Litigation Section will present this year's Honorable George Bundy Smith Pioneer Award to Elaine R. Jones, the former president and director-counsel emeritus of the NAACP-Legal Defense and Education Fund. Also, Stroock & Stroock & Lavan will be awarded the 2009 National Public Service Award by the American Bar Association's Section of Business Law and the Pro Bono Partnership has named its Outstanding Volunteers of 2008.
Public Interest Projects
Friday, March 6, 2009
In an attempt to help meet increasing needs, Legal Services NYC has instituted new partnerships with Simpson Thacher, Milbank Tweed and Williams College. The effort provides new externships intended to benefit both the poor in need of legal help and attorneys by offering hands-on experience. Also, Skadden Arps has announced its selection of this year's Skadden Fellows and Greenberg Traurig has announced its 2009 Fellows.
Simpson Thacher Associates Slated for Pro Bono Stints
Monday, February 23, 2009
Amid a slowdown in funding for public interest legal work and a downturn in business at private law firms, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett is sending some of its associates to year-long stints at nonprofit organizations.
