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Awards and Applause
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Pro Bono News
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The American Medical Association (AMA) passed new policy to support Medical-Legal Partnerships earlier this week at the AMA Annual Meeting. The Resolution encourages physicians to work with lawyers, social workers and nurses to improve the health and well-being of their patients. The Resolution states that the AMA should work with physician groups and other stakeholder organizations to 1) educate physicians on the impact of unmet legal needs on the health of their patients and 2) provide physicians, hospitals and health centers with information on medical-legal partnerships.
Press Release ABA Response Report from AMA Board of Trustees AMA News
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The ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service recently released a webpage on judicial promotion of and participation in pro bono. See http://www.abanet.org/legalservices/probono/judicial/home.html. The webpage highlights the ABA Model Code of Judicial Conduct and its rule 3.7, which gives explicit permission to judges to encourage and support pro bono. It also discusses state adoptions of this code, as well as other state judicial codes that include permissive language regarding judges promoting pro bono. Furthermore the page covers how judges can be involved on a local level, through participation in local pro bono committees. The page also provides information on state ethics opinions that address the issue of judicial encouragement of pro bono and whether court attorney employees can do pro bono.
In addition to rules, the webpage features pro bono programs that judges have set up within their courts, administrative accomodations that judges have implemented for attorneys who do pro bono, recognition events and recruitment techniques that judges employ to encourage pro bono participation, and resolutions and other policies that judges have passed to encourage pro bono. For inquiries related to this webpage and to submit content, please contact Jamie Hochman Herz, Assistant Committee Counsel, or 312 988-5748.
Beginning in 2008, small tax-exempt groups (defined by the IRS as those with $25,000 or less in annual gross receipts) must complete a new electronic Form 990-N, called an e-Postcard, within 30 days of the close their tax year. Previously, such groups did not have to complete a filing. Please see the Philanthropy Journal article on this topic or the IRS website for additional information.
In the summer of 2007 the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Pro Bono Committee selected five applicants to receive mini-grants worth $5,000 for projects designed to increase the dispute resolution opportunities for low income and underserved populations. The mini-grants were made possible by a grant from the JAMS Foundation. Over the course of the year, these five programs were able to build upon existing relationships within their communities to develop greater support and infrastructure for dispute resolution services to meet the needs of their low-income community. For further information regarding the mini-grants, see an October 2008 article from the ABA Section of Dispute Resolution Pro Bono Committee website.
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Unlike several legal service programs that have surfaced to assist veterans, the Military Pro Bono Project is uniquely focused on provision of pro bono services to active-duty service members, many of whom remain deployed to areas of conflict. The Project will directly help service members by moving cleared pro bono referrals straight from military law offices to willing-and-able private sector lawyer volunteers throughout the country. Needs are arising in the areas of consumer law, family law, landlord-tenant, employment law, and other areas. Their families often unfortunately require assistance in the area of probate, trusts and estates, or guardianship law. The Military Pro Bono Project is a joint venture of the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Assistance for Military Personnel (LAMP) and the ABA Section of Litigation, with assistance from the ABA Center for Pro Bono. Read the news release, read the FAQ or go on to the Project Website. |
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Training and Workshops
The ABA General Practice Solo and Small firm Division’s 2009 Fall Meeting and National Solo and Small Firm Conference included two panels focused on service to others. Practicing for the Public Good highlighted several ways solo and small firm practitioners serve the needs of underrepresented or disadvantaged people or causes. Models discussed included a standard private firm with a formal commitment to pro bono service; a private public interest law firm whose primary mission is to assist underrepresented people or causes; a non-profit law firm funded by donors and staffed by law firm attorneys and volunteers; and an independent volunteer program. To download materials from this workshop, click here.
The Young Lawyers Institute at the GPSolo 2009 Fall Meeting and National Solo and Small Firm Conference included a panel entitled Starting a Low Bono Program in Your Area. To download materials from this workshop, click here
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New Publications and Reports
American Bar Association Commission on Homelessness and Poverty is pleased to announce the release of two new manuals related to runaway and homeless children and youth.
Runaway and Homeless Youth and the Law: Model State Statutes is a unique publication that provides guidance for policymakers, advocates, attorneys and service providers on how state laws can assist homeless and runaway youth. The laws were developed by experts in the field with input provided during two national conferences. The comprehensive resource provides not only model statutes, but background information and research to provide context for each issue. Additionally, the authors have provided commentary to assist in the implementation of the law. Runaway and Homeless Youth and the Law: Model State Statutes is a necessity for any person or agency interested in improving state laws so that these vulnerable youth can find safety, services and stability.
The book addresses the following legal issues faced by runaway and homeless youth and their service providers:
- Education
- Status Offenses
- Family Law Issues
- Health (access to health care)
- LGBTQ youth
- Immigration
- Access to custodial systems
- Discharge from custodial systems
- Housing
- Identification (birth certificates, SS cards)
- Public Benefits
- Access to legal services
- Employment
- Legal issues for runaway and homeless youth service providers
Educating Children Without Housing: A Primer on Legal Requirements and Implementation Strategies for Educators, Advocates and Policymakers, 3rd Edition , provides innovative strategies for educators and school administrators, state coordinators and policymakers, and advocates and attorneys to play a role in ensuring the education rights of children and youth experiencing homelessness. The revised edition includes new sections on creating access to early childhood education opportunities, the Head Start Act, IDEA, the Fostering Connections to Success and Increasing Adoptions Act, financial aid and college access and support programs. This third edition contains strategies designed to assist communities to exceed compliance and move toward greater commitment -- to embody not only the letter but also the spirit of the law -- including a new section on collaborating with community agencies. The book also includes a directory of resources for educators, advocates, and policymakers.
Drafted by Barbara Duffield and Patricia Julianelle of the National Association for the Education of Homeless Children and Youth, and Laurene Heybach of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, the book is the most comprehensive resource on the education of homeless children and youth available. Several State Departments of Education have praised the book for its brief, yet comprehensive, easy-to-understand format, commenting on its similarity to a “how-to handbook.” Many states have purchased the publication in bulk and distributed them to liaisons, as well as to each school district and school administrator.
Both publications are available for $14.95 each through the ABA Web Store at http://www.abanet.org/abastore/index.cfm or by calling the ABA Service Center at 1-800-285-2221. Discounts for bulk orders are available (e.g., purchase 5-49 books and save 10%; 50-99 and save 20%; 100-399 and save 30%; 400+ save 40%).
Pro bono work by America's lawyers is on the rise with nearly three-fourths of lawyers providing free legal services to the poor or to the organizations that serve them. That's one of the significant findings of a new study done by the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service entitled Supporting Justice II: A Report on the Pro Bono Work of America's Lawyers
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Awards and Applause
On Monday, February 21, 2011, the ABA Section of Litigation launched its Law Student Good Works Competition on the Section’s Facebook page. The Competition asks law students to create the Section’s next Good Works project. It offers a Grand Prize of $10,000 seed money from the Section to implement the project, along with a $2,500 cash prize, a trip to Laguna Niguel and a year’s worth of mentorship by a Section leader and committee to be assigned to the project.
Proposals must be submitted in writing and via a YouTube video by April 27, 2011.
Want to know more? View the Section’s Facebook Page by clicking here or the Section’s You-Tube Video by clicking here.If you have questions, please contact Rachel Dawson, Associate Director of Planning at Rachel.Dawson@americanbar.org or 312.988.6236
The ABA Section of Labor and Employment Law presented the 2010 Frances Perkin’s Public Service Award to Drummond Woodsum & MacMahon during the Section’s 2010 Annual CLE Conference in Chicago. The award was provided in recognition of the firm’s work on behalf of low-income individuals denied unemployment compensation. The project began when Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) and Pine Tree Legal Assistance (PTLA) contacted the firm due to lacking sufficient resources to represent the many callers denied unemployment compensation in the downturned economy. In response, David Sherman, Drummond Woodsum’s pro bono coordinator, obtained a commitment from the firm’s attorneys that each would take four cases per year. Sherman worked with VLP to develop an efficient and workable system for sending unemployment compensation cases to the firm. Since this project began in the spring of 2009, the firm has provided representation to dozens of employees and has had a more than 85% success rate for the clients.
In his acceptance speech, Sherman noted that this project is very doable even for the busy attorneys in his firm. Each case typically requires three to five hours of the attorney’s time. He stated that an attorney can take a case without the fear of it turning into a prolonged project. He also highlighted benefits to the firm, including the expertise which the lawyers developed from sharing and learning from one another’s experiences. Also, the opportunity of working with a client and presenting a matter to the state department of labor has the advantage of allowing the attorneys to hone their skills. Drummond Woodsum is one of Maine’s largest law firms, with offices in Portland, Maine and Portsmouth, New Hampshire.
The Frances Perkins Award recognizes individuals or organizations that demonstrate a significant commitment to providing pro bono legal services primarily in the areas of labor and employment law to persons of limited means or organizations designed to serve persons of limited means. To find out more about the Perkins Award, requirements for nomination, and profiles of past recipients, click here. For information about the Section of Labor and Employment’s Pro Bono Work Committee, click here.
From left to right, front row: Brian Willing, George Royle, Jerry Crouter, Jeff Piampiano
From Left to right, back row:
Tom Trenholm, Toby Dilworth, Melissa Hewey, Kaighn Smith, Peter Felmly, David Kallin and David Sherman.
The ABA Business Law Section is now accepting nominations for its 2011 National Public Service Award. To nominate an individual, law firm, or corporate law department for the Award, go to www.ababusinesslaw.org/r/npsa. The deadline for nominations is January 14, 2011.
The National Public Service Award was initiated in 1994 as part of the Section's pro bono project, A Business Commitment ("ABC"). The ABC project was designed to match business lawyers with legal service programs, community development corporations, charitable organizations or individuals that cannot afford to hire lawyers. The National Public Service Award recognizes significant pro bono legal services that demonstrate a commitment to providing services to the poor in a business context, and recognizes the achievements resulting from the public service work for the clients and the client groups represented. The recipients of the Award will have undertaken a significant public service project(s) that provided free business law representation to the poor or to an organization that predominantly serves the poor, or improves the provision of such services.
More about the National Public Service Award
WASHINGTON, D.C., Dec. 15, 2008 -- The American Bar Association Section of Taxation named two young lawyers as its first two Public Service Fellows. The Fellows will be directly involved in providing services to low-income taxpayers in the Washington, D.C. and suburban Chicago areas.
The awardees are:
- Laura Newland, scheduled to earn her J.D. from Georgetown University Law Center in May 2009. After graduating, Newland will be working on tax-related matters at the AARP’s Legal Counsel for the Elderly program in Washington, D.C.
- Vijay Raghavan, currently an associate in the tax practice at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in Chicago. He will be implementing a new tax law project with Prairie State Legal Services in Carol Stream, Ill.
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Funding Opportunities
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