A Warm Apbco Welcome, Complete with T-Shirt and Shot of Seltzer Down Your Pants (A Traditional

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COMINGS . . .

A warm APBCo welcome, complete with t-shirt and shot of seltzer down your pants (a traditional greeting where we come from), to our newest members:

Wendy Atrokhov

In January of this year, Wendy was appointed to be the first full-time Public Service Counsel at Latham & Watkins. Previously, she was based in the firm’s Moscow office from 2002 until 2010 where she was a member of the Corporate Department. Wendy returned to the Washington D.C. office, where she had been an associate from 1999-2001, to assume her new pro bono role. She also served on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee beginning in 2003, and is now charged with managing, coordinating and advancing Latham’s global pro bono and public service efforts.

Hillary Chadwick

Hilary has joined the pro bono program at Simpson Thacher and Bartlett as its new full-time Coordinator. She comes to the firm from her position as the International Programs Officer of the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women in Mexico City where she was responsible for grant-writing and project design in areas of gender-based violence and trafficking prevention. Prior to that she had a post-graduate internship at the United Nations. At Simpson, Hilary will be handling the majority of the administrative work for the firm’s Pro Bono Committee and Program.

Jessica Klein

Jessica recently was appointed to the role of Head of Pro Bono Practice and Special Counsel at Sullivan & Cromwell LLP. She first joined Sullivan in 2003 as an associate in the firm’s litigation group where she was an active participant in the firm’s pro bono practice. She handled a wide range of pro bono matters including litigation over the inadequacy of funding of indigent defense programs in parts of Mississippi, seeking unemployment benefits for the indigent, and representation of a Guantanamo detainee. Jessica also serves as a member of the Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee of the New York City Bar and is Counsel to the Task Force to Expand Access to Civil Legal Services in NYC.

Jennifer Kroman

Jennifer is the new Director of Pro Bono Practice at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton LLP. She began her career at Cleary Gottlieb as a litigator in 1996, leaving the firm in 2006 to raise her family. During her years at the firm she was actively involved in the pro bono program, focusing on poverty and domestic violence issues. In a high-profile engagement she represented 195 homeless clients in a suit to ensure they received minimum wage from their business improvement district employers in NYC. She served as a board member at New York Lawyers for the Public Interest as well as the National Center of Law and Economic Justice. In 2010 Jennifer worked as the co-director of the uncontested divorce project at Sanctuary for Families.

. . . AND GOINGS

As we welcome these new members, we sadly say good-bye to a number of our finest colleagues, all of whom, no doubt, will remain our close friends. A salute of appreciation, a heart-felt thank you, and with best wishes for all the good work they will be doing in the future (without us), adios, adieu, and remember us on your way up:

Ronnie Abrams

Ronnie, special counsel for pro bono at Davis Polk & Wardell since 2008, has been nominated by President Obama for a seat on the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. She previously worked for 10 years at the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District where she rose to chief of the general crimes unit and then deputy chief of the Criminal Division.

Patricia Brannan

Pat is transitioning from being the pro bono counsel at Hogan Lovells to being the firm’s United States General Counsel. Between Pat and Ronnie, who says being a pro bono professional is not a potential stepping-stone to power and prestige??!! Congratulations to both! Pro bono leadership responsibilities at the firm will go to T. Weymouth and Crispin Rapinet. T. is a partner in the firm’s Washington D.C. office whose commercial practice has been in international trade and investment. Crispin is a partner of the firm, based in London.

Carrie Grimm

Carrie's compassionate dedication has been the foundation of Cleary Gottlieb’s pro bono program for many years. As she leaves the firm we are all thankful for her never having shied away from the challenge of finding ways for law firm attorneys to work with underserved populations. To highlight just a few, she helped to launch a veterans benefits clinic, to provide holistic representation to low income immigrant survivors of the September 11 attacks and to provide more options for unrepresented immigrants. She is also one of the founders of the New York "Unconference" that now precedes the Pro Bono Institute Conference each spring. Her dedication and passion were marked by a small but powerful and enduring moment that so many remember. At a meeting intended to craft a working agreement with members of the bar on how to collaborate to provide representation to a group of low income people requiring assistance, the question arose "Who will get the glory of representing these clients?." The room went silent for a moment until Carrie, her eyes filled with tears, simply said "The glory? You really have to ask that?" All of us at APBCo look forward to working with Carrie in whatever role she takes on next.

Amos Hartston

Amos has left his former position at Latham & Watkins and has joined the highly-regarded Los Angeles-based legal services organization, Inner City Law Center. He has become the group’s Chief Counsel and Director of Legal Services, overseeing ICLC’s legal programs, including housing litigation, homelessness prevention and the homeless veterans project. In his new role he will continue to work with his APBCo colleagues on issues of great importance in the battle for access to justice.

Marcia Levy

Marcia was the Special Counsel for Pro Bono Initiatives at Sullivan & Cromwell from 2007 until just several months ago. She has now returned to academic life and joined the faculty at New York Law School, teaching Legal Practice. Prior to her time at Sullivan & Cromwell, Marcia spent 14 years in legal education, working as the dean of skills programs at Hofstra University School of Law, as director of the clinical law program the University of Denver College of Law, and as a clinical law professor and the first director of the Public Interest Program at Rutgers University School of Law.

Charles Song

With the unfortunate demise of Howrey LLP, Charles left his position as West Coast Manager of Pro Bono and moved on to the new law school at the University of California, Irvine. Started by renowned Constitutional scholar, Erwin Chemerinsky, the UCI Law School is fast becoming one of the great schools in the country, focusing in unique ways on public service and public interest law. Charles is one of the school’s first career services officers.

Rachel Strong

The unfolding of Howrey LLP also led to a change in position for one of our most well-known APBCo members, Rachel Strong. Rachel was the first (and only) pro bono partner at the firm and is now at one of the finest law schools in the nation, Georgetown University Law, where she serves as the Assistant Dean of the school’s clinical programs, continuing to mentor the pro bono leaders of tomorrow.

NEW PROJECTS

Disaster Relief

At SNR Denton’s office in Kansas City, the firm has agreed to take on a project with Legal Aid of Western Missouri on behalf of low-income residents of Joplin, MO. Many of these residents had property damaged or destroyed in the May tornado that struck the city, and need to get their titles cleared either to apply for relief from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) or to sell their property.

Over the years, many residents of Joplin moved into their parents' or relatives' houses without those houses having been formerly conveyed to them or received by them through title to the property by will. Issues involving these "clouds on the titles," caused by intestate successions, arose after the tornado, with many people having trouble filing FEMA claims or getting loans to repair property. Complicating matters further, 40 percent of homes destroyed by the tornado were uninsured.

NLADA

The National Legal Aid and Defender Association, one of the oldest and largest organizations of its kind, has launched a project to examine and promote public/private pro bono partnerships. The organization has put together a “blue ribbon” Advisory Committee to study the best pro bono partnership practices across the country and begin an important dialogue focused on expanding and replicating the projects with the most efficiencies and impact. A number of APBCo members have been invited to participate on the Advisory Committee

Legal Services Corporation Pro Bono Task Force

LSC recently announced the creation of a new Pro Bono Task Force, chaired by Martha Minow, Dean of the Harvard Law School, and Harry J. F. Korrell III, a partner in the Seattle office of Davis Wright Tremaine. The Task Force will examine best practices for the successful implementation of pro bono initiatives to address the civil legal needs of low-income Americans, analyze the obstacles that hamper pro bono involvement at legal aid programs and by private practitioners, and develop “big ideas” for expanding pro bono services in support of legal aid programs. APBCo member Lisa Dewey was named a special consultant to the Task Force.

ABA Pro Bono Summit

Planned to coincide with National Pro Bono Week, the ABA is holding it’s first-ever National Pro Bono Summit in Washington D.C. on October 24 and 25. APBCo President Jennifer Colyer sits on the Summit Planning Committee and a number of APBCo members have been invited to attend. A report on the work of the Summit will be circulated to the membership.

We know that lots more of our members are involved in lots more new projects that would be of interest to the rest of us. Shyness prevails, however (as hard as that is to believe with this group), and nothing else was brought to our attention. So for our next edition, no need to hug your teddy bears and protect your humble exteriors, let’s hear from your inner egos and let us shout from our rooftops about all of your wonderful works and creative new programs. Promise??

ANNOUNCEMENTS, PROFESSIONAL OR OTHERWISE

• Congratulations to Dorothy Stallworth who recently was promoted at Troutman Sanders from pro bono manager to pro bono coordinator for the entire law firm.
• From Brenna DeVaney at Skadden Arps:

Please consider joining us at our upcoming best practices conversation series sponsored by the New York City Bar Association.

Best Practices in Pro Bono: the A, B, C's

Companies, Law Firms, Legal Service Organizations and Law Schools Join together to Improve the Business of Doing Pro Bono

Kickoff Cocktails at Skadden,
November 2, 2011 from 6 - 8 p.m.

Aiming toward the future (Training our New Lawyers, Retired Lawyers,Creating Foundations, International Pro Bono, Best Ideas), November 8, 2011*

Beginningearly (Law School Session - Encouraging theNextGeneration ofProBonoAttorneys, Clinical Education, Mandatory Pro Bono, Externships, Service Semesters), January 24, 2012

Collaborating for impact (Diversity andProBono, Marketing andProBono, Recruiting andProBono, ImpactLitigation, LargerScaleAdvocacy), March 13, 2012

Delivering Justice(CourtSession -Access to Justice, Unbundled Services, Clinics, The Experience of the Pro Bono Attorney in Court), May8, 2012

*Extra Credit: Forms and Resources Session, November 8, 2011, 11 a.m. - 12 p.m.

R.S.V.P. or questions to BrennaDeVaney @ All sessions will be at Skadden, New York from 9 a.m. - 11 a.m. unless otherwise noted.

• DLA Piper is advertising for “Project Manager II -- Pro Bono/New Perimeter” in the firm’s Washington D.C. office. Sounds like an interesting position. For a complete job description and announcement please see:

LEST WE FORGET

For those of you without a scorecard, here are the present APBCo folks providing leadership (of the most excellent variety, no doubt!):

President: Jennifer Colyer, Fried Frank

Vice-President: David Lash, O’Melveny & Myers

Vice-President: Al Wallis, Brown Rudnick [1]

Secretary: StevenSchulman, Akin Gump[2]

Treasurer: Latonia Haney Keith, McDermott Will & Emery[3]

These are your elected representatives. As in politics as in APBCo, if you want to participate you have to step-up. Nominations are approaching shortly. Don’t all jump-in at once. An announcement will be sent next month, please keep your eyes open for it.

Our other board members, all previously nominated and chosen for leadership positions:

Maureen Alger, Saralyn Cohen, Greg McConnell, Amanda Smith, Angela Vigil (these five were our founders, to whom we will always be in debt), Alison King (our counsel, about whom we will always question her choice of clients), and Laren Spirer (the first to venture into the founders’ lions den, for which we will always admire her bravery).

Equal Justice Conference Planning Committee:

Marcia Maack and Leah Medway

Boston APBCo Academy Planning Committee:

Anne Bowie, Wilmer Hale

Rebecca Cazabon, Foley Hoag

Susan Finegan, Mintz Levin

Rosalyn Garbose Nasdor, Ropes & Gray

Tammie Garner, Nutter McClennen & Fish

Chris Herring, Wilmer Hale

Carolyn Rosenthal, Goodwin Proctor

Al Wallis, Brown Rudnick

AWARDS AND RECOGNITION

Once again, modesty reigns among our ranks. Like pulling teeth from you people, without novacaine, to get a little self-congratulatory information. Next time, we make it mandatory, everyone has to brag or your dues are doubled.

In any event, congratulations to those of you whose firms received accolades easily findable on Google:

• O’Melveny & Myers and Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison for being awarded the 2011 ABA Pro Bono Publico Award
• Jennifer Colyer and her firm, Fried Frank, for being honored by the New York City Bar Association at its LGBT Pride Month celebration. The award was in recognition of the excellent work done with Lambda Legal on a suit challenging on constitutional grounds the exclusion of same sex couples from civil marriage, representing a gay man in his effort to have his longtime boyfriend’s body exhumed from its grave so that he could be buried next to him, representing the Hudson Valley LSBTQ Community Center in a challenge to the local taxing authority’s decision that it was not a charitable institution worthy of tax-exempt status, and representing several asylum-seekers with claims based on HIV status and/or sexual orientation.
• Proskauer Rose was recognized by the New York State Bar Association for the firm’s Iraqi Human Rights Project that helps Iraqis whose lives are in danger find refuge in the U.S.
• Kaye Scholer was similarly recognized by the New York State Bar Association for the firm’s work on an SSI Disability Project.
• The New York State Bar Association also recognized Davis Polk Wardwell for its donation of almost 200,000 hours of pro bono work on behalf of death row inmates, domestic violence victims and various non-profit organizations.
• The California State Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Awards went to Skadden Arps and DLA Piper for their outstanding pro bono contributions.
• The New Jersey State Bar presented its Equal Justice Award to a small number of law firms, including ABPCo member firm Ballard Spar.

GOOD AND WELFARE

Of course, the best good among the welfare is the outstanding news about our dear friend Cristin Zeisler, whose recovery from injuries sustained in a biking accident has been nothing short of astounding, nothing short of what we would expect from her. She’ll be in Boston for the Academy, reason enough for the rest of us to attend. An APBCo group hug for Cristin!

This wonderful client letter as shared by Susie Hoffman from Crowell & Moring:

“Everyone once in awhile in our positions -- and in our lives -- we get to be part of history being made. Once such instance was this past month when theDon't Ask, Don't Tell policy was terminated. Beginning in 1992, our Firm represented a gay military officer when there was an outright ban on gays in the military and just before our client disclosed his status. I could recount the history of our representation, but [our client] does it so much better in the thank-you note that he sent me days after this week's lifting of the policy. As a post-script, [he] is now an attorney with the Commonwealth of Virginia, is married (although "not in the eyes of his state" as he notes) and has two first-graders. He] and the many other courageous officers who fought the military's discriminatory policy, feel that their battles helped chip away at the policy and led to the achievement of this bit of history.