Rory Kennedy speaks at eleventh annual Fellows reception and dinner
40 attorneys inducted into Fellows Class of 2008
By Drew Hardman
An elevated view of downtown Pittsburgh formed an appropriate backdrop to the eleventh-annual Fellows Reception and Dinner, where keynote speaker Rory Kennedy, one of the nation’s top documentary filmmakers, examined social change, and the Allegheny County Bar Foundation introduced the Fellows Class of 2008, representing the pinnacle of professional distinction in the legal community.
Held September 24 at LeMont Restaurant in Mt. Washington, the Fellows Reception and Dinner is an opportunity for the foundation to recognize individuals committed “to excellence in charitable, community, professional, and public service activities.” A sell-out crowd of over 200 attorneys, judges, and honored guests attended this year’s program, which featured a number of service-oriented awards culminating with Kennedy’s presentation, titled “The Camera Doesn’t Lie: Social Change Through Documentary Filmmaking.”
The youngest daughter of the late U.S. Attorney General and Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Rory Kennedy is the co-founder and president of Moxie Firecracker Films. Her documentaries are designed to “illuminate larger social issues by telling the stories of everyday people,” according to the Moxie Firecracker Films website. Kennedy’s films focus on a variety of social issues, such as human rights, domestic abuse, poverty, and addiction. Her works have been featured on HBO, A&E, Lifetime, MTV, PBS, and the Oxygen Network.
“We tried to find a keynote speaker this year that had some connection with the social issues our Fellows are concerned about,” Foundation Director Lorrie Albert said. “Rory (Kennedy) has done so much work to raise public awareness of these difficult social issues.”
Kennedy is only the second female featured as keynote speaker at the Fellows Reception and Dinner in the past 10 years. Her predecessor, the Honorable Leslie Anne Miller, took center stage at 2003’s event.
“We thought it would be appropriate to have a dynamic and successful woman as keynote speakerespecially this year, when the bar association is really focused on gender equality issues,” Albert noted.
Following an introduction by ACBA Immediate Past President Ken Gormley, Kennedy presented clips from five of her award-winning documentaries: “Women of Substance,” “American Hollow,” “A Boy’s Life,” “Pandemic: Facing AIDS,” and “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib.” Produced in 1994, “Women of Substance” details the struggles and triumphs of women overcoming substance abuse during pregnancy and motherhood, while the Emmy-nominated “American Hollow” tells the story of an impoverished Appalachian family. “A Boy’s Life,” winner of Best Documentary at the Woodstock Film Festival, tackles childhood mental illness, and focuses on a young boy from a troubled family. Originally airing on HBO, “Pandemic: Facing Aids” documents the lives of five individuals dealing with AIDS or HIV.
“The films I’ve made are not films about defeat, although they do take on very difficult subject matter,” Kennedy noted. “In watching these stories, it is my hope that people will realize that they can in fact make a difference.”
“They’re hard issues,” Albert said. “But it’s important to be able to remind people who we’re helping.”
Winner of a 2007 Emmy award for Outstanding Nonfiction Special, “Ghosts of Abu Ghraib” examines a prisoner abuse scandal involving U.S. soldiers and detainees at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, where “respect for the rule of law was severely undermined,” Kennedy said. “An essential part of winning the war on terrorism and protecting our country for the future is safeguarding the ideals and principles that America stands for at home and around the world,” she added. Kennedy concluded her lecture with a quote from her father, Robert F. Kennedy, which “captures the spirit” of her films: “Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance,” Kennedy recited. “To me these films celebrate the extraordinary acts of courage of ordinary people standing up, joining in, making a difference, creating a ripple,” she said.
Kennedy praised ACBA members for their ongoing dedication to charity and public service. As the “charitable arm” of the ACBA, the Allegheny County Bar Foundation donated over $170,000 in grants to area organizations over the past eight years, thanks largely to funds generated through the Fellows Program. Established in 1996, the Fellows program honors attorneys who demonstrate a high level of professional distinction in the legal community and are committed to charitable, community, and public service activities.
Each new Fellow agrees to pledge $1,000 towards the foundation’s endowment and the Grants program. Fellows Committee Co-Chair Carol A. Behers inducted 40 distinguished attorneys into the Fellows Class of 2008. Furthermore, 30 current Fellows agreed to pledge an additional $1,000, earning the title of Sustaining Fellows and contributing to the record-breaking 2009 Grants program.
“This year was really amazing because we were able to give out $40,000 in grantsthe highest amount ever,” Albert reported.
The Grants program benefits businesses and agencies “that provide much-needed legal and social services,” while the foundation endowment provides direct legal assistance to “individuals who would otherwise be denied access to the legal system,” according to Behers.
Foundation Vice President Vicki L. Beatty introduced the 2007 ACBA Pro Bono Award winners, selected by the Public Service Committee. This year’s recipients included Evalynn B. Welling (Lorraine M. Bittner Public Interest Attorney Award), Efrem M. Grail (Jane F. Hepting Individual Pro Bono Award), Jones Day (Law Firm Pro Bono Award), Reed Smith, LLP (Law Firm Pro Bono Award), Casey L. Slotter (Law Student Pro Bono Award), Bobbi Cramer (Paralegal Pro Bono Award), Christian Legal Aid of Pittsburgh (New Pro Bono Initiative Award), and CBS Corporation (Corporate Legal Department Pro Bono Award). Established in 2005, the Pro Bono Center serves as the link between attorneys and the various ACBA projects and member organizations. The center’s mission is “to provide well-trained attorney volunteers to help meet the legal needs of the indigent in Allegheny County.”
Fellows Committee Co-Chair Carol S. Mills-McCarthy acknowledged Daniel L. Haller, the 2008 Edward G. O’Connor Fellows Award winner. Nominees for the prestigious award must be employed in the legal service field and show commitment to charity and public service. Haller serves as the Managing Attorney for Neighborhood Legal Services Association in Pittsburgh, practicing in the areas of consumer, bankruptcy, and landlord/tenant law. Considered an expert in predatory subprime lending, he devotes his time to assist volunteer attorneys involved in the Pittsburgh Pro Bono Partnership’s predatory lending project. Furthermore, Haller is respected and admired as a mentor for countless young attorneys. Haller and his wife, Linda, are members of the Pre-Cana marriage preparation team at St. Bernard Church. He also sits on the board of directors at his alma mater, Wheeling Jesuit University.
Finally, the Honorable Lawrence W. Kaplan received a standing ovation after accepting the 2008 ACBF Presidential Merit Award, recognizing outstanding dedication to the Foundation and pro bono work in Allegheny County. He was an instrumental force behind the Family Law Custody Conciliation Pro Bono Project and the Child Guardian Pro Bono Project.
“Judge Kaplan has been such a strong advocate for the foundation,” Albert said. “He not only helped the Fellows program develop into what it has become today, but his devotion and hard work for pro bono services has made a big difference in our community.”
Kaplan is a member of the ACBA, the American Bar Association, and the Pennsylvania Bar Association, as well as a charter member of the Fellows program. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Pennsylvania Bar Institute and participates in the Joint State Government Commission’s Advisory Committee on Domestic Relations Law. Kaplan is a former recipient of the ACBA’s Philip Werner Amram Award. His portrait currently hangs in the Family Law Center in recognition of a lifetime of service to Allegheny County and twenty-five years on the bench. Kaplan plans to retire this year. He is married to the former Natalie Adler of Pittsburgh, and has three adult childrenTom, Ellen Teri, and Jonand three grandchildren.
For more information on the Fellows program, contact Lorrie Albert at 412-402-6640 or lalbert@acba.org, or visit the foundation’s website at www.acbf.org.
