Individuals, corporations, and firms honored for their dedication to pro bono service
By Meghan Holohan
For The Lawyers Journal
Oct. 27, 2006—On Sept. 25, 2006, the Allegheny County Bar Foundation and the Public Service Committee honored numerous organizations and professionals for their dedication to pro bono service. The Pro Bono Awards were presented at the annual Fellows dinner, which was held at the LeMont.
“Giving an award is the least we can do to show our appreciation to the volunteers who help provide direct legal services to the poor,” said Lorrie Albert, the ACBF’s Pro Bono Coordinator.
“Our volunteers lend their valuable time and legal ability for a number of reasons: ethical requirements, personal/professional sense of responsibility, or just because they feel it is the right thing to do. The true reward is the impact they have made on another person's life by providing a service that the person would not have been able to obtain on his/her own. The pro bono awards are our way of letting the volunteers know that their efforts have not gone unnoticed,” Albert said.
2005 Lorraine M. Bittner Public Interest Attorney Award
Lorraine M. Bittner
This year the Public Service Committee established an award to recognize the critical role played by public interest attorneys in meeting the legal needs of the poor. This inaugural award was named after its first recipient, Lorraine Bittner, because of her exceptional commitment to the needs of the poor and disadvantaged which is well established in the work that she has done in her 27-year career.
Bittner began her legal career at Neighborhood Legal Services Association in 1979. She remained with NLSA until 1996 when she became the Legal Director at the Women’s Center and Shelter of Greater Pittsburgh. She also conducts regular trainings on domestic violence laws and acts as a resource person and mentor for police, probation officers, attorneys, and others in the justice system. She regularly trains volunteers for NLSA’s Protection from Abuse program and continues to represent clients through that program. She is a true champion of legal rights for domestic violence victims as a director, mentor, trainer, and advocate.
2005 Jane F. Hepting Individual Pro Bono Award
Laura A. Maines
Since 2003, Laura Maines has worked as a litigation associate at Reed Smith. Along with a heavy caseload, Maines has handled a number of complex and important child welfare trials and appeals on a pro bono basis for the Adoption Legal Services Project. Maines has gone beyond the typical pro bono legal experience, and has become a stellar advocate and expert in juvenile and child welfare law.
2005 ACBA Law Student Pro Bono Awards
Katy McKee
Nicole Scialabba
The Public Service Committee chose two law students who were equally deserving of awards for their pro bono efforts last year.
Katy McKee, who will graduate from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law in 2007, volunteered many hours to help women, seniors, and immigrants. She has shown a steadfast commitment to public service throughout her college and law school career. Her humility and commitment to serving others makes her a powerful role-model for other students Nicole Scialabba, a 2006 graduate of Duquesne University School of Law, devoted many hours to NLSA as a participant in Duquesne’s Law School’s Family Law Clinic. Scialabba also served as the Pro Bono Coordinator of the law school’s Public Interest Association and developed the new Attorney/Student Pro Bono Matching Program, which matches law students and attorneys to work as a team on pro bono matters.
2005 ACBA Paralegal Pro Bono Award
Judy E. Jackson
Judy Jackson, a paralegal with Sikov & Love, won this award for her work in the community. In 2005, she dedicated 160 hours interviewing clients of the Family Law Clinic at NLSA and assisted at the YWCA Legal Resources for Women and the Uptown Legal Clinic.
2005 ACBA Law Firm Pro Bono Awards
Raphael Ramsden & Behers, PC
Reed Smith LLP
Traditionally, there is one law firm award, but this year the Public Service Committee awarded two deserving firms for their outstanding and unique contributions to pro bono work.
Raphael Ramsden & Behers attorneys regularly volunteered at NLSA’s Family Law Clinic. During 2005, the firm also represented 62 plaintiffs in Protection from Abuse and NLSA has been able to rely on it for last minute or problem referrals. The attorneys have been active mentors, and the firm is the first family law firm to join the Pittsburgh Pro Bono Partnership.
After Hurricane Katrina, Reed Smith attorneys devoted enormous time and resources assisting the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers with locating, identifying, and interviewing evacuated prisoners from New Orleans. Reed Smith also is honored for its commitment in 2005 to participation in the Lawyers on Loan Program and providing two attorneys to NLSA over a one-year period.
2005 ACBA Pro Bono Award for New Initiatives
Immigration Asylum Project
Pittsburgh Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center
In 2005, Pittsburgh Refugee and Immigrant Assistance Center (PRIAC) of Jewish Family & Children’s Service of Pittsburgh took an innovative approach to expanding pro bono services for the vulnerable population of immigrant asylum seekers who have fled their country in fear of political, religious, ethnic, and gender based persecution through its Immigration Asylum Project. The project was developed to give volunteer attorneys the opportunity to use their legal expertise to take on pro bono immigrant asylum cases, thus extending the capacity of legal cases to which PRIAC can commit. The project assigns, on average, one case per week.
2005 ACBA Corporate Legal Department Pro Bono Award
Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
Lawyers from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection are commended for their dedication and hard work for the Immigration Asylum Project. Three of DEP’s attorneys devoted hundreds of hours to prepare appeals to Immigration Court for three individuals who were denied asylum status during their initial interviews. Representation by these pro bono attorneys clearly helps the clients present well-prepared cases to the court.
ACBA Special Pro Bono Service Award
Laurie Mansell Reich
Laurie Mansell Reich receives this special recognition for the many years she has devoted to promoting pro bono work. Throughout her career, Reich has been a leader and has served on many associations and pro bono committees. Reich devoted many years of pro bono service to NLSA. She served as Pro Bono Coordinator for the Legal Department of Alcoa, Inc. and served on the ACBA Public Service Committee and various subcommittees for 10 years.
Among her many accomplishments, Reich co-founded the Pittsburgh Pro Bono Partnership and served on its administrative board for three years. She has lectured on pro bono topics and initiated and led three national paralegal pro bono conferences. Reich also has been published in local and national bar and paralegal publications on pro bono matters.
ACBF Partnership Award – Attorneys Against Hunger
Amy Greer and Ken Steinberg
The Board of Trustees presented the Bar Foundation Partnership Award to Amy Greer and Ken Steinberg who, 13 years ago, launched Attorneys Against Hunger as a grassroots campaign to raise money for hunger relief in Allegheny County. Thanks to their efforts, the campaign has evolved from a concept raising $25,000 in its first year to an annual campaign reaching the full membership of the Bar. In 2005, the campaign raised over $96,000 and topped $500,000 in contributions over its 13-year history. This summer, the campaign received national recognition, receiving the National Conference of Bar Foundation's Award for Bar Foundation Excellence in Public Service Programming.
PBA Award – Jeffrey A. Ernico Award for Support of Legal Services to the Public
Michael P. Malakoff, Esq.
The Jeffrey A. Ernico Award was presented to Michael P. Malakoff for his lifetime of support of pro bono services. While attending the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, he had the opportunity to work with a number of local civil rights lawyers. He was awarded the prestigious Reginald Heber Smith Fellowship by the federal government which went to only the most talented and brightest young lawyers nationwide to work in poverty law. Malakoff began his law career at Neighborhood Legal Services Association in Pittsburgh. He served on the NLSA board of directors and has worked often with legal services attorneys in cases and at workshops. He has also been a significant financial supporter to NSLA, and his law firm, Malakoff Doyle & Finberg, P.C., and his partners, Ellen Doyle and Richard Finberg, were the highest law firm contributors in NLSA’s law firm category for 10 straight years.
In 1992, Malakoff and a few private practice consumer advocates formed the National Association of Consumer Advocates which functions to train young legal services lawyers in consumer law for representation of low-income clients. He served on its board of directors and was chair of its legal committee until 2002. He is a prolific speaker and writer. Earlier this year, NLSA named the law library in its central office in downtown Pittsburgh the Michael Paul Malakoff Library.