New ACBA pro bono coordinator to enhance community outreach efforts
By Erin Giebler
For The Lawyers Journal
April 1, 2005—An opportunity to develop a new program for the Allegheny County Bar Foundation was too much of a great opportunity to pass up, according to the foundation’s new pro bono coordinator, Lorrie Albert. Though she said she loved her job at KidsVoice, representing at-risk children in Juvenile dependency court, she is up for the task of this new position.
“It will be a challenge, but we have the opportunity to have a great program,” she said. “I see this as an exciting adventure.” According to ACBF Director Mark Edwards, a person focusing on a pro bono program full time will help increase the rate of volunteer lawyers within the Allegheny County Bar Association. Right now, he said, the rate is at 10 percent for the ACBA’s 6,000 or so members. “My job is to facilitate active participation in pro bono work to help meet the needs of the community,” Albert said. “This is an exceptional opportunity to utilize my legal career to make a real difference in the lives of the underprivileged residents in Allegheny County.”
Since starting on Feb. 28, Albert has created a three-part plan for developing the program and has started its execution. “I’ve just developed this plan,” she said. “It will continue to be a work-in-progress.” Currently, Albert is assessing the need for pro bono work in Allegheny County. “We need to know what the needs are and determine where to go from there,” she said
This first part also includes researching similar programs across the country that have been successful and introducing herself to agencies that work with those that can benefit from pro bono legal services. Part two will be connecting with large and small law firms and sole practitioners to assess lawyers’ willingness to volunteer with the program.
According to Edwards, an experienced attorney such as Albert is needed to interact and interface with legal service providers and the court system to develop new programs and identify any gaps that exist in the delivery of legal services to low-income residents of Allegheny County. “Lorrie will develop programs that provide direct legal services or assist law firms in serving the indigent,” Edwards said.
With the need established and the volunteers lined up, Albert will take the final step and put the program into effect. “I believe everyone should have access to the legal system,” she said. “This program has the potential to greatly increase that access.” While running the program, Albert said she will be responsible for developing, managing, and promoting pro bono initiatives to bar members and the community. This includes educational programs and materials for lawyers, law students, paralegals, and the public.
The program will include continuing legal education training, with the possibility of free CLE credits. The ACBA program also provides malpractice insurance for all pro bono cases referred through the foundation’s member organizations – ACBA Adoption Committee Birthparent Consultation Project, ACBA Federal Court Section Prisoners Project, ACBA Military Personnel Pro Bono Project, ACBF Divorce Law Project, Mental Health Association of Allegheny County, Executive Service Corps of Western PA, Family Law Section Pro Se Pro Bono Project, Indigent Birth Parent Attorney Group, KidsVoice, Jewish Family & Children’s Services, Neighborhood Legal Services Association, North Hills Community Outreach, Inc., Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force Legal Committee, Pittsburgh Pro Bono Partnership, ProArts, Uptown Legal Clinic, and YWCA’s Legal Resources for Women.
More information regarding the Center for Volunteer Legal Resources member organizations can be found at the Allegheny County Bar Foundation’s website at www.acbf.org. Edwards said Albert’s 14 years of experience in a variety of areas of law, such as civil litigation, work in the Juvenile court, work with the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania, her close work with judges, and her development of CLE programs, among her other career highlights, made her the best candidate for this position. Albert has also worked as an associate attorney at law firms around Pittsburgh.
She was with KidsVoice since 2002, where she had frequent contact with agencies such as Children, Youth and Family Services, Parent Advocates, and various mental health, special education and housing agencies throughout the county. These agencies, said Albert, will be agencies she will continue to work with to develop the pro bono program.
Albert is an active member of the Juvenile Law Committee, chairperson of the JLC CLE subcommittee, member of the Pennsylvania Bar Association and the ACBA, member of the ACBA Bench-Bar Committee, former chair of the “Breakfast with the Judges” subcommittee, and she has lectured at various seminars throughout her career. The 1991 University of Pittsburgh School of Law graduate lives with her husband Craig L. Fishman, a partner at Tarasi, Tarasi and Fishman, and two young daughters, Alyssa and Amanda, in Mt. Lebanon.