New York State Pro Bono Opportunities Guide
NY Lawyers Working on Public Interest Projects
New York Lawyer
October 6, 2006
By Thomas Adcock
New York Law Journal
A pledge of 5,000 hours of legal work on behalf of low-income children facing suspension from public schools and federal funding cuts for Head Start programs has been made by DLA Piper US for this Tuesday's launch of the firm's "New York Pro Bono Signature Project."
The project will partner as many as 150 DLA Piper lawyers with accountants from PricewaterhouseCoopers, and staff members of the Lawyers Alliance for New York, Advocates for Children and Legal Services for New York for a coordinated approach to transactional counsel and direct representation.
"This is a significant commitment by our firm to provide the community with a dedicated, multidisciplinary program designed to prevent educational interruptions for low-income student," said Peter S. Pantaleo, managing partner of DLA Piper's New York office. "We are also working to protect and improve the infrastructure of Head Start programs and the preschool children they serve."
The project will provide both legal and accounting expertise for individual Head Start programs, as well as representation for public school children in disciplinary and special education proceedings before school officials and the city's Department of Education.
"Too often in the past, low-income children have been derailed by a lack of resources beginning as early as preschool," said Elizabeth Dewey, firmwide pro bono partner at DLA Piper. "This project gives us the opportunity to begin reversing that trend."
A new Web site created this month by the City Bar Justice Center, the Legal Aid Society and Pro Bono Net now provides a menu of information and opportunities for young lawyers interested in volunteer lawyering in civil matters.
"Many new associates are unsure of how to get involved in pro bono work," said Alison Sclater, New York program coordinator for Pro Bono Net. "They might be unfamiliar with the pro bono agencies here in New York, unsure of where to receive proper training, or they might need assistance identifying a suitable pro bono matter."
The site - www.probono.net/nycprobono - provides an overview of practice areas and pro bono organizations, training and volunteer programs.
Launched with the support of Simpson, Thacher & Bartlett, the site is part of a national network hosted by Pro Bono Net that provides support to volunteer attorneys in areas such as human rights, family law and domestic violence, fair housing and discrimination.
The federal government's largest-to-date agreement under the Tropical Forest Conservation Act was consummated Monday in Washington, D.C., among officials of the United States and Guatemala and representatives of the Nature Conservancy and Conservation International.
Acting as pro bono counsel was Sandra J. Warren, a New York partner at White & Case.
Under the federal act, adopted in 1998, a country's foreign debt may be forgiven in exchange for its commitment to support conservation work.
According to the agreement worked out by Ms. Warren, Guatemala will invest $24.4 million over the next 15 years to help protect its vulnerable forests. To eliminate Guatemala's foreign debt, the U.S. government contributed $15 million, with another $1 million each from Conservation International and the Nature Conservancy.
"This is how modern conservation works, with partnerships involving all stakeholders to protect crucial ecosystems that sustain life on Earth," said Peter Seligmann, chairman of Conservation International.
The deal struck on Monday, according to Steve McCormick, president of the Nature Conservancy, will help conserve some of Guatemala's high altitude cloud forests, tropical and sub-tropical rain forests, dry forests and coastal mangroves that are home to hundreds of species of songbirds and waterfowl migrating between the United States and Guatemala.
The newly formed Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Coordinators will outline volunteer opportunities for in-house lawyers on Thursday, Oct. 12, from 4-6 p.m. at the New York City Bar Association, 42 West 44th Street.
Established earlier this year in collaboration with the city bar's pro bono arm, the City Bar Justice Center, the corporate counsel group includes lawyers from American Express, Citigroup, Pfizer Pharmaceutical Company, The New York Times, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and Computer Associates. Madeleine Schachter, vice president and general counsel of Hachette Filipacchi Media, is chairwoman of the group's executive committee.
Thursday's program will be presented as a two-hour CLE.
To improve the writing skills of New York school children, Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal has given a $75,000 grant to 826NYC, the Brooklyn nonprofit agency created two years ago that offers help to more than 1,000 students ages 6-18 through its 250 volunteers and four full-time staffers.
In addition to underwriting the agency's expenses, Sonnenschein lawyers will serve as volunteers for 826NYC. To that end, the attorneys will host students to a special performance of the Big Apple Circus on Nov. 15-an event the children might use as a writing subject.
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