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Pro Bono
New York City Pro Bono Training Calendar
New York State Pro Bono Opportunities Guide
Honoring NY Lawyers
New York Lawyer
June 4, 2008
By Thomas Adcock
New York Law Journal
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Four public interest lawyers and one non-attorney were recipients of the 19th annual Legal Service Awards, given by the New York City Bar Association in recognition of "outstanding civil legal assistance to New York's poor."
Honored during a May 15 reception at city bar headquarters on West 44th Street were Juan Cartagena, general counsel for The Community Service Society of New York; Kathleen Kelleher, a Legal Aid staff attorney; Maxine Ketcher, senior staff attorney with Legal Services for New York; Judith Whiting, senior staff attorney with the Legal Action Center; and Juanita Cruz-Cataquet, a paralegal with the Legal Aid Society
This year's awards, endowed by a contribution from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation, were presented by Judge Carmen B. Ciparick of the Court of Appeals.
Awards are administered by the bar group's Special Committee on Legal Services Awards, chaired by William T. Russell Jr., a partner at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, and sponsored by the Committee on Pro Bono and Legal Services, chaired by Madeleine Schachter, associate general counsel at AOL Time Warner Book Group.
The annual awards luncheon to benefit A Better Chance, the New York-based national scholarship program for minority youth, honored its longtime law firm supporter Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom May 30 at the Pierre Hotel.
Skadden partner Peter Atkins accepted the award on behalf of the firm.
Other honorees include Earvin "Magic" Johnson, the philanthropist and basketball legend, and Donald M. Stewart, the former president of Spelman College in Atlanta.
This year's Joseph F. Gagliardi Awards for Excellence, given by the Westchester County Bar Foundation to non-judicial employees who demonstrate "loyalty, dedication and service to the administration of justice," were presented Wednesday during a ceremony at the Richard J. Daronco Westchester County Courthouse.
Recipients included Jane P. Harrington, associate court attorney with the Middletown City Court, and Edward J. Edmead, senior clerk for the Westchester County Family Court.
Namesake of the award is the late Joseph F. Gagliardi, the longtime administrative judge for the Ninth Judicial District.
For their pro bono service in aid of animals, four law firms received top honors during a ceremony last month sponsored by the Humane Society of the United States, held at New York University's Torch Club in cooperation with the BeKind Foundation.
The firms recognized "saved thousands of animals from cruelty and abuse in 2007, and are critical to the success of our mission to confront animal cruelty in the courts," said Jonathan Lovvorn, vice president of the Humane Society.
Recognized were:
• Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York and Miami for filing a class action lawsuit against a Florida breeder for selling dogs with severe health problems and genetic defects;
• Latham & Watkins in Washington, D.C., for representing the Humane Society before the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit in opposition to an appeal by a convicted dog-fight promoter;
• Faegre & Benson of Minneapolis for filing suit to stop the federal government from reducing legal protections for wolf populations in the Great Lakes region and for securing settlement with the state of Minnesota to protect lynx from fur trapping;
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe for its amicus brief in a New Jersey case involving factory farm practices, including confinement of veal calves and sows in crates.
Also cited for pro bono service to the Humane Society were O'Melveny & Myers in New York; Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher in Los Angeles; Schiff Hardin in Chicago and San Francisco; Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in Washington, D.C.; and White & Case in New York.
Westchester County District Attorney Janet DiFiore received this year's Charles A. Rapallo Award from the Columbian Lawyers Association for the First Judicial Department of New York State during a luncheon last month at the Waldorf-Astoria.
Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo presented the award, named for the late Charles A. Rapallo, the first Italian-American judge appointed to the New York Court of Appeals. He served the Court from 1870 to 1887.
Past recipients of the Rapallo award include U.S. Supreme Court Justices Antonin Scalia and Samuel Alito Jr., former Governor Mario M. Cuomo and former Mayor Rudolph Giuliani.
During its annual awards program last month in the rotunda of the Bronx County Supreme Court, the Gender Fairness Committee for the Twelfth Judicial District presented "Women of Achievement" awards as well as its special "Com-MEN-dable Person" award, given to a man who has helped fight sex discrimination.
Honorees included Justice Laura G. Douglas, supervising judge of the Bronx Civil Court; Elaine Brennan, a senior vice president at Montefiore Medical Center; and CNN news anchor Solodad O'Brien.
The special award went to Shimon Waronker, principal of Bronx Junior High School 22.
The Gender Fairness Committee is chaired by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Richard Lee Price.
Honored for volunteer work through the New York Legal Assistance Group during the organization's annual pro bono reception last month at the offices of Weil, Gotshal & Manges were George Sole, the group's full-time volunteer attorney, as well as the firms Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom and Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison.
According to Yisroel Schulman, president of the New York Legal Assistance Group, more than 350 attorneys and volunteers contributed 92,000 hours of client service in 2007 on behalf of "those who would otherwise be unable to afford assistance."
Skadden Arps was given the group's Raising the Bar Award in recognition of its enduring commitment to pro bono matters involving matrimonial and family law, domestic violence and immigration petitions. Paul Weiss received the Pro Bono Visionary Award in recognition of advocacy on behalf of restaurant workers.
Mr. Sole was recognized for his work in assisting low-wage workers secure overtime pay and other employment rights.
Keynote speaker for the event was Lloyd Constantine, senior advisor to former Governor Eliot Spitzer. Hosting was Jonathan Alter, senior editor of Newsweek.
During its 32nd annual dinner last month at the New York Hilton, the Jewish Lawyers Guild honored two distinguished jurists.
Justice George D. Marlow, the statewide judicial director of ethics and counsel, was given the Benjamin N. Cardozo Award. Justice Cheryl E. Chambers of the Appellate Division, Second Department, was presented the Golda Meir Memorial Award.
New York Law School Professor Sadiq Reza was selected for one of 20 fellowships this year under the Carnegie Scholar program.
A faculty member since 1999, Mr. Reza will concentrate his research and writing in the area of Islamic criminal law.
The scholarship program, established by Carnegie Corporation President Vartan Gregorian, provides two-year grants of up to $100,000 for its fellows.
In 2004-05, Mr. Reza was a visiting researcher at the Islamic Legal Studies Program at Harvard Law School.
Sharing in $8.2 million worth of fellowships awarded this year to 190 scholars by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation is Professor Richard Pildes, co-director of the Center on Law and Security at New York University School of Law.
Mr. Pildes' work will focus on political power, democratic politics and constitutional theory. He is co-author of "The Law of Democracy" and "When Elections Go Bad."
Accolades reports on special recognition given to attorneys at law firms, in govern-ment and at social agencies. Submit items to tadcock@alm.com.
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