Report on Pro Bono Activities, July 2001

July 2001 ...  

White & Case tonight marks a year of tremendous accomplishment in the area of pro bono service with the occasion of the firm’s 2nd Annual Pro Bono Awards Dinner. The awards presentations – recognizing the commitment and contributions of many dedicated individuals – follow in the wake of another notable achievement, this for the firm as a whole: White & Case has been ranked number seven in the pro bono section of the 2001 AmLaw 100 survey, published this month by The American Lawyer.

Our number seven ranking continues a trend of steady improvement in our pro bono record: we ranked sixtieth in 1999, and sixteenth in 2000. Our progress is the more remarkable when weighed against the legal profession’s broader pattern of declining per capita pro bono commitment that has been widely documented and commented upon by the media over the past year.

The firm’s efforts have not gone unrecognized. Last year, we received awards from Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts and The Legal Aid Society. Already this year, we were honored with a New York State Bar Pro Bono Award, celebrating the firm’s long tradition of pro bono service on the occasion of our centennial, and the Lawyers Alliance for New York’s 2001 Cornerstone Award.

The past two years have brought several important developments and enhancements to our pro bono services which warrant specific mention:

• In 2000, the firm created an externship program with Lawyers Alliance for New York. Under this program, a corporate associate is seconded to the organization for a four-month period, during which time the externed associate works exclusively for Lawyers Alliance clients.

• We held our 1^st Annual Pro Bono Awards Dinner. The event, at the New-York Historical Society, recognized the outstanding work done by partners, associates, and legal assistants in New York, Washington, Paris, Mexico City, Prague, and Los Angeles. In addition, special awards for pro bono service were given to Vincent Filardo, Melissa Kaftarian, Robert Kelly, Barbara McClorey, Marc Moore and Mario Springer. Allan Gropper, former bankruptcy partner and Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York, was recognized for his career-long dedication to pro bono clients and the greater legal service community.

• Aiming to better integrate all White & Case offices into our pro bono efforts, Felicity Kirk joined the Firm earlier this year to serve as the Pro Bono Director in the London office. With the help of lawyers in several of our European offices, Felicity is evaluating ways to foster pro bono work in areas that do not necessarily have a tradition of pro bono service.

• In an important initiative to focus our efforts for greater impact, we have this year expanded our pro bono program specifically to meet the needs of children, an often-underrepresented group. The Pro Bono Committee has created relationships with a number of legal service and charitable organizations whose primary focus is the welfare of children. These include Lawyers for Children, Advocates for Children, Children’s Rights, Inc., and ECPAT USA (End Child Prostitution and Trade).

In addition to these firm-wide developments, many individual lawyers have been honored for their exemplary contributions. In 2000, former New York associate Melissa Kaftarian received an award from Network for Women’s Services (now known as inMotion) recognizing her as one of their top associate volunteers. Also, Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts recognized New York associate Vincent Filardo for both the quantity and quality of legal work he performed on their behalf. The Legal Aid Society honored for their work on criminal appeals New York associates Karen Asner, Michael Cicero, Timothy McCarthy and former associates Nathan Thomas and Louis O’Neill. Associate Kate Mitchell was recognized for her work on behalf of the Society’s Early Intervention Project which provides advocacy on behalf of children in the New York welfare system.

Just last week, London associate Lucy McCullagh received the Wig & Pen Pro Bono Prize from the City of London Law Society. Lucy had earlier been named by The Lawyer as one of the top three in their “assistant solicitors of the year” category in recognition of her work in developing the London office’s pro bono program. In addition, Los Angeles partner Dan Woods, a Pro Bono Committee member, was awarded the California State Bar President’s Pro Bono Service Award for District 7 in recognition of his dedication to the provision of legal services to those in need. He was also given the Inner City Law Center’s 2000 Katharine Krause Award for his hard work and major victory in a slum housing case.

At tonight’s Pro Bono Awards Dinner, the firm will recognize the contributions of attorneys, legal assistants, and staff from New York, Washington, Mexico City, Brussels, Warsaw, Prague, Paris, Hong Kong, Moscow, Miami, Budapest, Palo Alto, and Helsinki. Special pro bono awards will be given to Sandra Hilton-Kodalashvili, Tara Hunt, Helen Laval, Marko Maglich, Sali Qaragholi, Karam Singh, Martin Valasek, Adrienne Wallsten, Carrol Marshall, and James Stillwaggon.

The Pro Bono Committee congratulates those who have been involved in pro bono work and encourages everyone to join the effort. If you would like more information regarding the firm’s pro bono commitment or if you have ideas about expanding the program in your office, please feel free to contact a member of the Committee. A list of the current Committee members is available from Byrne Harrison or Felicity Kirk.

We look forward to reporting back to you next year on the occasion of our third awards dinner and to be able at that time to point to another year of progress, growth and achievement in the firm’s pro bono activities.