Attorneys Recognized For Pro Bono Work

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The difference between good and great lawyers is that great ones make a difference in society.Thats fundamentally what pro bono does. Itis crucial to taking on this countrys appalling lack of access to justice, without which there is no rule of law, said ABA President Stephen N. Zack. Theseawardees represent the best of our profession. This award appropriately honors their work, he continued.President Zack will present the 2011 awards. The keynote speaker for the luncheon is David Jacobson, the U.S. ambassador to Canada.The Pro Bono Publico Awards honor individuals or organizations in the legal community that enhance the human dignity of others by improving or delivering volunteer legal services to the poor or disadvantaged.Since the 1930s, OMelveny has been at the forefront of a growing pro bono movement in Los Angeles and was one of the first to charter a formal pro bono committee. In 2006, it launched its formal Pro Bono Initiative, solidifying the firms commitment to pro bono. In the past year, more than 61 percent of the firms attorneys reported doing more than 20 hours of pro bono work; the firm requires new attorneys to participate in at least one pro bono case in their first year at the firm.OMelveny has worked with a large number of pro bono organizations on cases in a multitude of areas including representing food stamp applicants and recipients leading to a three-year consent decree establishing guidelines and deadlines with which Orange County, Calif., Social Services Agency must comply. The firm has also worked with Bet Tzedek to protect victims of human trafficking and obtain the recovery of substantial reparations from the German government for thousands of Holocaust survivors.Additionally, OMelveny has worked on immigration cases for a number of organizations and has written an extensive training manual to teach pro bono attorneys how to represent detained immigrants in bond hearings, enabling clients to escape the uncertainty of indefinite detention and rejoin their families.The firm has also worked on cases to promote gay rights, to facilitate adoption proceedings, to promote the civil rights of prisoners, as well as cases in many other areas of law and devotes thousands of hours each year to local prosecutors offices where budget constraints make it impossible for these offices to protect public safety concerns without assistance.

Lolita C. Baldor

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