About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

27 B. Rep. 1 (1998-1999)

handle is hein.barjournals/breport0029 and id is 1 raw text is: recent report by a committee of the District of Columbia Bar's Task Force on Children at Risk as recommended a number of ways the 3ar and its individual members can mobi ze increased pro bono resources to help isure that parties in the District's child elfare system have access to adequate egal representation. The task force was created by the Bar's Board of Governors last year to determine how the D.C. Bar can help move children rom the District's foster care system into permanent homes. The task force cochairs are Noel Brennan and Theresa M. Mihaik. Its members include judges, legal service providers, and private practitioners who have substantial experience with neglect and adoption cases in the District's child welfare system. The report of the task force's Committee on Pro Bono Lawyering was approved by the Bar's Board of Gover- iors in July. Basically this report sets up the frame- work from which lawyers can provide C. Bar members who had not paid their dues for 1998-99 by August I received second notices from the D.C. Bar's Membership Office along with a reminder that payments received after September 1 will be subject to a $30 late fee. Dues are $112 for active members, $80 for inactive members, and $54 for judicial members. The Bar's dues statement also enables members to join one or more of the Bar's 21 sections and to provide financial support for the pro bono programs op- erated by the D.C. Bar's Public Service Activities Corporation (PSAC). Annual section dues range from $23 to $35, and the Bar recommends a $60 contribution in support of the PSAC. Active Bar members living in the metro- politan Washington area and all section members are reminded to check their busi- ness addresses on the registration statement since that information, including e-mail address and facsimile number, will be list- ed in the D.C. Bar 1999 Membership Directory. Members may opt out of that listing by writing to the D.C. Bar Sections Office, 1250 H Street NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005-5937. Questions about the Bar's dues billing should be directed to the Bar's Membership Office by calling 202-626-3475 or by send- ing an e-mail to membership@dcbar.org. assistance where it is needed, explained Mihalik. The committee made seven recommen- dations designed to identify specific roles that pro bono lawyers can play to improve the District's child welfare system. It called on the Bar to: * encourage continued and increased par- ticipation by pro bono attorneys in adoption recruitment and placement programs that provide representation to adoptive parents and facilitate coordi- nation between and among those programs; * encourage the development of proce- dures to ensure that lawyers are avail- able for biological parents and other unrepresented parties in adoption proceedings; * encourage the development of a project to recruit and train pro bono attorneys to represent third-party custodians of children and assist in the development of a centralized mechanism for referral and placement with pro bono counsel, * encourage law firms to assist the Office of the Corporation Counsel of the Dis- trict of Columbia in eliminating its back- log of cases in the child welfare system; * assist in the compilation of a directory of legal services organizations and pro bono attorneys willing to represent var- ious parties in the child welfare system; * encourage Bar members with expertise in the child welfare area to make them- selves available as a training resource to the District's Child Welfare Re- ceiver; and * continue to sponsor pro bono training pro- grams on adoption designed to address the representation needs of biological par- ents as well as adoptive parents. At the 1998 Presidents'Reception, ti n incoming D.C. Bar PresidentAndrew H. Marks, at podium, thanks colleagues and frh nds for their ongoing financial and volunteer sup- port of the pro bono programs operated by the D.C. Bar's Public Service Activities Cor- poration (PSAC). The event, held on the evening Marks assumed the Bar presidency, has become one of the primary sources of support for the Bar's pro bono initiatives. eaders of the District of Colum- bia's legal community provided significant support to the D.C. Bar's pro bono programs earlier this sum- mer by participating in the Bar's Annual Presidents' Reception honoring 1998-99 D.C. Bar President Andrew H Marks. The annual reception salutes the incom ing president of the D.C. Bar and provides a major source of funding for the pro bono programs operated by the Bar's Public Ser- vice Activities Corporation (PSAC). A development committee chaired by John Nields of Howrey & Simon and the past presidents of the D.C. Bar spearheaded the fundraising effort. Marks, who is a partner at the law firm of Crowell & Moring, began his presidency in late June. In recognition of that accomplishment, his firm created a matching gift program for PSAC, prompting 35 of his partners to make additional individual contributions, generating a consolidated giftof $26,050 for the programs. In addition to Crowell & Moring, 69 other law firms and more than 180 individ- uals also provided financial support to PSAC by participating in the Presidents' Reception, more than enough to reach the event's goal of $200,000. In the past year voluntary contributions, such as those made as part of the Presi- dents' Reception, have enabled PSAC to operate a number of initiatives including: 'the Law Firm Pro Bono Clinic, which provided legal counsel to over 375 new low-income clients referred by legal service providers; 'the Pro-Se-Plus Divorce Clinic, which enabled over 175 individuals to handle uncontested divorce cases in the Superi- or Court of the District of Columbia; * the Pro Bono Bankruptcy Clinic, which provided advice and representation to over 80 individuals; * tbe Advice and Referral Clinic, wshich brought lawyer volunteers and parale- gals into the District's Shaw neighbor- hood to answer legal questions from members of the public; * the Community Economic Develop- ment Pro Bono Project. which is matching law firms with DC. commu- nity-based organiztons commti'tted to revitalizing their neighborhoods through economic development * the Children's Supplemental Security Income Hotline, which was convened by PSAC to provide outreach, educa- tion, and advocacy on changes in the SSI program that resulted in termina- tion of benefits for some of the Dis- trict's poorest children; the Legal Information Help Line, which provided general legal informa- tion in English and Spanish to over 21,500 callers; and the Pro Bono Training Program, which offered free and low-cost training to over 800lawyers and paralegals com- mitted to undertaking pro bono assign- ments for the District's legal service providers. C. Bar members can reach the Bar's Membership Office by e-mail at membership@dcbar org. D.C. Court of Appeals rules require Bar members to provide the Bar's Membership Office with written notice of any address change within 30 days. Members without e-mail access can submit those changes by U.S. mail to D.C. Bar, Attn: Membership Office, 1250 H Street NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005-5937, or by fax at 202-626-3471.

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most