Pro Bono News - Ballard Spahr LLP

Pro Bono News
Volume 4 Issue 2 Summer 2001
News Items
The Ballard Spahr Pro Bono News is
published quarterly by the firm's Pro
Bono Committee and highlights the
firm's pro bono activities. Please send
information for future issues of the
newsletter to Lisa Schultz in the
Philadelphia office.
Ballard Spahr's Pro
Bono Committee
Ballard Spahr's Pro Bono Committee
would like to extend a warm welcome
to its newest member, Ira Kauderer
(Philadelphia, Real Estate).
LEXIS-NEXIS Pro Bono Grant
As many of you know, for several
years, LEXIS-NEXIS has provided
the firm with a generous grant to
support our pro bono efforts.
Because of the grant, the electronic
research needed to serve our pro
bono clients is not billed to the firm.
In order to utilize the grant for your
pro bono research, you must get a
special password, which David
Webster in the Library can provide.
Need A Pro Bono File Opened
To open a pro bono file, all you need
to do is complete the Request for
Approval of Pro Bono Representation
form. For nonprofit organizations
requesting legal assistance, complete
the Nonprofit Organization
Application for Pro Bono Legal
Services form. These forms can be
found in all supply rooms as well as
on BIN under the Pro Bono Services
Home Page. Completed form(s)
should be forwarded to Lisa Schultz
in the Philadelphia office for approval
by the Pro Bono Committee.
Message from the Chairman
In the inaugural issue of Pro Bono News in Spring 1998, I wrote that "[p]ro bono
is an important part of our practice." Every so often, I think it is useful for
important messages to be repeated. So, once again, I want to emphasize the
important place providing legal assistance to those who cannot afford it plays in the
practice of law at Ballard Spahr.
Opportunities for participation in the firm's pro bono program are plentiful and the
issues we handle are as wide-ranging as the interests of our attorneys and staff.
Indeed, in 2000 alone our attorneys, among other things, assisted with the merger
of several Pennsylvania legal services offices, incorporated and applied for tax
exempt status for multiple nonprofit organizations, represented an individual on
death row, assisted women in obtaining protection from abuse act orders, and
staffed several advice clinics and hotlines. We also mentored and tutored students,
provided meals at shelters, and painted schools.
In June 1998, Ballard Spahr became a signatory to the ABA's Pro Bono Challenge.
In so doing, we committed to "annually contribute, at a minimum, an amount equal
to three percent of the firm's total billable hours to pro bono work." Since that time,
the firm has come close, but still has not achieved the 3% goal. Achieving the 3%
goal requires the efforts of lawyers in all of our departments and all of our offices.
I strongly encourage all lawyers - partners and associates - as well as legal
assistants and members of the support staff to become involved. The firm, of
course, will support your involvement by, among other things, treating time spent
on pro bono matters as "billable" time.
As legal service budgets continue to be cut and the number of citizens falling below
the poverty line continues to grow, our services are as needed now as ever. You
will not regret the time you spend helping a person or organization in need.
Pro Bono Annual Awards
David L. Cohen
At the firm seminar on June 20, 2001, the firm presented its annual Pro Bono
Awards to two individuals and two teams of attorneys for their considerable
contributions to the firm's pro bono efforts and to their communities. This year, for
the first time, the firm will make a contribution of $1000 to a charitable
organization of the award recipient's choosing. This year's honorees are:
Deborah Zateeny, of counsel in the Tax Group in Philadelphia, was
recognized for her long-standing and stalwart dedication in ensuring that
nonprofit organizations in our communities that cannot afford legal
services get assistance. Under Debbie's stewardship, during the last
several years, the firm has assisted over 40 nonprofit organizations
incorporate and file applications for tax exempt status under Section 501(c)(3) of
the Internal Revenue Code. In addition to handling many of these matters on her
own, Debbie consistently supervises lawyers in all of our offices, and recently held
“Awards” Continued on page 5

SPOTLIGHT: THE LAWYERS' COMMITTEE
FOR CIVIL RIGHTS UNDER LAW
The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law is a non-partisan
organization that was formed in 1963 at the request of President Kennedy to
involve the private bar in the provision of legal services to victims of racial
discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers' Committee is to
"secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law both in the United
States and South Africa." The Lawyers' Committee uses pro bono resources
from private firms to assist with legal representation, public policy advocacy
and public education on civil rights matters. Referrals from the Lawyers'
Committee are varied but often are in the areas of voting rights,
discrimination, fair and affordable housing, children in poverty, and
environmental justice. The Lawyers' Committee has eight local independent
affiliates including the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia (PILCOP).
During the past several years, we have handled several referrals from the
Lawyers' Committee. For example, we have written several times in Pro Bono
News about the firm's participation in Fouts v. Harris, which was a voting
rights redistricting case brought in the United States District Court for the
Southern District of Florida. This Lawyers' Committee referral was handled
at Ballard Spahr by Matt Strickler, Stephen Kastenberg, and Amy Carver.
More recently, Matt Strickler, along with Monique Mooney and Richard
Morrison, wrote an amicus curiae brief in an appeal to the Eleventh Circuit
Court of Appeals in Atlanta arguing that the Alabama "rule of repose," a rule
that no transaction can be challenged after a period of twenty years, should
not be applied to preclude a challenge under the federal civil rights laws to
racially discriminatory life insurance policies that are more than twenty years old.
Finally, the firm is currently assisting the Lawyers' Committee with a briefing
paper for the United Nation's World Conference Against Racism, Racial
Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance that will take place in
South Africa from August 31-September 7. The first UN world conference
on racism since 1983, this conference will, among other things, focus on the
development of strategies to strengthen the implementation of the
International Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination
(CERD). In an effort to help U.S. nongovernmental organizations participate
effectively in the World Conference, the Lawyers' Committee, with the pro
bono assistance of law firms, is producing a substantive Primer/Briefing
Paper for U.S. nongovernmental organizations: A Global Overview of Racial,
Ethnic, and Xenophobic Discrimination, highlighting, region by region
worldwide, the major racial, ethnic, and xenophobic issues, tensions, and
policies which will be the principal subjects of the UN World Conference.
Charisse Lillie, Amy Campbell, Sheelagh Allston, Michael Kersten, and Jari
Carlton Cannon are writing the portion of the report on Africa.
The Lawyers' Committee routinely seeks volunteer attorneys to assist with
their many projects and the Pro Bono Committee circulates these referrals by
e-mail when they are received. A Lawyers' Committee referral can be
challenging and exciting. So, the next time you see a Lawyers' Committee
e-mail, please consider volunteering.
Victory In Civil Rights Case
As reported in prior issues of Pro Bono
News, Matthew Gutt and Carl Roberts,
along with the American Civil Liberties
Union as co-counsel, are representing a
married couple who were denied the
opportunity to become foster parents
because they have a son who has AIDS
and because they have a mixed-race
family. When John and Mary Doe
applied to the County to become foster
parents, they informed the County that
their son had AIDS. The County
responded by creating a policy which
prohibited placement of foster children
in homes in which someone has a
"serious infectious disease," except
when the biological parents of the foster
children (from whom those children
were removed) consent to the
placement. The Does also were told by a
County employee that there were no
children to place with the Does, because
the County would only place African-
American children in their bi-racial home
but the County did not have many
African-American children in the foster
care system.
On September 27, 2000, Matt argued
the Does' case on appeal to a three-judge
panel of the United States Court of
Appeals for the Third Circuit. In an
Order dated March 5, 2001, the Third
Circuit held that the defendants' serious
infectious disease policy facially
discriminated against the Does because
of their son's disability. The court
further determined that, based on the
evidence presented at the preliminary
injunction hearing, the Does' son would
not present a direct threat to the safety
of young foster children, and that any
alleged threat their son might be to other
foster children must be examined
individually and could not be addressed
with a blanket policy of exclusion.
Finally, the court held that the Does had
alleged a valid case of race
discrimination, and thus remanded the
case to the District Court for further
proceedings consistent with the opinion.
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Pro Bono at Work
3

Ballard Spahr Employees Participate in Philadelphia Cares’ Day
On Saturday, May 19, 2001, a team
from Ballard Spahr took part in
Philadelphia Cares' Day, cleaning up a
portion of Fairmount Park's
Wissahickon Creek trail. Philadelphia
Cares is a nonprofit organization that
matches community service volunteers
with projects/initiatives that need
volunteers. If you would like to learn
more about the organization, please
contact Lisa Schultz (ext. 8187) or Matt
Gutt (ext. 8147).
Hana Meadway, Patrick Thumudo, Matt and Kelly McClure
Back: Unknown, Unknown, Arleigh Helfer, Matt Gutt, Roberta Jacobs-Meadway
(bending), Patrick Thumudo, Hana Meadway, Jay Meadway, Joe Dlugach (from the
Wissahickon Restoration Volunteers), Fred Clark
Front: Kelly and Matt McClure, Terri and Mary Kate McGrath, Bonnie Bell, Judithann
Sheehan, Cullen and Tom Roberts
Arleigh Helfer
Matt McClure, Terri McGrath, Kelly McClure, Mary Kate McGrath, Bonnie Bell,
Judithann Sheehan, Roberta Jacobs-Meadway
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Community Recognition
In recent months, the firm and several
individual attorneys were recognized by
the community for their involvement in
pro bono work. They are:
Matt Gutt, an associate in the
Philadelphia office Litigation
Department, was honored by the Public
Interest Section of the Philadelphia Bar
Association as a "Pro Bono Role Model"
at the Bar Association's quarterly
luncheon in April.
Bill Slaughter, a partner in the
Litigation Department of the
Philadelphia office, received the Equal
Justice Award from Community Legal
Services, Inc.
Baird Brown, Jennifer Bragg,
Patrick Gillard, Mary Mullany,
Kevin Schell, Paul Schneider, Rick
Strouse, and Christian Szautner,
were honored by Philadelphia Legal
Services for their efforts in assisting
the legal aid programs of eastern
Pennsylvania merge into two entities.
Thanks also to the dedication of the
many lawyers who accept pro bono
referrals, Ballard Spahr was honored
with Philadelphia Volunteers for the
Indigent Program’sChancellor’s Award,
which recognizes individuals and law
firms who have accepted a significant
number of VIP cases or associations
who have contributed significantly to
achieving access to justice for
VIP’s clients.
Firm Sponsors In-house Pro Bono
Nonprofit Training Program
On April 5, more than 40 people
participated in an in-house training
program presented by Debbie Zateeny
on how to handle nonprofit
incorporations. A videotape of the
training program is available through
Lisa Schultz.
“Awards” Continued from page 1
an in-house pro bono training program on nonprofit incorporation. Debbie has
requested that a charitable contribution be made to Third Path Institute.
Vicky Tsilas, an associate in the Tax Group in Washington, D.C., was
honored for her dedication in assisting nonprofit organizations. During
the past two years, Vicky has provided assistance to numerous
nonprofit organizations seeking to incorporate and/or file for
tax-exempt status.Vicky has requested that a charitable contribution be made to
Make-A-Wish.
Susan Becker and Stephanie Colman, litigation associates in
the Philadelphia office, were recognized for their
extraordinary dedication in litigating a prisoner civil rights
case before the United States District Court for the Eastern
District of Pennsylvania. The team requested that their charitable contribution be
divided between the two new entities: Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania
and North Penn Legal Services.
Baird Brown, Rick Strouse, Mary Mullany, Patrick Gillard, Christian Szautner,
Paul Schneider, Jennifer Bragg, and Kevin Schell were recognized for their
efforts in assisting the legal aid programs of eastern Pennsylvania in the
reorganization of their organizations. The organizations were mandated by their
funders to merge in order to provide legal services in a more efficient and
economical manner on a regional basis.
In addition to these awards, the following individuals were given mugs in
recognition of completing 50 or more hours of pro bono work in 2000:
Meredith S. Auten
Emily J. Barnhart
Robert Barsotti
Susan R. Becker
Jeffrey S. Beenstock
Jamie B. Bischoff
Marina K. Bowsher
Jennifer L. Bragg
Stacy L. Broad
C. Baird Brown
Amy B. Carver
Paul K. Casey
David L. Cohen
Stephanie G. Colman
Virginia M. Creighton
Brett J. DelPorto
Jeanne J. Dworetzky
Abigail L. Flitter
Douglas L. Flitter
Richard S. Fox
Edmond J. Ghisu
Patrick R. Gillard
Eric Goodman
Matthew M. Gutt
Arleigh P. Helfer
Sue E. Hess
Theodore W. Hirsh
Craig H. Howe
Penny S. Indictor
Ellen L. Jerrehian
Leslie E. John
Daniel V. Johns
Cathleen C. Judge
Stephen J. Kastenberg
Ira A. Kauderer
Albert S. Lee
Charisse R. Lillie
Ann T. Loftus
Matthew N. McClure
Monique M. Mooney
Richard S. Morrison
Niza M. Motola
Mary J. Mullany
Brian D. Pedrow
Richard S. Perelman
Brian M. Pinheiro
Joanne Phillips
Edward D. Rogers
Marla G. Roshkoff
Leslie C. Safran
Marilyn C. Sanborne
Kathleen M. Sandone
Linda B. Schakel
Kevin M. Schell
Paul J. Schneider
Robert A. Scott
Tara M. Sell
Michael D. Silbert
Eric W. Sitarchuk
Michael Sklaroff
William T. Slamkowski
Lisa M. Sloan
Susan L. Spence
Sally A. Steffen
Gayle A. Stein
Mark S. Stewart
Matthew M. Strickler
Richard L. Strouse
Joel E. Tasca
Barbara Terio
Kahiga Tiagha
Scott P. Towers
Lucas C. Townsend
Vicky Tsilas
Glenn L. Unterberger
Kelly A. Walenda
Melissa R. Ware
Deborah J. Zateeny
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6
Many Ballard Spahr lawyers provide support to their communities by serving as board
members of nonprofit organizations. As a regular feature of this newsletter, we will focus on
the wide variety of organizations our lawyers support through board membership.
National Association of the 10th Mountain Division, Inc.
10th Mountain Division Descendants, Inc.
By Martha J. Hays
The National Association of the 10th Mountain Division, Inc. is a nonprofit
veterans' organization. It seeks to preserve the legacy of the World War II 10th
Mountain Division. This Division was the first U.S. Army Division trained for
mountain warfare. They trained at Camp Hale in the Rocky Mountains, and
fought in the mountains of Italy. The National Association has devoted
substantial effort in assembling and maintaining a database of information
regarding veterans' experiences in World War II. The National Association
provides emotional support to families of veterans who were killed in action, as
well as assistance to veterans with physical limitations. The National
Association also is involved in forging international relationships that foster
peace in the world.
The 10th Mountain Division Descendants, Inc. is a nonprofit auxiliary
organization that supports the National Association. Its members consist
primarily of children and grandchildren of the World War II veterans.
Ballard Spahr has provided legal services to the National Association and the
10th Descendants since 1998. We were originally engaged to provide tax advice
to the National Association. At that time, many descendants of the World War II
veterans were members of the National Association. Stringent membership
requirements imposed by the Internal Revenue Code made it necessary for the
descendants to form their own auxiliary organization, and withdraw as
members of the National Association. Debbie Zateeny and Penny Indictor
assisted the National Association with these tax issues.
Since its incorporation in 1998, I have served as a member of the Executive
Committee of the Board of Directors of the 10th Descendants. The Executive
Committee coordinates communications among the 25 local chapters
throughout the country and supports community and service projects
conducted by the chapters.
The National Association has been compiling historical data regarding the
experiences of the World War II veterans. We have been asked recently to
provide the organization with copyright advice regarding this data. Jamie
Bischoff will be coordinating this effort. We also continue to advise the 10th
Descendants on nonprofit corporate issues that arise from time to time.
Summer Associates Attend Pro Bono Training
On June 4, 2001, 12 Ballard Spahr summer associates participated in Philadelphia
VIP's Annual Summer Associates' Day. Training was offered in the areas of client
interviewing, name change, estate planning, public housing eviction, and consumer
bankruptcy. Ballard Spahr's summer associates attended the client interviewing,
name change, and estate planning sessions. Those attending the name change and
estate planning sessions will be assigned a case to work on this summer. The
following summer associates attended the training sessions:
Farrah Gold
Joonwoon Choe
Kyrus Freeman
Lauren Horowitz
Ted Powers
Adam Taylor
Beth Bradley
Jennifer Sova
Joyce Koh
Brian Glass
Bryn Dubow
Cristiana Hoyler
Voorhees Associate Settles
Landlord-Tenant Dispute
Jeffrey S. Beenstock, an associate in
the Voorhees office, represented a client
in a dispute with her former landlord
over the return of a security deposit.
The client was part of the Philadelphia
Housing Authority's Section 8 program
whereby much, if not all, of an
individual's housing payments are paid
to an approved landlord under the
program. In this instance, for a period
of two years, the landlord had been
collecting additional housing payments
from the client in violation of PHA's
guidelines. After learning of this, the
client notified PHA and the landlord was
barred from the program.
Thereafter, the client continued to live in
the home for a period of two months.
The client then moved and sought the
return of her security deposit, which
the landlord denied based on
non-payment of two months rent. Jeff
successfully convinced the landlord to
voluntarily return the security deposit to
the client.
Ballard Spahr’s Pro
Bono Committee
The following individuals are
members of the firm's Pro
Bono Committee:
Jeffrey S. Beenstock (Voorhees)
C. Baird Brown (Phila.)
Jeffrey T. Chappelle (Phila.)
Craig H. Howe (Salt Lake City)
Stephen J. Kastenberg (Phila.)
Ira A. Kauderer (Phila.)
Jeffrey W. Larroca (Washington)
Ann T. Loftus (Phila.)
Paul J. Schneider (Phila.)
Lisa F. Schultz, Administrative
Assistant (Phila.)
William T. Slamkowski (Denver)
Susan L. Spence (Baltimore)
Suzanne E. Turner, Chair (Phila.)
Deborah J. Zateeny (Phila.)
If you would like more information
on how to get involved, please
contact any Committee member.