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2006-11-06 LEGAL AID AND DEFENDER ASSOCIATION ANNOUNCES
ANNUAL PRO BONO AWARDS
DETROIT – During its Pro Bono Recognition
Awards Ceremony at the Southfield Public Library, Southfield Oct.
30, Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc. honored a law firm,
a corporation legal staff and a number individual attorneys and
paralegals for counseling and representing hundreds of its clients.
The pro bono attorneys worked on a variety cases, ranging from child
custody to consumer fraud to tax foreclosure, according to Lynda
S. Krupp, managing attorney of Legal Aid and Defender’s Private
Attorney Involvement program. All clients were low-income residents
of Macomb, Oakland or Wayne County.
Detroit-based Bodman LLP received the Law Firm Pro Bono Award of
the Year. In 2006 alone, 28 of the firm’s attorneys have volunteered
to counsel Legal Aid and Defender clients and have accepted more
than 50 assignments to represent them, according to Bodman Chairman
Larry R. Shulman.
“Bodman is proud to partner with Legal Aid and Defender to
make legal services accessible to those who could not otherwise
afford them,” Shulman said.
Also accepting the award on behalf of Bodman was Christopher J.
Dine, who with Susan M. Kornfield co-chairs the firm’s pro
bono committee. .
The legal staff of Detroit-based General Motors Corp. received the
Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Award. GM helped create and support the
Detroit Legal Services Clinic, which has helped hundred of low-income
clients, according to E. Christopher Johnson, vice president and
general counsel for GM North America.
“GM’s legal staff has led the way in rejuvenating the
pro bono culture of the Detroit-area bar,” said Johnson, who
is also co-chair of the board of trustees of the Detroit Metropolitan
Bar Association Foundation, which helps fund the bar association’s
pro bono activities.
Also accepting the award on behalf of GM’s legal staff was
Steven J. Cernak, its pro bono coordinator, and Maynard L. Timm.
Kevin I. Green, associate corporate counsel and pro bono coordinator
for Masco Corp., received the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award.
He has handle pro bono matters for seven years, primarily in the
area of real estate.
“I am both honored and humbled to receive this award on behalf
of all the attorneys, legal assistants and secretaries at Masco
Corp. who do pro bono work,” Green said.
Chandra W. Baker, a labor and employment attorney with Detroit-based
Miller, Canfield, Paddock and Stone, P.L.C., received the Impact
on Domestic Violence Award.
Receiving Pro Bono Spirit Awards were Mark M. Cronmiller, an attorney
in private practice; Thomas N. Lurie, an attorney who teaches at
Oak Park High School; and John E. McSorley, an attorney with Garan
Lucow Miller P .C.
Friends of Legal Aid and Defender Association Awards went to Leon
A. Gant, II, a founding partner of Gant and Taylor PLC; David J.
March, a retired Friend of the Court; and Robert S. Krause, an attorney
with Dickinson Wright PLLC.
Receiving special recognition for exceeding the State Bar of Michigan’s
voluntary standard of 30 pro bono hours per year were: Brian Akkashian,
Dickinson Wright; Vasantha Arunachalam, Dykema Gossett (paralegal);
Allison Bach, Dickinson Wright; Stephen Bemis, Masco; Karen Benjamin,
Dickinson Wright; Joseph Bennett, Clark Hill; Steven Betz, Ford
Motor; Jordan Bolton, Clark Hill; David Campbell, Bowman & Brooke;
Carolyn Christian, Masco; Deborah Collins, General Motors; Dawn
Copley, Dickinson Wright; Margaret Costello, Dykema Gossett; Phillip
DeRosier, Dickinson Wright; Nicole DiNardo, Bowman & Brooke;
Joseph Doerr, Dykema Gossett; Nicholas Even, Bowman & Brooke;
Sherrie Farrell, Dykema Gossett; David George, Dykema Gossett; Charles
Goedert, Dickinson Wright; Timothy Goodnow, private practice; Katherine
Goudie, Butzel Long; Kevin Green, Masco; Rick Haberman, Dickinson
Wright; Dana Hathaway, Bowman & Brooke; Michael Hindelang, Honigman
Miller Schwartz & Cohn; Daniel Hoops, private practice, Glenn
Jackson, General Motors; Suzanne Johnson, private practice; Kenneth
Kalousek, private practice; Adam Kochenderfer, Honigman Miller Schwartz
& Cohn; Kyle Krywko, Dickinson Wright; Courtney Law, Dickinson
Wright; Wendy Linehan, Dykema Gossett; Thomas Lurie, private practice;
Ian Lyngklip, Lyngklip & Taub; Corey MacGillivray, Ford Motor;
Eric Mathis, Butzel Long; James Mauro, Dickinson Wright; John McSorley,
Garan Lucow Miller; Mark Nelson, Butzel Long; Rick Pacynski, Masco;
Mark Plaza, Honigman Miller Schwartz & Cohn; Michelle Potter,
Masco; Andrew Pride, Ford Motor;Bryan Proctor, Butzel Long; Paul
Scheidemantel, Clark Hill; Tara Schemansky, private practice; Jeanne
Scherlinck, Honigman Miller Schwartz & Cohn; Thomas Schultz,
private practice; Khalilah Spencer, Dickinson Wright; Michael Temple,
Pepper Hamilton; Maynard Timm, General Motors; Roger Timm, Dykema
Gossett; Katherine Weed, Fraser Trebilcock Davis & Dunlap; Laura
Weingartner, Dykema Gossett; and Mark Werder, Honigman Miller Schwartz
& Cohn.
“An ancient Greek philosopher once said that time was the most
valuable thing one can give,” Deierdre L. Weir, executive director
of Legal Aid and Defender, told the audience at the awards ceremony.
“By volunteering their time and talents, these attorneys make
a statement that there are people in this community who care. The
world will be a better place because your volunteer efforts made
a difference in other people’s lives.”
Master of ceremonies for the event was Alan Lee, a morning news
anchor for WJBK-TV FOX 2. Legal Aid and Defender is a FOX 2 “Problem
Solvers” partner. Guest speakers were Judge Denise Page Hood
of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan
and Reginald M. Turner, Jr. of Clark Hill PLC. Kimberly M. Cahill,
president of the State Bar of Michigan, also attended the ceremony.
Legal Aid and Defender is Michigan’s largest provider of free
civil legal services to low-income residents. It serves metropolitan
Detroit through its offices in Macomb, Oakland and Wayne counties.
It also represents criminal defendants in Wayne County and the U.S.
District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Including brief
consultations and comprehensive legal services, the public law firm
handles some 15,000 legal matters yearly.
PRO BONO AWARDS
Photos Gallery
“We work with clients in a comprehensive manner, so that as
we solve their legal problems, we help solve other problems as well,”
Weir said. “We help people rebuild their lives and help families
stay together.”
Anyone seeking legal services can call (877) 964-4700 or visit www.ladadetroit.org.
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For further information, please contact our director of marketing, Roger Lennert, by phone at 313.965.9419, Ext. 6377 or by e-mail at rlennert@ladadetroit.org.
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