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August 1, 2011

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, DC— John G. Levi, Chairman of the ��è��Ƶ (��è��Ƶ) Board of Directors, today announced the membership of the Board’s Pro Bono Task Force, which will help develop additional resources to assist low-income Americans facing foreclosure, domestic violence and other civil legal problems.

In a statement, Chairman Levi said:

“This is a very distinguished group, drawn from the judiciary, corporations, private practice and the legal aid community, and I greatly appreciate each member’s volunteer spirit and enthusiasm for expanding pro bono work with the legal aid community.

“The Task Force’s work is of critical importance.  Studies have found that only a small fraction of low-income Americans receive the help of a lawyer in addressing their civil legal problems, and increasingly individuals are having to handle their legal matters on their own.   Although pro bono involvement has grown at ��è��Ƶ programs, we must do more to help ensure access to justice and the orderly functioning of the civil justice system.

“We are indeed fortunate to have these wonderfully accomplished individuals on this task force to identify new ways to marshal pro bono resources and strengthen civil legal assistance to low-income Americans.”

The co-chairs of the Task Force are:

Martha Minow, Vice Chair of the ��è��Ƶ Board and Dean of the Harvard Law School.

Harry J.F. Korrell III, a member of the ��è��Ƶ Board and a Partner in the Seattle office of Davis Wright Tremaine LLP.

The members of the Task Force are:

David Arroyo, Vice President of Legal Affairs at Scripps Networks Interactive. He is Chairman of the Board of LatinoJustice PRLDEF, formerly known as the Puerto Rican Legal Defense and Education Fund, and serves on the Board of the City Bar Justice Center, the charitable arm of the New York City Bar.

John T. Broderick Jr., Dean and President of the University of New Hampshire School of Law. He recently retired as Chief Justice of the New Hampshire Supreme Court and served for 10 years on the ��è��Ƶ Board.

Christian L. Campbell, Senior Vice President, General Counsel, Secretary, and Chief Franchise Policy Officer, YUM! Brands Inc.

Catherine C. Carr, Executive Director, Community Legal Services of Philadelphia.

Mark B. Childress, Senior Counselor for Access to Justice, United States Department of Justice.

Dana J. Cornett, lawyer, Harrisonburg, Va., President of the Board of Directors of Blue Ridge Legal Services and pro bono team leader for the Harrisonburg-Rockingham Bar Association.

Colleen M. Cotter, Executive Director, The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland.

Charles Crompton, Partner, Latham & Watkins LLP and Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.

James E. Doyle, Of Counsel, Foley & Lardner LLP.  He served as Governor and Attorney General of Wisconsin and is a former legal aid attorney, Navajo Indian Reservation, Arizona.

Douglas S. Eakeley, Member, Lowenstein Sandler.  He served as Chairman of the ��è��Ƶ Board from 1993 to 2003.

JoAnne A. Epps, Dean and Professor of Law, Temple University Beasley School of Law.  Active in several professional organizations, Dean Epps is a former Vice Chair of the Pennsylvania Gender Task Force and served as a member of the Third Circuit Task Force on Equal Treatment in the Courts.

Ronald S. Flagg, Partner, Sidley Austin LLP and Chair of Sidley’s Committee on Pro Bono and Public Interest Law.  He is the immediate past president of the District of Columbia Bar.

Kathryn J. Fritz, Partner, Fenwick & West LLP.  Member of the Board of Trustees of the Santa Clara County, Calif., Bar Association and Adjunct Professor at Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

L. Joseph Genereux, Partner, Dorsey & Whitney LLP.  He serves on the Minnesota State Bar Association’s IOLTA Task Force and is a former co-chair of the Bar Association’s Business Law Pro Bono Task Force.

Terry M. Hamilton, Private Attorney Involvement Director, Lone Star Legal Aid.
Nan Heald, Executive Director, Pine Tree Legal Assistance, Maine.

George H. Hettrick, Special Counsel, Hunton & Williams LLP, Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Leadership Committee, and managing partner of the firm’s pro bono offices in Richmond and Charlottesville, Va.

Sven E. Holmes, Executive Vice Chair, Legal and Compliance, KPMG LLP, and former Chief District Judge, U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Oklahoma.

Jeffrey N. Hyman, Director, Apple Inc., Legal Department.

Wallace B. Jefferson, Chief Justice, Supreme Court of Texas.

Robert Kayihura, Staff Attorney, Office of General Counsel, Microsoft.

David A. Kutik, Partner, Jones Day.  A Board member of the Ohio Legal Assistance Foundation, he has served as President of the Legal Aid Society of Cleveland and has chaired the Ohio State Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee Task Force.

Esther F. Lardent, President and Chief Executive Officer, Pro Bono Institute.

Jonathan Lippman, Chief Judge of the State of New York and Chief Judge of the New York Court of Appeals.

Patricia A. Madrid, former Attorney General of New Mexico.

Lee I. Miller, Joint Chief Executive Officer and Partner, DLA Piper.

Michael L. Monahan, Pro Bono Director, State Bar of Georgia Pro Bono Project/Georgia Legal Services Program.

James D. Moyer, U.S. Magistrate Judge, U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky.

Lynn Overmann, Deputy Counselor for Access to Justice, United States Department of Justice.

David M. Pantos, Executive Director, Legal Aid of Nebraska.

Teresa W. Roseborough, Deputy General Counsel, MetLife.  She is a former deputy assistant attorney general, United States Department of Justice.

Mary K. Ryan, Partner, Nutter McClennen & Fish LLP.  She serves on the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono & Public Service and is a past chair of the ABA Standing Committee on Delivery of Legal Services.

Gloria Santona, Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary, McDonald’s Corporation.  She has led diversity efforts and pro bono engagements in the corporation’s legal department and serves on the Board of the Constitutional Rights Foundation of Chicago.

E. Paige Sensenbrenner, Senior Partner in Charge of the New Orleans office of Adams and Reese LLP.

Cliff Sloan, Partner, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP.  He is a former Associate Counsel to the President of the United States and a former Assistant to the Solicitor General, United States Department of Justice.

Thomas F. Smegal Jr., attorney in San Francisco and former ��è��Ƶ Board member. He is Chairman of the Friends of Legal Services Corp.

Laura Stein, Senior Vice President—General Counsel, The Clorox Company.  She is the Co-Chair of the Corporate Pro Bono Advisory Board of the Pro Bono Institute, serves on the Board of Equal Justice Works, and previously served on the State Bar of California Task Force on Lawyer Support for Legal Services.

Frank B. Strickland, Partner, Strickland Brockington Lewis LLP, and the Chairman of the ��è��Ƶ Board from 2003 to 2010.

Deanell Reece Tacha, Dean of the Pepperdine University School of Law, and retired Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Tenth Circuit.

David S. Tatel, Judge, U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit.

Richard L. Thornburgh, Of Counsel, K&L Gates LLP.  He has served as U.S. Attorney General and as the Governor of Pennsylvania.

Jo-Ann Wallace, President and Chief Executive Officer, National Legal Aid & Defender Association.

Diana White, Executive Director, Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago.

John E. Whitfield, Executive Director, Blue Ridge Legal Services, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

Lisa C. Wood, Partner, Foley Hoag LLP.  She is a member of the ABA’s Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defense and serves on the Board of the Volunteer Lawyers Project in Boston.
 
Ex-officio members of the Task Force are:

��è��Ƶ Board Chairman John G. Levi, Partner in the Chicago office of Sidley Austin LLP.

Sharon L. Browne, a member of the ��è��Ƶ Board,  a principal attorney in the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Individual Rights Practice group and a member of the Foundation’s senior management.

Robert J. Grey Jr., a member of the ��è��Ƶ Board, and Partner with Hunton & Williams LLP.  He is a former president of the American Bar Association.

James J. Sandman, President of the ��è��Ƶ.  He also serves as Chair of the D.C. Bar’s Pro Bono Committee and is Co-Chair of the District of Columbia Circuit Judicial Conference Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services.

Chairman Levi also expressed appreciation to DLA Piper for providing professional and administrative staff for the task force. “We are extremely grateful to DLA Piper and Lee Miller of the firm for volunteering to provide outstanding support and resources for the task force. It is a terrific contribution and a tremendous public service,” Mr. Levi said.

Lisa Dewey, Pro Bono Partner at DLA Piper, will serve as Consultant to the task force. At DLA Piper, she advises and represents individuals and public interest organizations on a pro bono basis and is a well-known speaker on pro bono and law firm pro bono partnerships. Jamie Hoag, an Associate at DLA Piper, will assist Ms. Dewey, and Mattie Cohan, Senior Assistant General Counsel at ��è��Ƶ, will serve as the ��è��Ƶ staff liaison to the Task Force.

The Board approved the formation of the Pro Bono Task Force on March 31.  The Task Force will “identify and recommend to the Board new and innovative ways in which to promote and enhance pro bono initiatives throughout the country, including urban areas, rural areas and areas with underserved populations,” the Board’s resolution said.

Established in 1974, ��è��Ƶ, an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit corporation, receives an annual appropriation from Congress to promote equal access to justice and to provide for the delivery of high-quality civil legal assistance to low-income individuals and families. About 95 percent of the appropriation is distributed as grants to 136 independent nonprofit legal aid programs in every state, the District of Columbia and the U.S. territories.