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Pro
bono Awards
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Attorney Rick Filippi - 2010 Probono Attorney of the YearThe Erie County Bar Association and Northwestern Legal Services are pleased to honor Attorney Rick Filippi as the 2010 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for his perseverance and dedication on behalf of low-income clients in Erie. • In April 2006, Northwestern Legal Services represented a separated mother of four minor children who had been evicted from a public housing unit in Erie. The client lost her case at the hearing before a local district magistrate, and when the case was appealed to the Erie County Court of Common Pleas, the court also upheld the eviction order. • In October 2006, Attorney Rick Filippi agreed to get involved in the case through a pro bono referral from legal aid. After reviewing the case files, he was convinced that the client’s defense rested on an important issue of law, and he appealed the Common Pleas Court decision to the Pennsylvania Superior Court. In August 2008 the Superior Court ruled in his client’s favor, and remanded the case back to the Erie County Court of Common Pleas for a retrial, which resulted in a favorable decision for the mother and her children. • When the housing authority then appealed this decision back to the Pennsylvania Superior Court, the court dismissed the appeal in December 2009. During the three years and over 70 hours of billable time he devoted to the case as it made its way through our legal system, Attorney Filippi was a tenacious advocate for this low-income client who could not afford an attorney on her own, and our system of justice is better because of his efforts. • It should also be noted that during the three years Attorney Filippi represented this low-income client, he continued to accept other referrals from Northwestern Legal Services. He represented low-income clients in cases dealing with unemployment compensation and a real estate transaction. • For his dedication to the legal profession, and his example to us all of our professional responsibility to help low-income clients who cannot afford legal representation in civil cases, we are extremely proud to acknowledge this year’s Pro Bono Attorney of the Year to Rick Filippi.
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Attorney Colleen Stumpf - 2009 Probono Attorney of the YearThe Erie County Bar Association and Northwestern Legal Services have selected Attorney Colleen Stumpf as this year’s Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. Attorney Stumpf is a graduate of the Dickinson School of Law, and was admitted to the practice of law in Pennsylvania in 2006. She is currently an attorney with The Quinn Firm where she concentrates in the areas of business law, estate planning, elder law and transactional issues. During 2008, Colleen devoted over 80 hours of pro bono representation and counsel to low-income clients in Erie County. She closed three cases during the year; one case involved a guardianship, and the other two cases involved wills and estate issues for low-income clients. In addition to her pro bono casework in 2008, Colleen provided legal counsel on business law issues to the four neighborhood centers in Erie County: the Martin Luther King Center, the Booker T. Washington Center, the John F Kennedy Center and the Hispanic-American Counsel of Erie. She also presented a workshop on wills, trusts and probate to senior citizens in Harborcreek, as part of the “Older & Wiser” series – a partnership between Northwestern Legal Services, LAVA, and state representatives in northwestern Pennsylvania. Congratulations!
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Attorney Jennifer Hirneisen - 2008 Probono Attorney of the YearAt the 2008 Law Day Ceremony held on May 2, 2008, Jennifer Hirneisen, Esq., was named the 2008 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by the Erie County Bar Association and Northwestern Legal Services. Attorney Hirneisen was admitted to the practice of law in Pennsylvania in 2004, and she is currently an attorney with MacDonald, Illig, Jones & Britton, where she concentrates in the areas of family law, real estate, business and transactional law. During 2007, Attorney Hirneisen devoted 110 hours of pro bono representation to low-income clients in Erie County. The case in which she devoted the most hours was a foreclosure action in which she was able to negotiate a settlement that allowed the client to remain in the home with a reduced interest rate. In addition to her pro bono work with LAVA, Jenny serves on the board of directors for Supportive Living Services, a non-profit organization in Erie, and she is a volunteer participant in the ECBA’s Attorney & Kids Together mentoring program. Congratulations!
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Attorney Thomas Tupitza - Receives 2007 'Everyday Leader' Award from PBALegal Aid Volunteer Attorney member and former NWLS Board President, Thomas A. Tupitza, Esquire was named the 2007 Everyday Leader Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Association. See full article.
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Year 2007 Pro bono Attorney of the Year
Tammy Lamary is named 2006 Pro bono Attorney of the Year!The Erie County Bar Association and Northwestern Legal Services selected Attorney Tammy Lamary as this year's Pro Bono Attorney of the Year. The award is given each year to a private attorney who has made a significant commitment to pro bono representation of low-income clients with civil cases in Erie County. Attorney Lamary is a 2003 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and she currently serves as law clerk for Judge John A. Bozza on the Erie County Court of Common Pleas. Prior to joining Judge Bozza's staff, attorney Lamary worked in 2005 as a volunteer attorney in the Erie office of Northwestern Legal Services. During that time she accepted 50 pro bono cases, and devoted nearly 300 hours of pro bono representation to low-income clients in Erie County. In addition to her legal representation of low-income clients in civil cases, attorney Lamary also was involved in staffing the custody clinic at Northwestern Legal Services. "Throughout all of her volunteer work at Northwestern Legal Services, Tammy was a strong advocate for the rights of low-income clients, and she was sympathetic to the struggle of poverty-level individuals and families," explained Bob Oakley, NWLS executive director. The award was presented to attorney Lamary at the Law Day luncheon on April 28, 2006 at the Erie Shrine Club. Law Day is held each spring to celebrate the importance of the rule of law to our democratic ideals. Michael Kruszewski Named 2005 Pro Bono Attorney of the YearThe Erie County Bar Association and Northwestern Legal Services selected Attorney Michael Kruszewski as this year’s Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for his dedicated service to the Legal Aid Volunteer Attorney (LAVA) Program. Kruszewski received the award as part of the Law Day luncheon on April 28 at the Erie Shrine Club. Attorney Kruszewski joined the LAVA program last year (2004), and he accepted two cases totaling over 80 hours of pro bono representation and counsel. He is a 2003 graduate of the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, and a member of the Quinn Law Firm Bankruptcy and Creditors’ Rights Practice Group. The Legal Aid Volunteer Attorney (LAVA) Program is co-sponsored by the Erie County Bar Association and Northwestern Legal Services. Since its inception in 1982, it is estimated that over 10,000 pro bono hours of legal representation and counsel have been given to impoverished individuals and families in Erie County by LAVA. This translates into well over $1 million in free legal services to the poor and disadvantaged over the last two decades. In honoring Attorney Kruszewski as the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year, it is also important to acknowledge the support of The Quinn Law Firm for the LAVA program. In 2004, the Quinn Law Firm accepted nine pro bono cases, and 85 percent of the lawyers in the firm actively participate in LAVA. Attorney Kruszewski was also the recipient of the Pennsylvania Bar Association's 2005 Pro bono Award. Jim Richardson is honored as Pro bono Attorney of the 2004 YearNorthwestern Legal Services and the Erie County Bar Association honored Erie attorney Jim Richardson as this year's Pro Bono Attorney of the Year for his dedicated service to the Legal Aid Volunteer Attorney (LAVA) Program. Richardson received the award as part of Law Day festivities at the Erie Shrine Club on April 30th. In 2003, Attorney Richardson contributed 46 hours of pro bono representation to low-income clients as part of LAVA. He has been very active in the program since it began in 1982, taking 28 pro bono caess and donating 144 hours of pro bono representation and counsel during that time. Richardson also served on the Board of Directors of Northwestern Legal Services from 1982 to 1992, and as president of that board from 1988 through 1991, helping to create the LAVA program as we know it today. In additional to his many years of service to NWLS, Richardson has been very active with the Shriner's Hospital for Children, and with the Boy Scouts of America French Creek Council. 2003 Outstanding Pro Bono Attorney Award:Attorney Roger Taft, of the Law Firm, McDonald, Illig, Jones & Britton, has been awarded the 2003 Pro bono Award for Outstanding Attorney. Attorney Taft was honored and presented with the award the Law Day Luncheon held at the Erie Shrine Club. Attorney Taft has been an active volunteer attorney for our Legal Aid Volunteer Attorney Program for 21 years. He has contributed over 113 hours of pro bono service this past year, and more than 360 hours since the inception of the program. We wish to thank Attorney Taft for this generous contribution and his dedication to the LAVA Program. President's AwardBaxter Receives 2003 President's Award: David A. Baxter, Esq., NWLS Attorney, receives the prestigious 2003 President's Award. The award was presented to David on December 3rd by Russell S. Warner, Esq., President of the Erie County Bar Association, for his untiring and long-term commitment to coordination of our Association's pro bono program, Legal Aid Volunteer Attorneys Program, spearheading our members' legal assistance to the indigent in our community Congratulations David!
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Louis J. Goffman AwardBaxter Receives 2002 Louis J. Goffman Award & Pro bono Participation The Erie County Bar Association (ECBA) and Northwestern Legal Services (NWLS) have been chosen to receive the 2002 Louis J. Goffman Award from the Pennsylvania Bar Foundation. The program seeks "to recognize and honor an individual and an organization whose commitments to pro bono have enhanced the delivery of legal services to Pennsylvania's poor or disadvantaged, making a critical difference in the lives of those in need of legal representation." This award recognizes our efforts in Erie County to use pro bono as an
important part of our mission. David Baxter, Director of the Legal Aid
Volunteer Attorney (LAVA) As well, David was featured in the March - April 2002 edition of The Pennsylvania Lawyer for his efforts in maintaining 70% pro bono participation from the Erie County bar. David was also recognized in the Pennsylvania Bar News. [Full Article] Congratulations to David and other staff efforts on this fine recognition! |
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