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Come join us for a night of excellent food and thoughtful conversation about what “equal justice under the law” means to our local community.
Since its founding in 1986, Pro Bono Project has been dedicated to representing clients of limited means utilizing talented and caring attorneys who volunteer their time and energy to take on pro bono cases in family law, domestic violence, guardianship, housing law, consumer law, and federal practice. In 2011, 358 of its volunteer attorneys provided over 13,000 hours of legal services to low-income clients. In recent years, Pro Bono Project has sought innovative solutions and cross-collaborations with the courts to better leverage resources to help more clients in need. Yet recent deep cuts in court funding and the chronic underfunding of legal services for low-income Californians threaten the concept of “justice for all.”
At the Celebration Dinner, Pro Bono Project will recognize the tremendous contributions our partners and pro bono attorneys have made to our local community in the last 25 years. Pro Bono Project will be presenting the following awards at the Dinner: Partner in Innovation Award, Collaboration Leadership Award, and Commitment to Excellence Award.
- Partner in Innovation Award to the Family Court division of the Santa Clara County Superior Court, whose attorneys, judges and court staff have a legacy of partnership with Pro Bono Project to develop and implement innovative programs for legal services delivery. The award especially recognizes the efforts of the Family Court’s judicial leaders for inspiring creativity in delivering services; court attorneys and staff for execution; and court administration for budgeting.
- Collaboration Leadership Award to DLA Piper for its leadership in expanding volunteer attorney pool by engaging in-house corporate attorneys in pro bono work.
- Commitment to Excellence Award to Family Law attorney Constance Carpenter whose long-term involvement with Pro Bono Project began in our first year. She exemplifies excellence both in advocacy and in her commitment to children, families, and the common good.
Looking forward to the future, the evening will also feature a dynamic conversation led by three distinguished panelists about access to justice and pro bono services in the next 25 years. Moderated by Professor Eric Wright of Santa Clara University Law School, the panelists will address this issue with perspectives from the bench, a renowned trial advocate and legal academia. Our panelists are:
- Judge Erica Yew, a member of the Judicial Council of California, has devoted her legal career to serving families. Prior to her elevation to the bench, she was an attorney volunteer and past Board member at the Pro Bono Project.
- James Brosnahan is a senior partner at Morrison Foerster, one of the most respected and recognized trial lawyers in the United States, and a strong advocate for access to justice.
- Deborah Rhode, Professor at Stanford Law School, is Director of the Stanford Center on the Legal Profession, and in October 2011 was a recipient of the White House’s Champion of Change award for a lifetime’s work in increasing access to justice.
This Dinner is a celebration and a call to action. Get engaged, and join us in providing access to justice in our community for “the good of the people.”
Take advantage of early-bird pricing before February 29, 2012. MCLE credit is available for this event. Register Now.
For opportunity to volunteer with Pro Bono Project and to learn more about us, click here.
To support Pro Bono Project in celebration of its 25th Anniversary, Donate Now.
About Judge Erica Yew
Judge Yew was the first Asian-American female to serve on the Santa Clara County Superior Court. Appointed in 2001, she currently sits in the Juvenile Dependency division of the Court and presides over the Family Wellness Court, a $6.3 million project funded by the federal government and First 5 to serve children under the age of three years whose families are struggling with addiction, homelessness, poverty, violence and other issues. In 2009, the San Jose Business Journal named Judge Yew a “Woman of Influence” in the Silicon Valley. She also received an Opening Doors to Justice Award from the Public Interest Clearinghouse and an Unsung Heroes Award from the Santa Clara County Bar Association. She was a member of the 2005 Judicial Council Task Force on Self-Represented Litigants, whose published work is a comprehensive guide for the courts in how to deal ethically, fairly and respectfully with self-represented litigants as they access the court system. In October 2009, Judge Yew was appointed by Chief Justice Ron George to the California Judicial Council, the policymaking body of the California Courts, the largest court system in the United States. She is the Immediate Past President of the California Asian-American Judges Association and Past President of the NAPABA Judicial Council, which is the national association of Asian American judicial officers. . She is a member of the Language Access Committee of the Commission on Access to Justice and the ABA Advisory Committee regarding Language Access.
About James Brosnahan
Mr. Brosnahan has received numerous awards and recognition throughout his distinguished career. In 1996, he was inducted into the State Bar of California's "Trial Lawyers Hall of Fame" and was awarded the Samuel E. Gates Award by the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2000 for his "significant, exceptional lasting contribution to the improvement of the litigation process." In 2001, Mr. Brosnahan was named "Trial Lawyer of the Year" by the American Board of Trial Advocates, and the following year, the San Francisco Lawyers' Club honored Mr. Brosnahan with its "Legend of the Law" award. In 2006, he was named one of America's most influential trial lawyers by the National Law Journal. In 2007, he received the American Inns of Court Lewis F. Powell Award for Professionalism and Ethics to recognize a "lifetime devoted to the highest standards of ethical practice, competence, and professionalism."
About Deborah Rhode
Professor Deborah L. Rhode is the Ernest McFarland Professor of Law and director of the Stanford Center on the Legal Profession. She is one of the country’s leading scholars in the fields of legal ethics and gender, law, and public policy. An author of over 20 books, including The Beauty Bias, Women and Leadership and Moral Leadership, she is the nation’s most frequently cited scholar in legal ethics. She is the Founding President of the International Association of Legal Ethics. She is the former president of the Association of American Law Schools, the former chair of the American Bar Association’s Commission on Women in the Profession, the founder and former director of Stanford’s Center on Ethics, and the former director of the Michelle R. Clayman Institute for Gender Research at Stanford. She has received the American Bar Association’s Michael Franck award for contributions to the field of professional responsibility; the American Bar Foundation’s W. M. Keck Foundation Award for distinguished scholarship on legal ethics; and the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award for her work on expanding public service opportunities in law schools. Before joining the Stanford Law faculty, Professor Rhode was a law clerk for Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall.
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Pro Bono Project Celebrates its 25th Anniversary! 