Pro Bono And Legal Services Committee - 1190 Words

 » Alison King, Kaye Scholer’s Pro Bono Counsel and Co-Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, discusses the firm s pro bono initiative and her new role as Chair of the City Bar’s Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee. Alison King, Kaye Scholer’s Pro Bono Counsel and Co-Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, has been appointed the new Chair of the City Bar’s Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee. Alison recently spoke with us about the Committee, her new responsibilities and the path toward making pro bono her career. Tell us about New York City Bar’s Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee. The Pro Bono and Legal Services Committee’s mission is to address issues surrounding pro bono work by attorneys and to advocate for efforts to†¦show more content†¦The Committee is also responsible for providing support for the City Bar’s activities, including their advocacy this past year around the Right to Counsel in Housing Court. Members of the Committee drafted a substantial report detailing legislative recommendations. What responsibilities will you take on in your new role as Chair of the Committee? Under my leadership, the Committee will continue many of its initiatives, including: †¢Best Practices in Pro Bono conversations, †¢Corporate In-House Pro Bono program, †¢Ã¢â‚¬Å"Encouraging Pro Bono for Small Firms and Solo Practitioners† sessions, †¢Monitoring and coordinating the responses by the Law School to the Chief Judge’s pro bono requirements and bar admissions processes, †¢Legislative Affairs subcommittee advocacy work (including the Right to Counsel in Housing Court work), †¢Coordinating the City’s pro bono response to Immigration matters in state and federal court, †¢Promoting pro bono work for those attorneys who are transitioning away from a paying client practice (with an initial focus on large law firm partners and counsel), and †¢Disaster preparedness with the promotion of a volunteer software management system for the legal services organizations in the City that can be expanded for use by a coalition of organizations during a disaster. What sparked your interest in pro bono work? I graduated from a law school