Berks

If you are in need of legal aid, click here and fill out the PBA Pro Bono Program Legal Assistance Request Form you find there. You should also check out palawhelp.org. The search engine on the website is excellent. Enter the county where you are having the problem and list the area of law to locate resources to pursue.

If you are a pro bono volunteer, the entry below will outline how pro bono is done in this county and detail any organized pro bono program for you to work with here. You can also go to the main PBA pro bono site for lawyers, and check out and sign up on paprobono.net. Check out the https://www.paprobono.net/program-directory/ The Pro Bono Program Directory is a searchable database of organizations that are seeking the assistance of volunteer pro bono advocates. You can find an opportunity that meets your volunteer goal by using the guide's filters to find an opportunity in your locality and legal area of preference.

 

Probono Coordinator

Pro Bono in this County:

Information is currently being updated.

Check out the work on pardons here at www.PardonMePA.org

MidPenn Legal Services 2019-20
The legal-aid provider in Berks County is MidPenn Legal Services.
Read the overview of MidPenn’s services to counties in 2019-20.
Read the report on MidPenn’s services in Berks County in 2019-20.

Leisawitz Receives PBA Pro Bono Award, Nov. 2, 2023
Jesse Leisawitz, chief legal officer for the Reading School District, received a PBA Pro Bono Award at the Berks County Bar Association Annual Meeting, Nov. 2, 2023, in Reading. Leisawitz was recognized for his work with two pardon/expungement clinics and a citizenship clinic.
Pictured below, from left: PBA President Michael J. McDonald, Leisawitz


Pleet and Mathews Honored with PBA Pro Bono Awards, Oct. 28, 2021
Jesse L. Pleet, Pleet Law Office, Wyomissing, was honored for his work on the eviction project created by former Berks County Bar Association (BCBA) Executive Director Don Smith, co-chair of the PBA Legal Services to the Public Committee. Smith came up with the idea of spending his retirement doing pro bono eviction cases while Pleet was BCBA president. Pleet promised Smith he would assist in such an effort even though landlord/tenant law was not part of his practice. Pleet has kept that promise taking in some difficult matters over the past few years that the eviction project has been in operation. William Mathews II, ReLTEK, Birdsboro, was also recognized with a PBA Pro Bono Award for the same project but was not present for the presentation of the award.

Pictured below, from left: Berks County President Judge Thomas G. Parisi, Pleet and PBA Pro Bono Coordinator David Keller Trevaskis


Wortman Honored with PBA Pro Bono Award, Nov. 12, 2020
PBA President David Schwager appeared at the virtual Berks County Annual Meeting on Nov. 12, 2020, to honor Douglas S. Wortman, Liberty Law Group LLC, Reading, with a 2020 PBA Pro Bono Award. Read a profile of Wortman.


Boyer, Good Receive PBA Pro Bono Awards, Oct. 23, 2018
Amy Good, MidPenn Legal Services, Reading, received the PBA Civil Legal Aid Attorney of the Year Award on Oct. 23, at the Berks County Bar Association Pro Bono Celebration in Wyomissing. Also during the event, Jeffrey Boyd, Boyd & Karver, Boyertown, was honored with a PBA Pro Bono Award for his “extended representation” of the “maximum number of clients” and “his humble service to the disadvantaged in our community.”

According to the nomination, Good manages a busy MidPenn office of six attorneys, two paralegals and two support staff. She has her own caseload, representing clients and “going to the mat for them.” At the same time she is very active in the Berks County Bar Association (BCBA). She is the chair of the BCBA Legal Aid Committee and the Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Task Force, the latter of which oversees a program that has kept many people in their homes. Her successful leadership of these entities has raised the standing of MidPenn in the legal community of Berks County. As part of the recent United Way Campaign, she made more 10 presentations to benefactor groups, frequently bringing listeners to tears with her passion for helping the poor. Such presentations were a tremendous promotion of MidPenn in the greater community by demonstrating the need for access to justice

Pictured below, from left to right are PBA Pro Bono Coordinator David Trevaskis, honoree Amy Good, honoree Jeffrey Boyd and PBA President Charles Eppolito.


MidPenn Legal Services Bankruptcy Panel Receives 2017 Pro Bono Award, Oct. 24, 2017
PBA President-elect Charles Eppolito presented MidPenn Legal Services Bankruptcy Panel with 2017 PBA Pro Bono Awards at the Berks County Bar Association’s Celebrate Pro Bono event. These awards recognized the group’s dedication to helping those experiencing financial difficulties through pro bono bankruptcy assistance, saving property at risk and helping their clients start fresh financially.


MidPenn Legal Services 2015-16 Fact Sheet, Posted January 2017
The legal-aid provider in Berks County is MidPenn Legal Services. Read the overview of the MidPenn's services to counties in 2015-16. Read the report on MidPenn's services in Berks County in 2015-16.


PBA Pro Bono Awards Presented Oct. 27, 2015

 

PBA Pro Bono Awards were presented during the Berks County Bar Association (BCBA) Pro Bono Celebration/CLE Seminar on Oct. 27. Recipients Bridget Cambria, Carol Anne Donohoe and Jacquelyn M. Kline were recognized for their legal work in support of mothers and children seeking asylum in the Berks County Residential Center. Pictured above, from left, are BCBA President Jesse L. Pleet, PBA President William H. Pugh V, keynote speaker Edgar Cahn, Kline, Donohoe and Cambria.


CLE Seminar/Pro Bono Celebration, Oct. 27, 2015
The Berks County Bar Association will be holding it's CLE Seminar - Pro Bono Celebration on Oct. 27, 12:15 p.m. to 4:15 p.m., at The Inn at Reading, 1040 N. Park Rd., Wyomissing. This event is only available to registered bar association members. Program agenda: Luncheon; seminar, "Language Access to the Courts: The Proper Utilization of Court Interpreters" (1 hour substantive CLE); seminar, "The Intersection of Housing and Consumer Law" (1 hour substantive CLE). Reception to start at 4 p.m.