Bucks

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.

 

Contact Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania’s Megan Reinprecht, Esq., at [email protected] or 484-206-8101, or the county’s Probono Coordinator.

Pro Bono in this County:

Pro bono attorneys are needed for PFA hearings Wednesdays in Doylestown

DOYLESTOWN - Protection from Abuse (PFA) hearings take place Wednesdays at the Bucks County Justice Center at 100 N. Main St., Doylestown 18901.

To volunteer with LASP's Bucks County Division, please contact Randi Riefner, Paralegal and Bucks County Assistant Pro Bono Coordinator, at [email protected] or 215-770-4067.

Note: In January, Bucks County Protection from Abuse (PFA) court implemented multiple new protocols, designed to keep everyone as safe as possible and limit those who need to appear.

Each judge may have specific procedures in their courtrooms; their staff should be consulted to confirm if parties may be excused.

Please check out pro bono opportunities at clinics held in Bucks County by Episcopal Legal Aid at https://www.episcopallegalaid.org


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


Newborn of Bucks County Receives PBA Pro Bono Award, Oct. 26, 2023
Brooke Newborn received a PBA Pro Bono Award at a meeting of the Bucks County Bar Association/Bucks County Bar Foundation (BCBF) in Doylestown on Oct. 26, 2023. Newborn concentrates her practice in real estate transactions, zoning, and land use for Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP.
Pictured below, from left: Elizabeth Wood Fritsch, BCBF vice president and former executive director, Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania; Newborn


Bucks County Bar Association Pro Bono Week Celebration 2021

Bucks County Pro Bono Celebration 2020

Smolow Honored with PBA Pro Bono Award, Oct. 27, 2020
As part of the celebration of the 12th National Pro Bono Week, Bucks County lawyer Ronald J. Smolow of Newtown was recognized with a 2020 PBA Pro Bono Award on Oct. 27 for his support of low-income tenants facing eviction. PBA President David Schwager presented the award after a program on “Pro Bono in the Age of Covid-19” presented by PBA Pro Bono Coordinator David Trevaskis. Smolow was honored for his innovative eviction project. Last fall, after several years of research and development, he helped form a pro bono program that provided attorney representation and rental assistance to poor tenants facing eviction in the County. Building on funding provided by the United Way of Bucks County toward rental assistance for tenants, Smolow helped bring together a partnership between the Bucks County Bar Association, the Bucks County Opportunity Council, Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Bucks County Division of Housing and Human Resources.


Mellott Receives Pro Bono Award, Oct. 23, 2019
Diane C. Mellott of Bristol was honored with a 2019 PBA Pro Bono Award on Oct. 23 in Doylestown. Mellott was recognized for her representation of plaintiffs in protection from abuse cases on behalf of Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania – Bucks County Division.

Pictured below, from left: Bucks County Bar Association (BCBA) President Robert Repko; PBA Pro Bono Coordinator David Trevaskis; Jennifer Pierce, BCBA Pro Bono chair and Legal Services of Southeast Pennsylvania managing attorney, Bucks County Division (Doylestown); Mellott; Bucks County Judge James M. McMaster; Bucks County President Judge Wallace H. Bateman, Jr. and Bucks County Judge Robert O. Baldi


Williams of Bucks County Receives PBA Pro Bono Award, Oct. 24
Shari Gelfont Williams of Gelfont Williams Law LLC in Huntingdon Valley was presented with a 2018 PBA Pro Bono Award on Oct. 24 at the Bucks County Bar Association. Williams was a coordinator of the Legal Representation Project for the Victim Assistance Office. Among her duties were recruiting, training and supervising pro bono attorneys, certified legal interns and law students to represent domestic violence victims seeking restraining orders.

From left, below: Jessica Pritchard, Bucks County Bar Association president; Williams; Charles Eppolito, PBA president; and Judith Algeo, Bucks County Pro Bono Committee chair


Leibmann and Romaszewski Receive Awards, Dec. 7, 2017
Attorneys Jeff Leibmann and Sandra Romaszewski received community service and pro bono awards at the Bucks County Bar Association Annual Dinner & Awards Ceremony on Dec. 7.

From left: Leibmann, Mark E. Goldberg Award for Community Service honoree; Romaszewski, Arthur B. Walsh Jr. Pro Bono Publico Award honoree, and Sharon R. López, PBA president.


Litzke of Bucks County Receives 2017 Pro Bono Award, Oct. 25, 2017
Bucks County attorney Kimberly Litzke was awarded the 2017 PBA Pro Bono Award on Oct. 25, 2017. Litzke has been a strong advocate in improving and increasing pro bono representation for family law matters in Bucks County, especially in the areas of protection from abuse and custody. She completed more than 40 pro bono PFAs on the day she was honored. Litzke has been dedicated in recruiting her law firm colleagues and other local private attorneys to actively participate in the Bucks pro bono program. She has conducted CLEs to teach other lawyers about possible pro bono areas, initiating even more participation. Litzke is highly recommended by and supportive of the legal aid attorneys and administrative support staff in the Bucks County Office of Legal Aid of Southeast Pennsylvania (LASP). LASP staff had this to say: “Kimberly Litzke deserves this award because her commitment to pro bono in Bucks County is amazing. Attorney Litzke has gone above and beyond her duty to volunteer time to pro bono matters. She continues to sacrifice countless hours ensuring that the protection from abuse program progresses forward.”

Pictured below are David Trevaskis, PBA pro bono coordinator; Maria Judith Rodriguez-Martyak Esq.; Elizabeth Fritsch, executive director, LASP; Stacey Mulholland, executive director, Bucks County Bar Association; Litzke; and Bucks County Judge C. Theodore Fritsch Jr.


Algeo Receives ABA Jean Crowe Award, Aug. 6, 2016
Bucks County lawyer Judith A. Algeo has received the Jean Crowe Pro Bono Award from the American Bar Association Family Law Section. The award presentation was made at the section’s Annual Meeting in San Francisco, Calif., on Aug. 6. Given annually to a lawyer who has made significant contributions to family-law clients on a pro bono basis in their community, the award was presented to Algeo in recognition of her dedication to representing the underprivileged in Bucks County. Read more about the award.


Legal Aid and Pro Bono in Bucks County, 2016


Bucks County Pro Bono Reception, Oct. 28, 2015
Meg Groff was awarded a 2015 Pro Bono Award on during the Bucks County Pro Bono Reception, Oct. 28, for her support of the needs of the indigent for most of her 31-year professional career, beginning in the early 1980's. Groff has made a career of public service, first as an attorney working for Bucks County Legal Aid, where she worked tirelessly to provide legal representation to victims of domestic violence, and later as a board member to the merged legal-services organization known as Legal Aid of Southeastern Pennsylvania. She was also on the board of A Woman's Place for many years. Additionally, after going in to private practice, she regularly volunteered her time to represent victims of domestic violence. Now, as she looks to retirement, it is fitting to recognize her for all the positive work she has done to assist victims of domestic violence throughout her career. She has truly made a change in the lives of thousands of individuals. Below is a photo of Groff receiving her award and a photo of the full house on hand for the event. In the third photo, lower left, are, left to right, Mitsue Shafer, Carol Wilbur, Mardi Busanus, Barbara Kaner and Jennifer Pierce, Esquire - all LASP staff. And in the fourth photo, left to right, are attendees Seth Weber, Carol Wilbur, Jennifer Pierce, Maryjane Kelley, Gregory Hill, Rhonda Sherrod, Barbara Kaner, Mardi Busanus and Mitsue Shafer.

  
  


Wills for Heroes Clinic, Sept. 19, 2015
The Pennsylvania Bar Association Young Lawyers Division and the Wills for Heroes Foundation, with sponsorship by Ballard Spahr LLP, are hosting upcoming events across Pennsylvania. At these events, free wills and powers of attorney are prepared for police officers, firefighters and other first responders who risk their lives every day to make sure our communities are safe. Programs are staffed by lawyer volunteers and are conveniently offered to first responders at meeting halls and police and fire stations. On Sept. 19, volunteer lawyers will be conducting a Wills for Heroes program for all Pennsylvania first responders (active and retired) and Military Veterans, all sworn personnel and their spouses, partners or significant others. The September 19th event will be held at the Warrington Township Emergency Services, 852 Easton Rd, Warrington, beginning at 11 am.