Cook and Foster of Erie County Honored with PBA Pro Bono Awards, Dec. 6
Attorneys Ronald E. Cook and Daniel P. Foster were honored with 2018 PBA Pro Bono Awards on Dec. 6 at the Erie County Bar Association Annual Meeting. The two were honored for standing in for a medically disabled attorney who was no longer able to practice. They assumed responsibility, with no guarantee of payment, for 44 cases in various stages of the bankruptcy process, including Chapter 7 and 13 cases. They attended 53 court hearings and filed 97 separate pleadings, including various motions and Chapter 13 plans. They successfully moved to reopen and vacate dismissal orders in 15 cases, which had been dismissed solely due to the inaction of the former attorney. In making the otherwise lost clients whole, and in maintaining the integrity of the justice system, Cook and Foster knew they were going to be uncompensated for much of their work but they continued to provide their services on a pro bono basis in those clients’ cases until final resolution.
Pictured below, from left: Erie County Bar Association President Eric Purchase, PBA Director of Western Pennsylvania Services Bridget M. Gillespie and Ronald Cook. Not pictured: Daniel Foster.
Ansari and Willson of Centre County Honored with PBA Pro Bono Awards, Dec. 13
Parviz Ansari and Yvette Willson of Centre County were honored with 2018 PBA Pro Bono Awards on Dec. 13 at the Centre County Bar Association (CCBA). Ansari, of the County Public Defender’s Office is assigned as the guardian ad litem in dependency cases. While he has always supported pro bono efforts, he became the co-chair of the CCBA Pro Bono committee about four years ago. He has been committed to exploring and pursuing ways to encourage members to volunteer time for pro bono by signing up with MidPenn Legal Services and the Women’s Resource Center (now Centre Safe) to take referrals. He also took the initiative to approach the board of governors to advise them that the current pro bono model was not working. He did so in a straight-forward manner that led the board to commit to the development of a formal CCBA pro bono program. He continues to be involved as the bar works on developing this important program.
Yvette Willson has worked in the District Attorney's office, worked as the director of the Women’s Resource Center Civil Litigation Representation Program, and is currently the associate director of the Office of Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response at Penn State. She has been a longtime member of the pro bono committee and has served as the co-chair of the committee. Along with Ansari, Willson has devoted time and energy to meeting with the judges, firms, and members of the local bar to advocate for programs that will assist with access to justice and organize volunteers. She also worked on the partnership with the Immigration Clinic, which involved many meetings with the clinic and with the board to explore options and consider the benefits of a partnership.
Below, from left: CCBA President Amy Marshall, PBA Pro Bono Coordinator David Trevaskis, Pennsylvania Bar Foundation President Jeffrey M. Bower and Parviz Ansari. Not pictured: Yvette Willson
Below, from left: Trevaskis, Yvette Willson, Marshall, and Sharon Barney
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
Boyer, Good of Berks County 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.
Hawbaker of Franklin County Receives PBA Pro Bono Award, Oct. 17, 2018
Franklin County lawyer Janice Hawbaker (pictured below with David Trevaskis, PBA pro bono coordinator) received a 2018 PBA Pro Bono Award during the FCBA Pro Bono Luncheon in Chambersburg, Oct. 17. The Law Offices of WIN, MidPenn Legal Services and Franklin County Legal Services nominated Hawbaker for award. She has been the chair of Franklin County Bar Association's Pro Bono Committee since 2015 and has consistently accepted 3-4 pro bono referrals from the three legal services offices in Franklin County in divorce and protection from abuse matters for many years.
Spreha of Dauphin County Receives PBA Pro Bono Award Sept. 26, 2018
PBA President Charles Eppolito III presented Edward F. Spreha Jr. with a PBA Pro Bono Award during the fall membership meeting of the Dauphin County Bar Association (DCBA) on Sept. 26, 2018. The award honors Spreha’s work launching the Driver’s License Reinstatement Intake Clinic as 2016 DCBA president. Pictured below from left are Eppolito, Spreha, PBA Pro Bono Coordinator David Trevaskis and Peter Good, 2018 DCBA president.
Ugolnik of Lancaster County Receives PBA Pro Bono Award, April 25, 2018
The Lancaster Bar Association held its inaugural Pro Bono Summit on April 25, 2018, as awyers and legal aid professionals met for an afternoon of CLE followed by a Public Service Reception with local government and nonprofit officials. Attendees were able to sign up for pro bono service at upcoming clinics on criminal record expungement and pro se custody and/or to represent a pro bono client through the LBA Volunteer Attorney Program that is run in partnership with MidPenn Legal Services. Elaine G. Ugolnik, a longtime Lancaster County family law attorney and one of the presenters at the event, was honored at the reception with a 2018 Pennsylvania Bar Association Pro Bono Award for her significant pro bono service. PBA Pro Bono Coordinator David Trevaskis presented on "The Ethics of Pro Bono Work," along with Laurie Baughman, deputy director, MidPenn Legal Services. Baughman and Trevaskis presented Ugolnik’s award, calling her a "champion of justice" and a "role model of service to the poor for private practice attorneys across the commonwealth."
Nanovic of Lehigh County Receives 2018 PBA Pro Bono Award, April 14, 2018
Elizabeth Burton Nanovic, a Wills for Heroes (WFH) coordinator and frequent volunteer from Lehigh County to Pike County, was honored with a 2018 PBA Pro Bono Award at the a Lehigh County WFH Event on, April 14, 2018. Pictured below with Nanovic are Gabriele Miller-Wagner and David Trevaskis of the PBA Pro Bono Legal Services Department.
Barbin Receives 2018 PBA Pro Bono Award, Feb. 10, 2018
An active member of both the Cumberland County and Dauphin County Bar Associations, as well as the Pennsylvania Bar Association, Andrew W. Barbin was honored Feb. 10 at the Widener University Commonwealth Law School with a PBA Pro Bono Award for his broad and diverse service to those in need. Barbin was fittingly honored at Widener's Wills for Heroes (WFH) event as he has been one of the most consistent volunteers for the WFH program, often traveling to distant sites to offer expert support for the program that provides estate planning documents to first responders and veterans. He volunteers at more than ten WFH programs a year.
Barbin (center) is pictured receiving his award from PBA Pro Bono Coordinator David Trevaskis and PBA administrative assistant and WFH Regional Coordinator Gabriele Miller-Wagner.
Gilroy of Cumberland County Receives 2018 PBA Pro Bono Award, Jan. 24, 2018
Hubert Gilroy (center) received a PBA Pro Bono Award Jan. 24 at the Cumberland County Bar Association & Foundation President’s Dinner. Gilroy was honored for his work helping embezzlement victims recover lost funds and handling custody cases via the CCBA Pro Bono Program. Pictured with Gilroy are PBA Pro Bono Coordinator David Trevaskis and MidPenn Legal Services Managing Attorney Paul Edger.
Attwood of Washington County Receives 2018 PBA Pro Bono Award Jan. 19, 2018
Belinda Dunmire Attwood received the 2018 PBA Pro Bono Award Jan. 19 at the Washington County Bar Association Winter Bench-Bar. Attwood was instrumental in creating the county’s Name Change Project providing free legal name change services to low-income transgender residents. In this picture: PBA Director of Western Pennsylvania Services Bridget M. Gillespie (left) presenting Attwood (right) with the award.
DiGiorgio and Olshin of Chester County Receive PBA Pro Bono Awards, Jan. 19, 2018
PBA President-elect Charles Eppolito III (second from left) presented PBA Pro Bono Awards to Joseph P. DiGiorgio and Douglas W. Olshin at the Chester County Bar Association President’s Dinner on Jan. 19. They are joined by David Trevaskis, PBA pro bono coordinator (far right).
Campana of Lycoming County Receives PBA Pro Bono Award, Jan. 16, 2018
In celebration of its long institutionalization of pro bono service, PBA President Sharon R. López addressed Lycoming Law Association members Jan. 16, and presented Peter Campana with a 2018 Pro Bono Award for his exceptional service to those in need. In 1985, the Lycoming Law Association established a pro bono program that featured a partnership of legal aid, the private bar and the local bar association. That program became the model that the PBA embraced with its 1990 Report of the Task Force on the Delivery of Legal Services to the Needy. Pictured from left: PBA Pro Bono Coordinator David Trevaskis, López, Campana and Lycoming Law Association President Jennifer L. Heverly.
Stambaugh of York County Receives PBA Pro Bono Award, Jan. 9, 2018
PBA President Sharon R. López presented Rosina Stambaugh with a PBA Pro Bono Award at the York County Bar Association/York County Bar Foundation Annual Recognition Dinner Jan. 9. Stambaugh is a panelist on the York County Bar Foundation’s pro bono program and provides free legal assistance in coordination with PIRC, HIAS and the AILA Military Assistance Program. York County President Judge Joseph C. Adams was also honored with the Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille Award for his role in increasing access to justice by eliminating financial barriers to the expungement process.
Pictured below: López, York County Bar Association/York County Bar Foundation CEO Victoria Connor, who accepted the Castille Award on behalf of President Judge Adams, Stambaugh.
Ellixson of Delaware County Receives PBA Pro Bono Award, Dec. 5, 2017
PBA President Sharon R. López presented the first Pro Bono Award of 2018 on Dec. 5 to Delaware County Bar Association member Thomas K. Ellixson. Nominated by Legal Aid of Southeastern PA, Ellixson was honored for accepting the most pro bono custody cases in the previous 15 months.
Pictured below, from left: López, Legal Aid of Southeastern PA Executive Director Elizabeth Wood Fritsch, Legal Aid of Southeastern PA Pro Bono Coordinator Tom Kerstan and Ellixson
