View more photos from the 2008 Volunteer Recognition Event

 

 

 

 

 

 2008 Volunteer Recognition Event

 

 

On Tuesday, December 2, nearly 100 volunteers and friends of the BBA Volunteer Lawyers Project celebrated another successful year of providing pro bono civil legal services to over 2000 of Brooklyn’s neediest residents. 

 

The 2008 Volunteer Recognition Event, generously hosted by TD Bank on Montague Street, was the VLP’s opportunity to show its appreciation for the legal professionals who have donated hundreds of hours of pro bono service through VLP programs.  The lower level of TD Bank was transformed into an elegant reception area where VLP staff, volunteers and supporters shared success stories and enjoyed cocktails and hors d’oeuvres. 

 

 

In addition to recognizing the many legal professionals who volunteered with the VLP in the past year, the VLP presented special awards to two attorneys who have shown remarkable dedication to pro bono legal service.  Professor Charles E. Coleman, the 2008 recipient of the Terri and Nick Letica Award for Outstanding Support of Pro Bono, was recognized for over a decade of assisting low-income litigants and providing invaluable mentoring and training to other VLP volunteers.  Coleman, a former New York City Police Department Lieutenant and Professor of Law and Paralegal Studies at New York College of Technology (CUNY), spends nearly every Thursday afternoon at the VLP assisting pro se uncontested divorce clients.  In presenting the award, VLP Founding Board Member Terri Letica praised Professor Coleman’s extraordinary commitment and generous spirit, noting that through his teaching, mentoring and by example, he has “inspired us all.”

 

Nicholas Chandler, a 2007 graduate of the Washington College of Law, was the 2008 recipient of the Christopher Slattery Young Professional Award.  VLP Board President James P. Slattery presented the award in memory of his son Christopher, who died in the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001.  In Nicholas’s brief career as an attorney, he has made a truly admirable commitment to pro bono service, assisting over one hundred VLP clients through both direct representation and pro se assistance at the VLP’s Civil Legal Advice and Resource Office (CLARO).

 

Several officials and judges were on hand to congratulate the VLP volunteers, including Hon. Elizabeth S. Stong, United States Bankruptcy Court; Hon. Ellen Spodek, New York State Supreme Court, and Hon. Helene Weinstein, New York State Assembly.  Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz made a spirited presentation of citations to the two award recipients and thanked all the volunteers for their essential work. 

 

Addressing the volunteers, VLP Executive Director Jeannie Costello remarked: “You are the reason the VLP works, you are the engine that drives us, and the powerful and compassionate voice of the individuals and families who come to us for help.  You are an amazing assembly of the very best our profession has to offer.”

 

The VLP flourished in 2008, with the addition of over 120 legal professionals to the roster of volunteers, expansion of existing projects and development of new programs to address critical legal needs.