University of Oregon School of Law
http://www.law.uoregon.edu/news/printer/199
March 31st 2006
WE DID IT AGAIN!
Law students win 2006 Oregon State Bar Pro Bono Challenge
with 10,552 volunteer hours
UO law
students spearheaded Oregons first law school pro bono program in 1996
and, since the Oregon State Bar first offered its Pro Bono Challenge to
law students five years ago, we've aced the competition.
In 2006, we
did it again with 10,552 logged volunteer hours on behalf of the poor
and legally underserved.
Pro
bono projects include the UO site of the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance program,
offering tax preparation help for low and moderate income community
members. This year, law students joined forces with business students. As of April
1, volunteers had already helped
130 tax filers, with the two busiest weekends yet to come. This
pro bono project (pictured above) is completely student run and the
only free-standing VITA site in Oregon.
Pro Bono program director Jane Steckbeck
said, "Each year, students start new projects, join existing
organizations, and donate hundreds of hours, all while balancing their
full time class schedules. This is the essence of pro bono and public
service. Their passion to contribute their legal skills continues to
astound me.
She will
accept this year's
award on behalf of the law school on Thursday, April
6 in Portland.
The award ceremony takes place from 5:30 to 6:30 P.M. at the Embassy Suites, 319 SW Pine St.
award on behalf of the law school on Thursday, April
6 in Portland.
The award ceremony takes place from 5:30 to 6:30 P.M. at the Embassy Suites, 319 SW Pine St.
University President Dave Frohnmayer will
keynote the awards ceremony, which also honors all of the Oregon
lawyers and law firms who contributed a total of more than 86,000 pro
bono hours this year.
The law school's three top individual contributors were students Dennis Borges,
who donated 411
hours to the Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of
Justice in Washington D.C.; Sara Reisman, 400 hours to the Oregon Court
of Appeals; and Justin Hepworth, 400 hours to the U.S. attorney's office in Las
Vegas.
Organizations
that have benefited from the UO Law pro bono program include district
attorneys and public defenders in a number of states as well as these
Oregon programs: ACLU, Governor's Sexual Assault Task Force, Lane
County Legal Aid, Self-Help Divorce Classes through Lane County Legal
Aid, Senior Law Project, American Federation of State and County
Municipal Employees, Oregon Innocence Project, Volunteer Income Tax
Assistance Program, Civil Liberties Defense Center, Pacific Rivers
Council, Community Mediation Services, 1000 Friends of Oregon; E-Law;
District Attorney and Public Defender offices in multiple states, Peer
Courts in Eugene, Veneta, and Cottage Grove, Court Appointed Special
Advocates, Street Law; US Immigration Court; and the US Department of
Veteran's Affairs.
- Eliza Schmidkunz