President’s Award Spotlights Outstanding Leaders in Pro Bono Work

• Jurisdiction: California,United States
• Citation: Vol. 10 No. 2013 Pg. 02
• Publication year: 2013
• Pages: 02
• Year: 2013
• topic: Business of Law,Charity and Non-Profit Law,Civil Rights,Family Law

President’s award spotlights outstanding leaders in pro bono work No. 2013 #02 California Bar Journal October 2013

Amy Yarbrough Staff Writer.

From attorneys determined to improve the lives of LGBT youth, to an altruistic private pilot and a mother of three who works with victims of human trafficking, the recipients of the 2013 President’s Pro Bono Service Awards have varied interests and legal expertise. But they all share one very key characteristic: the drive to help those struggling and less fortunate.

Given to California attorneys, law firms and law schools, the Pro on Bono Awards have for the past 30 years celebrated lawyers who go above and beyond to provide free legal services to the poor. This year’s nine recipients are: Meeran Mahmud; Julie M. McCoy; Laura Robles; Christine Linh-Chau Hoang; Charles Trudrung Taylor; Irell & Manella’s Newport Beach Office; Munger, Tolles & Olson’s team defending the ban on conversion therapy; the UC Irvine School of Law Family Law Blitz Pro Bono Project; and Ruth D. Kahn.

“These attorneys represent some of the best and brightest our profession has to offer, ” said State Bar President Patrick M. Kelly, who will present the awards on Oct. 11 during the State Bar’s Annual Meeting. “All of the winners of the 2013 President’s Pro Bono Service Awards have given selflessly of their time to help clients in great need. They have truly set an example for us all.”

Helping out by bus and air

Meeran This year’s recipient in the recently admitted category, Meeran Mahmud, never lost her Mahmud dedication to help others despite struggling to find a job post law school. Mahmud took two buses and traveled an hour to volunteer in the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles’ (LAFLA) office, helping immigrant clients who’d been victims of domestic violence, torture and human trafficking with their immigration cases.

Mahmud also volunteered with the Los Angeles Community Action Network, including at its legal clinics, helping clients from Skid Row with issues pertaining to housing, civil rights and government. All told, Mahmud contributed 1, 800 hours to the two organizations in 2012.

“Despite her own financial difficulties … Meeran was able to use her education, skill, and time to assist those who were in even more unfortunate circumstances, ” Phong Wong, pro bono director of LAFLA, wrote in Mahmud’s nomination. “Her determination not only helped extend the legal services that LAFLA was able to offer, but it also allowed her to further develop her skills so that she could continue to assist individuals in need.”

While Mahmud relied on a city bus, award winner Julie McCoy’s pro bono work partly depends on a plane.

McCoy, who received the award for solo practitioner, serves as legal...