Ropes & Gray Associates Receive Pro Bono Awards from the Legal Aid Society

Ropes & Gray associates Haley Park and Christopher Reid were presented with a Pro Bono Publico Award at the Legal Aid Society New York’s annual Pro Bono Awards Ceremony on November 4 in recognition of their work as New Alternatives Program fellows. These fellows expanded the Legal Aid Society New York’s capacity during reduced funding and a hiring freeze.

The Legal Aid Society New York’s (LAS) Pro Bono Publico Awards symbolize the outstanding commitment of major New York City law firms to provide access to justice to low-income children, families and individuals.

Haley Park worked as a fellow in LAS’s Harlem, Bronx and Brooklyn housing court projects. She provided advice and representation to low-income tenants who were threatened to lose irreplaceable housing.  Many of these clients would have become homeless without this assistance.

Philip Wells spent his fellowship year at LAS’s Bronx foreclosure prevention project, helping low-income homeowners, many of whom were victimized by predatory lending practices, save their homes during the mortgage foreclosure crisis.

“All of the Ropes & Gray [fellows] made a major contribution to The Legal Aid Society and our clients,” said Marlene Halpern, Supervising Attorney for Pro Bono at the Legal Aid Society.

Ropes & Gray has extended its commitment to underserved communities during the economic downturn by offering associates the opportunity to participate in one-year public interest fellowships. With Ropes & Gray funding, fellows help impoverished clients and nonprofits around the country and the world.  Fellows provide direct representation to poor clients with housing, benefits, asylum, criminal defense, and other basic needs; work for city and state government agencies in a time of deep budget cuts; and assist advocacy, human rights, and law reform institutions.