Bet Tzedek Honors O'Melveny, Shick for Extensive Pro Bono Committment
O'Melveny will receive two impressive honors from Bet Tzedek at its annual Evening of Volunteer Recognition in Los Angeles on July 22 recognizing the Firm and its lawyers for significant contributions to the organization and its mission.
For her extensive efforts on behalf of O’Melveny in support of Bet Tzedek’s Holocaust Survivor Justice Network, counsel Jerri Shick will be honored with the prestigious Volunteer Lawyer of the Year Award. Shick took the lead in organizing, operating, and overseeing a network of clinics throughout the New York metro area that has helped hundreds of Holocaust survivors apply for reparations program funds. This large undertaking involves more than 20 law firms and multiple weekly clinics that serve hundreds of elderly, vulnerable Holocaust survivors.
At the awards ceremony, Bet Tzedek will also announce the creation of the John O'Melveny Pro Bono Attorney position. In recognition of the Firm's longstanding support of the organization and dedicated advocacy for pro bono clients over the years, Bet Tzedek has created a senior-level attorney position that will be responsible for working with law firms to find creative opportunities in which to engage pro bono lawyers through the creation and management of signature projects, co-counseling situations, and other avenues of effective pro bono litigation. The position will be filled by leading housing lawyer Ed Elsner. As the John O'Melveny Pro Bono Attorney, Elsner will work on housing-related impact matters, as well as other cases affecting Los Angeles' poor and underserved. The position is funded largely by an award of more than US$300,000 in attorney fees donated to Bet Tzedek by O'Melveny after the Firm served as co-counsel with the organization on a successful trial court suit against an egregious slum landlord in 2007. The case was litigated by counsel Adam Karr and resulted in monumental improvements in the lives and living conditions of a number of low-income families.
July 9, 2010
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