McDermott Receives LAFLA 2007 Pro Bono Services Award
LOS ANGELES (November 9, 2007) — McDermott Will & Emery is pleased to announce that the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles (LAFLA) honored the Firm with its 2007 Pro Bono Services Award. McDermott was recognized for contributing more than 3,400 hours to LAFLA over the past two years on two major affirmative slum housing cases. Harvey W. Freishtat, Firm Chairman, and Elizabeth Mann, Los Angeles partner in the Firm's Trial Department, accepted the award on behalf of the Firm on November 7, 2007.
"My Firm is deeply honored to receive this award from LAFLA, and I am very pleased to be here to accept it. As a Firm, we are committed to giving back to the communities where we live and work. We pride ourselves on a culture that encourages all of our attorney and staff to engage in pro bono and community service activities," stated Mr. Freishtat after accepting the award.
Ms. Mann commented, "I for one, feel honored to be able to use our legal skills and talents to make something that was very wrong, right. We could not do this without the tireless efforts of Tai Glenn and the LAFLA team. We also couldn't do this without the full panoply of McDermott's resources, which, through the commitment of our Chairman Harvey, are made available, without reservation, to clients like ours."
The award was given primarily in recognition of the accomplishments of McDermott lawyers and staff in pursuing the rights of indigent tenants in Hernandez v. Chelsea Corners, LLC, and Jimenez v. Lee. In Hernandez, the Firm's litigation team was led by Charles Weir, and in Jimenez, the litigation team is led by Michelle L. Manzo. Both are partners in the Trial Department of the Los Angeles office.
For 75 years, the Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles has been providing civil legal services to low-income people in metropolitan Los Angeles. By helping to strengthen communities and change policies and laws that unfairly impact the poor, LAFLA attacks the roots of poverty and effects systemic change. For more information about LAFLA visit http://www.lafla.org.
McDermott Will & Emery recognizes and appreciates the need to give back to the communities of which it is a part, assisting those who are unable to afford legal services. The Firm strongly encourages lawyers and staff to participate in pro bono activities, volunteer services and charitable activities. McDermott’s Pro Bono & Community Services Committee seeks to ensure that the same Firm standards of quality, service and care that are given to our paying clients are also afforded to those we serve on a pro bono basis.
