NYCLA to Hold Public Forum on the Mandatory Reporting of Voluntary Pro Bono May 27th

NYCLA will hold a Public Forum on May 27, 2014 to address new rules that now require New York attorneys to report certain information about their pro bono service, as well as their charitable contributions to organizations that provide pro bono legal service, on their biennial registration statements.

Speakers, through a series of panel discussions, will address:

• The mechanics of and rationale for the new rules.
• Whether the Administrative Board of the Courts had the statutory authority to impose mandatory reporting.
• Whether the new rules advance legitimate public policy goals.
• Whether they impermissible infringe on the privacy rights of New York lawyers.
• Whether the definition of “pro bono” used in the new rules is appropriate.

   Presenters include:

• Barbara Moses, President, NYCLA, Counsel, Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC
• Hon. A. Gail Prudenti, Chief Administrative Judge of the Courts of New York State
• John McConnell, Counsel to the New York Unified Court System 
• Sarah Jo Hamilton, Partner, Scalise & Hamilton LLP
• Lisa E. Cleary, Chair, NYCLA Pro Bono Committee, Partner, Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
• Samuel B. Cohen, Chair, NYCLA Civil Rights and Liberties Committee, Partner, Stecklow Cohen & Thompson
• Hon. Barry Kamins, Administrative Judge of the Criminal Court of the City of New York, Chief of Policy and Planning for New York State's Unified Court System
• Glenn Lau-Kee, President- Elect, NYSBA, Partner, Kee & Lau-Kee, PLLC
• Richard M. Gutierrez, Attorney, Queens County, former President of Queens County Bar Association
• Robert L. Ostertag, Partner, Ostertag, O' Leary, Barrett & Faulkner, Former President of NYSBA
• Geoffrey Bickford, Co-Chair, NYCLA Criminal Justice Section, Court Attorney, New York City Criminal Court
• Hon. Fern Fisher, Deputy Chief Administrative Judge, New York City Court   
• Bruce Green, Louis Stein Chair of Law; Director, Stein Center, Fordham Law School
• Ronald C. Minkoff, Chair, NYCLA Task Force on Professionalism, Partner, Frankfurt Kurnit Klein & Selz, PC
• Ronald J. Tabak, Special Counsel, Skadden, Arps, Slate, & Flom LLP & Associates            

     Click the link for registration information.