OCBA UPDATE: Four-peat and repeat

By Peter Alter Well, what exactly am I talking about? It's certainly not obvious. On March 2, the OCBA held its 7th Annual Bowling Challenge--with the OCBA board members (and their partners) squaring off against the New Lawyers Committee (and their partners). The OCBA board pulled off a "four-peat." For the fourth year in a row, the OCBA board members met the challenge and defeated their friendly rivals by an average of a whopping three pins per person. Of course, the OCBA board members expected to retain the title--and the trophy that goes with it! But, more importantly, there was great camaraderie and friendship at this event. Everyone had a good time. The icing on the cake was that the event raised almost $1,000--a record amount--for the New Lawyers' charity, "Helping Families Cope Program." We were delighted by the wonderful turnout and the great participation of so many who made the event so successful. Earlier that same day, on March 2, the OCBA conducted a much more important program, a challenge of a very different sort--the second annual training session for the award-winning Pro Bono Mentor Match program. It's a "re-peat" of last year's highly successful training session for the program, created and developed by OCBA Immediate Past President Jennifer Grieco. Importantly, this is a special and different pro bono program that, incredibly, in its first year of existence, received the National Association of Bar Executives (NABE) Lexis/Nexus Community and Educational Outreach Award for outstanding bar public-service and law-related education programs. Our Pro Bono Mentor Match program is committed to supporting new lawyers and serving our community. On March 2, there were approximately 25 new lawyers who participated in the training session, along with a number of experienced mentors that included past OCBA presidents, current OCBA officers, board members and dedicated OCBA activists. In our Pro Bono Mentor Match program, the Oakland County Bar Association has partnered with the Family Law Assistance Project (FLAP) and Legal Aid and Defender Association (LAD) to engage new lawyers in pro bono work to benefit those less fortunate in our community. The new lawyers are trained in one or more substantive areas of law: family law, debt collection, landlord/tenant and expungements. It goes without saying that training and experience in each of these areas can form the basis for a significant portion of a law practice and account for substantial fee generation. Of course, the challenge here, substantially different and much more critical than the bowling challenge, is to be able to provide legal services to the vastly increased number of people who qualify for legal aid but do not have a lawyer who can represent them. At the same time, there are many recent law school graduates who either have not yet found employment as lawyers or who have ventured out on their own as solo practitioners or with other less-experienced lawyers. Through the OCBA, we provide the training necessary to help such lawyers become qualified and experienced professionals in a variety of areas. Simply, it's a win-win situation. Each new lawyer/mentee is linked with a mentor, an attorney in practice for at least seven years (and often much more) who has extensive experience in one of the key substantive areas of law. The mentor will guide and advise the mentee with respect to a pro bono case and, during the process, will define her/his relationship with the new lawyer based upon the specific nature of the case and the mentor's availability. Our experience is that the mentor and mentee often form a relationship that far transcends the single case and is mutually beneficial for both the experienced and new lawyer. The continued involvement of the legal aid providers, including their own talented legal staff, is another critical part of this program. Of course, if any mentee or mentor desires additional training at any time, the OCBA will make it happen. Now in the midst of its second year, the OCBA's Pro Bono Mentor Match program has already trained more than 50 new lawyers and the benefits of the program have been succinctly summarized by one of the original mentees, Craig Lavoie, who refers to his experience as career-changing: "My pro bono experience was amazing on both the professional and personal level. I gained invaluable training and real world experience and further developed my skills as a lawyer. On a personal level, the experience was incredibly rewarding. By handling this case, I also have become more mindful of others who may be indirectly affected by cases in which I am involved." Please join Craig Lavoie and the dozens of others who have been mentees, as well as the scores of mentors who have helped make this program so successful. We want to include you. * * * * * * * * * This month's "unsung hero" is Stephanie D. Jones, a member of the General Motors legal staff in Detroit. Stephanie's pro bono service has been broad and exemplary. Not only is Stephanie the current president of the D. Augustus Straker Bar Association, but she is also one of the sponsors of the Oakland/Macomb Pro Bono Fair. In addition, she was the key player in strengthening the relationship between the OCBA and the Straker Bar as we work on and develop more programs between the two bar associations. This year Stephanie is responsible for arranging the Straker Bar's support of and participation in the OCBA Legal Aid Mini-Clinics in Southfield, Waterford and Pontiac. Stephanie's dedication to providing pro bono services to our greater community is unquestioned and well-recognized. We congratulate Stephanie D. Jones as this month's "unsung hero" and extend our sincere and deep appreciation to each of our mentors and mentees who have provided and/or are now providing dedicated legal services to so many needy members of our community. As always, please feel free to give Lisa Stadig Elliot, our executive director, a telephone call or send her an email and let her know that you would like to find a way to get involved in the OCBA's Pro Bono Mentor Match program or one of our other pro bono programs. It will be a rewarding and gratifying experience. ------------ Peter M. Alter, a partner in the Southfield office of Jaffe, Raitt, Heuer, & Weiss, is the 79th president of the Oakland County Bar Association. Published: Thu, Apr 19, 2012