| Bar Bulletin |
December,
2003 |
| MSBA News |
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MSBA Honored with Special MLSC Award
~Receives Herbert S. Garten Award for
Commitment to Legal Services~
By Janet Stidman Eveleth
In recognition of its outstanding support and long-term commitment to the
state’s legal services community, the Maryland State Bar Association (MSBA)
is being honored with the esteemed Herbert S. Garten Public Citizen
Award. The Maryland Legal Services Corporation (MLSC) presented this
award to the MSBA for its outstanding leadership on access to justice
issues and its continuing support of civil legal services to Maryland’s
poor. The MSBA is indeed honored to receive this award because it pays
tribute to a past president who is nationally recognized as a committed
legal service leader.
On December 8, 2003, MLSC Chairman F.Vernon Boozer presented the Garten
Award to MSBA President Harry S. Johnson during the 2003 MLSC Awards
Reception, held at the Radisson Plaza Hotel in Baltimore. Boozer also
recognized the MSBA’s celebrated legal services award on October 24 at the
Association’s 2003 Bar Presidents’ Conference in Solomons Island.
This very special legal services award has only been granted twice in the
past. This year, the MLSC rededicated the award as an accolade to Herbert
S. Garten, Past MLSC Chairman and Past MSBA President, in honor of his
exceptional commitment and contributions to legal services over the years.
The MSBA is the first recipient of this prestigious honor.
“The MLSC only presents this award on special occasions to recognize an
organization’s extraordinary service and commitment to furthering access
to justice for all Maryland citizens,” states Susan Erlichman, MSLC’s new
Executive Director. “We are giving this award to the MSBA to honor its
exceptional long-term commitment to ensure all people who need legal
services in Maryland have access to them.”
Supporting legal services has always been a priority for the MSBA. “Time
and again the MSBA has been instrumental in advancing the delivery of
legal services in Maryland,” continues Erlichman. She cites the MSBA’s
involvement in the creation of the voluntary IOLTA program - and its
conversion to mandatory IOLTA to enhance legal services funding - as an
example. “MSBA was most supportive of the MLSC’s quest to enact a filing
fee surcharge for legal services and most recently filed an Amicus Brief
in support of civil Gideon,” she adds.
The Garten award “recognizes the Association’s tremendous pro bono
efforts over the years.” Ironically, the MSBA President who launched the
Association’s pro bono campaign in 1989 and was a driving force behind the
MSBA’s commitment to pro bono service is MLSC award honoree Herbert S.
Garten. The MLSC dedicated the award to Garten this year in recognition of
his support and his many contributions to Maryland’s legal services
community.
“The MLSC’s Board has presented me with an unexpected honor that is very
meaningful to me,” exclaims Herbert S. Garten. “I am very pleased that my
name will be associated with an award to businesses and organizations for
the important role they have in supporting the outstanding delivery system
we have established in Maryland.”
As MSBA President, Garten launched the renowned People’s Pro Bono
Campaign, which successfully recruited thousands of Maryland volunteer
attorneys to accept pro bono cases and help the poor. He was instrumental
in the creation of the Pro Bono Resource Center, a clearinghouse to link
volunteer attorneys with legal services programs in need of their help.
Garten just completed an eight-year term as MLSC Chairman and was recently
appointed to serve on the federal Legal Service Corporation’s Board of
Governors by President George W. Bush.
Above all, this outstanding and dedicated legal services advocate has left
a remarkable legacy for others to emulate. Garten was an inspiration to
the MSBA and laid the foundation for the Association’s and the PBRC’s pro
bono program today. He is delighted that the MSBA is the first recipient
of the award that carries his name.
“The MSBA and my Bar colleagues have been and continue to be an important
part of my professional and social life,” declares Garten. “MSBA officers,
Board of Governors and members gave me the opportunity to encourage pro
bono legal services through the 1989-90 ‘People’s Pro Bono’ Campaign. This
MSBA effort gained national attention and captured the ABA Harrison Tweed
Award. It is a delightful personal twist of fate that the MSBA has now
been selected as the first recipient of the MLSC Public Citizen Award
named in my honor.”
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