| Bar Bulletin |
May,
2003 |
|
Pro Bono Profile |
|
Advancing A
Tradition of Pro Bono
By Lisa Muscara
Many corporate tax
attorneys are stymied when they think about providing pro bono service;
they don’t know how their expertise could be applied to serve the needs of
low-income citizens. That query hasn’t kept Stephanie Ketchum from jumping
right in. Ketchum, an associate in the Corporate Section of Whiteford,
Taylor & Preston (WTP), has found numerous ways to parlay her corporate
tax experience into the realm of pro bono service.
“I have had my
hands in a lot of pro bono work, but my main emphasis is on tax-exempt
organizations,” Ketchum explains. “That’s what I work with in my practice,
and I’ve received a lot of referrals from that. There are lots of people
who have really good ideas about what they want to do but don’t know how
to go about being recognized as a tax-exempt organization. I can help
them.”
From her work with
tax-exempt organizations, Ketchum developed additional transactional law
skills, enabling her to assist with basic real estate matters for new
homebuyers. “I did want to diversify, and I’m interested in flipping
cases, so I’ve taken a training to help with the (Civil Justice Network’s)
First Time Homebuyers Project,” she says. This program helps first-time
home buyers in Baltimore avoid the perils of flipping (buying an
incompletely renovated property at an inflated price) and predatory
lending. Since her training, Ketchum has handled one case through the
Project and is prepared to assist other first time home buyers as well.
Ketchum has also
worked through WTP’s Adopt-A-Shelter program in which WTP attorneys
provide monthly outreach to two homeless shelters in the area. This
program is coordinated through the Homeless Persons Representation
Project. In Ketchum’s experience, these shelter visits have not resulted
in strenuous legal cases. “I go about twice a year to visit the shelters,”
she says. “Oftentimes, the clients just want to talk with someone to make
them feel like their case is important. I’ve done a few name changes and
dealt with some Social Security issues, but most often they just want to
talk.”
The Maryland
Volunteer Lawyers Service (MVLS) has also benefited from Ketchum’s pro
bono efforts. She has participated in the MVLS Low Income Tax Credit
Clinic since 1999 and served on their fundraising committee in 2002.
Ketchum is committed
to pro bono service and has been influenced by strong examples of
volunteerism. She explains that volunteering is not only a part of her
family’s culture (she proudly shares that her mother volunteers at the
National Aquarium as a diver), but it is also a long-standing tradition at
WTP. “I’m fortunate that Whiteford encourages and recognizes the value of
pro bono work,” she admits. “Most of the casework and follow up is done
during business hours. I am able to work with the partners here, and if I
have questions, they make themselves available to help.”
Ketchum has noticed
that she has developed a different rapport with her pro bono clients. In
fact, she has been “caught off-guard” by some of the kind gestures her pro
bono clients have offered. “They send letters and thank you notes, things
you don’t get from other clients.”
Ketchum was
nominated by her colleague Patrick Reardon for this year’s Maryland Pro
Bono Service Awards. Reardon is surrounded by a community of attorneys
contributing pro bono service, but he elected to nominate Ketchum because
“she’s primarily a tax attorney, and yet she’s very active in pro bono.
She has said that she wanted to try something different from her normal
practice, and pro bono service has given her the opportunity to do that.
That impressed me.”
|
