Houston firms and in-house lawyers have launched an effort, named the Houston Pro Bono Joint Initiative, to expand the participation of local lawyers in pro bono activities, says Sylvia A. Mayer (pictured), a partner in the Houston office of Weil, Gotshal & Manges. The group will meet four times during 2010, and three of those get-togethers also will include a continuing legal education program focused on legal matters commonly handled in pro bono work, such as family law, she says. The meetings also will be an opportunity for firm and corporate lawyers to exchange ideas about current pro bono projects and methods to encourage more lawyers to be involved in pro bono work, says Mayer, who is a member of the group’s coordinating committee. “This is really providing a fertile ground to allow law firms and corporate counsel together to come up with solutions to expanding pro bono opportunities in Houston, ” Mayer says. More than 35 lawyers attended the group’s first meeting Dec. 8 in a Weil, Gotshal conference room, she says. The initiative’s first CLE program, on wills and estate planning, is scheduled for Jan. 26, says Peggy Montgomery, counsel at ExxonMobil Corp. in Houston and a member of the initiative’s coordinating committee. In addition to Mayer and Montgomery, the other Houston lawyers serving on the initiative’s coordinating committee are Christian P. Callens, counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom; J. Patrick Cohoon, member in Cozen O’Connor; Baker Botts partner J. Rob Fowler; Ivett Hughes, counsel at Halliburton Co.; Mayer Brown partner Charles S. Kelley; Karen Lukin, counsel at Marathon Oil Corp.; and Laney Vazquez, attorney with BP America Inc. “The real key to me is finding interesting pro bono projects and finding the niche for each attorney – finding something they would love to do, ” Montgomery says.
-- Jeanne Graham

Source: texaslawyer.typepad.com