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Godfrey & Kahn recognizes that the legal community has a responsibility to ensure that all citizens have access to legal representation when needed and that the justice system operates in a fair and just manner. Accordingly, the firm encourages its attorneys to devote a minimum of 50 hours each year to pro bono services, and will give full billable hour credit for up to 50 hours of firm-approved pro bono services per year, with the potential for more depending on the case.
There are a variety of ways to provide pro bono services, and the firm encourages its attorneys and paralegals to seek out pro bono matters that are of interest to them. Following are some of the types of legal services that qualify as “pro bono” and for which the firm will give billable hour credit:
- Representation or advocacy on behalf of low income persons;
- Civil rights and public rights law;
- Representation of charitable organizations;
- Community economic development;
- Administration of justice in the court system; and
- Law-related education.
A sampling of some of the pro bono cases our attorneys have handled follows.
Baird Creek Preservation Foundation
Eastern District Bar Association
Ice Age Park and Trail Foundation
Indian Nations
Izaak Walton League
Legal Aid Society Partnership
Legal Aid Society Tax Clinic
Modjeska Theatre
Political Asylum
Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
State Prisoner
Wisconsin Humane Society
Baird Creek Preservation Foundation
In 1997, a group of concerned urban conservationists in Green Bay, Wis., spearheaded the acquisition of 35 acres of wooded slopes along the rapidly developing riparian corridor of Baird Creek. The land contains irreplaceable areas of old growth forest and a high diversity of plants, shrubs, trees and animals, which the Foundation hopes to preserve, and restore in partnership with the City, as a quality natural greenway that may be enjoyed by residents and visitors for years to come. The group has also become active in the preservation of the upstream wetlands.
Godfrey and Kahn’s Winston Ostrow, shareholder and member of the Litigation Practice Group in the firm’s Green Bay office, helped finalize the original files when the Foundation received its corporate charter and has been involved ever since. His efforts include advising the Foundation on contract negotiations with environmental consulting groups, negotiating the acquisition of additional parcels of land, and reviewing funding agreements between the organization and Federal, state and city agencies.
Locally, the Foundation is regarded as an important environmental achievement, and is considered a significant player in regional conservation issues.
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Eastern District Bar Association
The Eastern District of Wisconsin Bar Association formed in June 2002 and is committed to promoting improvements in the administration of justice in the district by, among other things, reducing costs and delays in litigation, compiling and maintaining a current list of counsel willing to undertake pro bono representations and mediations, offering education to attorneys and the public on practices and procedures of the court, and assisting in overall operations in any way possible.
Many Godfrey & Kahn attorneys are members of the association, including Tony Baish, shareholder and member of the firm’s Litigation Practice Group. Tony currently serves on the Association Board and as the Co-Chair for the Association’s Pro Bono Committee. In that capacity, Tony helps spearhead the organization’s effort in developing programs that increase access to pro bono cases for attorneys in the district.
Specifically, Tony helped develop CLE programs to prepare lawyers for common pro bono matters. This training is free provided attendees join the Eastern District’s list of attorneys who are willing to undertake pro bono representations.
Tony also helped establish a program to help smaller or sole practitioners accept pro bono cases by establishing a cost reimbursement fund for out of pocket expenses. The outcome of this program is pending, but Tony’s efforts for the association demonstrate Godfrey & Kahn’s commitment to the Milwaukee community through pro bono services.
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Ice Age Park and Trail Foundation
Godfrey & Kahn provides legal counsel and assistance to the Ice Age Park and Trail Foundation (IAPTF), a non-profit volunteer-based organization that works to support and protect the Ice Age National Scenic Trail, a long distance hiking trail tracing glacial formations within Wisconsin.
The Ice Age Trail traces back to the 1950s, when Raymond Zillmer, a Milwaukee attorney and avid hiker, worked to preserve the hiking trails of the Kettle Moraine State Forest. His dream was to create a much larger linear park that would trace the route of the most recent continental glaciation and preserve Wisconsin’s unique glacial features. He proposed a long-distance hiking path for millions of visitors to enjoy for years to come. In 1980, under the sponsorship of Congressman Henry Reuss, Congress recognized the national significance of the Ice Age Trail by designating it a National Scenic Trail, in the same category as the Appalachian Trail. Today, the IAPTF works with the National Park Service and the Department of Natural Resources to manage and support the trail.
The Ice Age Trail is over 1,000 miles and currently, over 600 miles of the trail are permanently protected. G&K assists the IAPTF in its efforts to protect the remaining sections of the trail.
Ellen Drought, shareholder and member of the Securities Practice Group, and Debra Baesemann, associate and member of the Real Estate Practice Group, have worked with the organization to enforce easement rights and formalize property lines and agreements. Ellen has volunteered with IAPTF for over eight years and currently serves on the board. Debra has hiked sections of the trail and worked on trail maintenance projects.
G&K is pleased to support the Ice Age Park & Trail Foundation as it works to carry out Ray Zillmer’s vision.
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Indian Nations
Godfrey & Kahn supports tribal governments in protecting tribal sovereignty, enhancing tribal self-government and promoting the welfare of tribal members. Many tribes seek to encourage tribal member entrepreneurs, but the growth of private business activity in Indian country has been slow due to many entrepreneurs' lack of resources, experience and credit. In an effort to fill this gap, Godfrey & Kahn has established a program to provide free legal services to members of tribes wishing to start their own businesses in Wisconsin. Among the Indian-owned enterprises we have recently assisted are a pet grooming business, taxidermy shop, and stove distributorship. For more information, contact Indian Nations Law Team leader Brian Pierson at (414) 287- 9456 or bpierson@gklaw.com.
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Izaak Walton League
Saving outdoor America for future generations is the soulful mission that started the Izaak Walton League (IWL) in 1922. As one of our nation’s oldest and most respected conservation organizations, the IWL supports 300 local chapters and 40,000 members nation-wide to protect our country’s natural heritage while improving outdoor recreation opportunities.
About 15 years ago, the IWL’s local Brown County Chapter received state funding to acquire the Osprey Point property in Bellevue, Wis. Godfrey & Kahn’s Winston Ostrow, shareholder and member of the Litigation Practice Group in the Green Bay office, immediately offered his legal services pro bono. Winston assisted the chapter in securing a 100-year lease that allows the chapter to manage the property for conservation purposes. He also helped with the acquisition and retention of the property deed and advised the IWL on the restrictions set by the Department of Natural Resources.
With Winston’s pro bono legal services, Osprey Point is now considered environmental green space.
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Legal Aid Society Partnership
Small Claims Court & Help Desk Participation
With more than 8,000 cases each year, the 27 attorneys on staff at the Legal Aid Society (LAS) in Milwaukee were delighted to hear of Godfrey & Kahn’s partnership to increase pro bono work.
In June, the LAS’s Karen Dardy, staff attorney, and Paulette Wymbs, legal assistant, informed G&K’s attorneys and summer associates about LAS’s workload, most of which involves tenant/landlord or municipal issues. Karen and Paulette utilized real case examples, LAS procedures for handling the large case loads, and handbooks on tenant/landlord and municipal laws in the training. They emphasized that in addition to knowledge of the laws and legal system, success requires three things: communication, empathy and patience.
Founded in 1916, the Legal Aid Society is one of the nation’s oldest public interest law firms serving Milwaukee’s most vulnerable residents. Wisconsin courts are seeing an ever-increasing number of litigants without legal counsel, mainly because they cannot afford the services. LAS delivers free legal services in three major divisions: civil, guardian, and mental disability law. LAS works directly with the small claims court as well, which the society helped to establish in 1921. With the majority of cases settling in two to 10 days, there are ample opportunities for summer associates and attorneys to become involved in pro bono efforts while balancing their current work schedule.
LAS also offers a Self-Help Legal Clinic or walk-in facility at the court house where general questions can be answered by area attorneys and paralegals. Volunteers at the clinic offer one-on-one assistance with forms and procedures and offer referrals to community resources when necessary. They also provide legal information on family law and small claims issues. Legal advice is not given at the clinic, but attendees are referred to the Wisconsin Bar Association’s Lawyer Referral Program upon request.
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Legal Aid Society Tax Clinic
Godfrey & Kahn hosted a Tax Clinic for shareholders and associates with Philip Rosenkranz, staff attorney at the Legal Aid Society (LAS) who has been involved with LAS’s Tax Payer Advocacy & Counseling Services (TPACS) program since its inception. John McDonald, associate and member of Godfrey & Kahn's Corporate Practice Group, currently serves as the liaison for the TPACS program and coordinated the Tax Clinic event.
LAS started the TPACS program to begin addressing the growing needs of the Milwaukee community.
Tax Clinic participants learned about the types of cases in tax court, the certification required for tax court and the process for working with the IRS. The majority of cases in the TPACS program involve assisting taxpayers with IRS audits and handling cases that are scheduled for tax court. The cases usually come from the LAS walk-in clinic, the Milwaukee Public Library, IRS mailings and referrals. TPACS refers all cases involving criminal law issues to other agencies.
Philip stressed to the attorneys the importance of obtaining correct information from your client before obtaining power of attorney from the IRS.
Jeffrey Billings, associate and member of G&K’s Estate Planning Practice Group, experienced this challenge when he took on an innocent spouse relief case. Jeff’s client is liable for taxes on gambling winnings that were not originally claimed on a joint tax return with her former husband. With the husband now missing, Jeff filed an appeal under Section 50-60 to petition the court to remove liability from his client’s name. Jeff’s client speaks little English, so Jeff communicates with his client through her daughter who translates their conversations.
Despite the challenges, Jeff is confident in his case and appreciates the opportunity to work with the Legal Aid Society.
The State of Wisconsin has four tax clinics and requires all attorneys to be admitted to practice in tax court by becoming certified from the Wisconsin Supreme Court. An application, small fee and certificate of good standing from the highest standing court is required for certification. To submit an application, please visit http://www.ustaxcourt.gov/.
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Modjeska Theatre
Milwaukee’s near south side wasn’t the same without vibrant shows playing at the Modjeska Theatre. In hopes of restoring a community’s love for the arts, the Johnson family purchased the historic theatre after two years of vacancy in 1988. The Modjeska Theatre Company, Inc. was organized later in 1997 as a non-profit theatre company dedicated to changing the lives of disadvantaged youth through musical productions and workshops that incorporated important lessons on life skills and creative-choice making.
Michael Dwyer, a shareholder and member of the Real Estate Practice Group in the Milwaukee office, joined the Modjeska Theatre Company, Inc. in 2003 and currently serves as Board President. As part of a joint venture with Mitchell Street Development Opportunity Corporation, Michael assisted in the Modjeska Theatre building acquisition in 2006.
Michael’s pro bono efforts to-date include formalizing the joint venture, acquiring the real property, and obtaining a loan for the full purchase price of the acquisition. He is now assisting the joint venture in raising funds, including historic tax credits and new market tax credits, for a major theatre renovation. Michael continues to represent the Modjeska Theatre Company, Inc. in preparing employment and other contracts, drafting event license agreements for rental opportunities, and preparing longer-term leases for retail space within the building.
With the help of Godfrey & Kahn, and individuals like Michael Dwyer, the Modjeska Theatre will continue to provide youth and all theatre-goers with a magical experience of the arts.
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Political Asylum
For three years, a G&K shareholder and Choua Vang, an associate in the Corporate Practice Group in the Appleton office, fought for the freedom of a Kazakhstan woman and her family. The woman and her two daughters, converts to Christianity from Islam, escaped religious persecution in Kazakhstan, and possibly even death, by seeking refuge in the United States after being denied asylum in Canada.
The attorneys gathered countless affidavits from eye witnesses and accounts about conditions in Kazakhstan and prepared expert witness testimony for the three-day hearing. Eventually, the immigration judge rendered a favorable decision from the bench citing the firm's excellent case presentation.
Other examples of G&K attorneys obtaining political asylum include a case involving an Iraqi physician persecuted by Saddam Hussein’s regime for his Kurdish ethnicity. Another involved an Ethiopian woman persecuted for her family’s political beliefs after a revolutionary coup. After murdering her father, revolutionary soldiers imprisoned the client and harshly interrogated her about family members, also jailed or "disappeared." Handicapped by polio, the woman escaped from prison, found her way to a refugee facility in Rome, and was taken by a church group to the United States on a temporary medical visa. To avoid her return to certain imprisonment by the new Ethiopian regime, G&K attorneys fought for her asylum. Now a productive U.S. citizen, the woman later located and was reunited with her brothers and sisters.
A G&K shareholder is currently working to reverse a deportation order against a woman from Burkina Faso, West Africa. While visiting in the United States, she was diagnosed with terminal kidney failure and required life-sustaining dialysis treatments. When her visa expired, the Department of Homeland Security ordered her to leave, ignoring the woman's many previous efforts to secure extensions. The G&K shareholder obtained a reversal of that decision and a temporary extension of stay, but the long-term situation is still unknown.
Another current project involves a young Turkmenistan woman studying religious counseling in the United States. Although her visa restrictions require that she return home for two years, a G&K shareholder and Al Cornish, a Godfrey & Kahn summer associate, are seeking a waiver of that requirement on the grounds of religious persecution. They are gathering news accounts of Turkmenistan's oppression and deportation of Baptists and other minority religious groups and documenting that the student's own mother and several family friends, also Baptists, have been jailed and interrogated about their religious activities. The matter is pending before the Departments of State and Homeland Security.
G&K attorneys find that their immigration and asylum cases, even though pro bono, are among the most professionally satisfying of their career. The stakes are high but the value of a successful outcome is incalculable.
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Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals
Godfrey & Kahn represented an indigent defendant in an appeal of his criminal conviction before the United States Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. On August 28, 2007, the court issued an opinion on the case in which it vacated the defendant’s conviction with respect to one of the charges included in his indictment, and remanded the case to the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois for a new trial on that charge.
A Godfrey & Kahn associate wrote the briefs and conducted the oral argument before Judges Frank H. Easterbrook, Ilana Diamond Rovner, and Diane P. Wood of the Seventh Circuit. Remarkably, she persuaded the panel that the trial court committed reversible error by refusing to allow the defendant to provide testimony that would have served as evidence negating the intent element of the charge against him. Given the stringent legal standards that must be satisfied to obtain reversal of a criminal conviction, particularly those who are indigent, this case victory is a rare and extraordinary result.
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State Prisoner
When the Wisconsin Department of Corrections refused to offer residential treatment to a state prisoner as part of his sentence, Hon. James L. Martin of the Dane County Circuit Court referred Rebecca Mason, associate and member of Godfrey & Kahn's Litigation Practice Group, to the case. Previous work with the Wisconsin Innocence Project at the University of Wisconsin - Madison Law School led to the referral.
An inmate filed with the Court motions to modify his sentence because the Wisconsin Department of Corrections had repeatedly refused his attempts to participate in drug and alcohol treatment while incarcerated. Judge Martin requested that Ms. Mason assist the inmate in briefing his motion.
Ms. Mason briefed and argued the matter. Although Judge Martin denied the motion to modify his sentence, based on that briefing, Judge Martin granted a motion to adjust the inmate's sentence to allow the inmate the opportunity to participate in residential drug treatment program. Ms. Mason also succeeded in obtaining the modification of another sentence to run concurrent with the inmate's first sentence in order to allow him to participate in the residential treatment program without delay.
The treatment plan was offered through Hope Haven, a Dane County Residential facility. Rebecca continues to ensure the prisoner receives the proper treatment plan as part of his sentence.
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Wisconsin Humane Society
Dog is man’s best friend, but the Wisconsin Humane Society would argue there are plenty of available animals that don’t have any “best friends”—or good homes. The society has worked with Godfrey & Kahn for more than 20 years and, during that time, has undergone significant changes which have resulted in significant growth and becoming one of the most well-known animal shelters in the nation.
Gardner Govan, a shareholder in G&K’s Milwaukee office, served on the society’s board for 12 years and was president in 2005. He recalls when the organization expanded its services and built the Dalton Center where it operates today. Gardner, who leads G&K’s Estate Planning Practice Group, has also provided services to the Humane Society in dealing with bequests from now-deceased pet lovers.
Most recently, G&K assisted in the society’s merger with the Ozaukee County Humane Society. Patricia Falb, a shareholder in the firm’s Milwaukee office, organized the acquisition documents. In overseeing this merger, G&K helped position the organization for many more years of success.
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