How Pro Bono Benefits Attorneys Leslie A. Gordon 34 SPRING 2006 PHOTOS BY Jim Block
GARY GANSLE Asenior associate at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, Gary Gansle began working with VLSP several years ago on a class action lawsuit in which, he says, he gained a great deal of litigation experience. After that, he started advising nonprofit organizations in employment law. I noticed they had the same problem as companies in the private sector, Gansle recalls. They want to do the right thing [regarding employment laws] but don t know how to comply. So Gansle started helping nonprofits understand employment law requirements and then provided that training. In conjunction, he established his firm s employment law training practice, conducting nationwide programs for managers and employees on topics like Managing within the Law and Preventing Harassment and Discrimination in the Workplace. Providing pro bono employment law training to nonprofits has been, according to Gansle, a great opportunity to take my show on the road. The more you refine, the better the training gets. A three-time recipient of Wilson Sonsini s Pro Bono Community Service Award and a four-time recipient of BASF s Outstanding Volunteer in Public Service Award, Gansle also helped devise a software program called JNANA, an automated employment law self-audit for nonprofits, including wage-and-hour, discrimination, and documentretention laws. We ran through the entire body of employment law spanning a whole host of topics to see how these issues affect nonprofits, explains Gansle, who says that research enhanced his own knowledge base. Wilson Sonsini awards its attorneys billable credit for every VLSP hour, with no cap, a situation Gansle relishes. I get to work at a law firm with an exciting, big-firm practice and at the same time help dozens of nonprofits around the Bay Area who want to make my community a better place. THE BAR ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY 35
NELSON MEEKS Three years ago, Nelson Meeks had a coveted inhouse attorney position at the Clorox Company focusing on environmental law and lobbying. It was very interesting work, but its connection to real-life people and real-world problems was missing, Meeks recalls. I d be working on an esoteric amendment to language in a statute, which was challenging. But at end of the day, we d just changed a few words and saved the company a few dollars. But who did I help? Searching for ways to benefit individuals, Meeks began doing a boatload of pro bono work through BASF s Volunteer Legal Services Program (VLSP), handling family and immigration matters. Before long, he approached his boss at Clorox and said, I can t do this anymore, Meeks says. My boss understood where my heart was leaning. Soon after, Meeks opened his own solo practice, focusing on immigration and family law, precisely the specialties he d been exposed to through VLSP. Specifically, he handles deportation matters, domestic violence, child custody, divorce, and annulments. Now a lot of what I do is help people do right by their kids, he says, which is a lot more rewarding than trying to get the EPA to change the language in a certain regulation so a company can avoid doing a capital improvement. VLSP, Meeks says, gave him training, resources, and access to specialists, many of whom now refer paying work to him. If a lawyer wants to open a solo practice, there s no better place to explore that than through work with VLSP. Meeks also recommends VLSP for attorneys looking to enhance their skills. With every case you do, you learn a little about something. Plus, he adds, judges are usually more helpful because you re doing it pro bono and they re on board with VLSP. 36 SPRING 2006
JOHN KOEPPEL AVLSP client helped by John Koeppel, a Ropers Majeski Kohn & Bentley LLP lawyer, was a seamstress. Many years ago, as a thank you for the legal aid he gave her, the client made Koeppel a beautiful blanket for Christmas. My daughter took that blanket with her to college, Koeppel recalls fondly. Another client told me his whole family was praying for me. The appreciation from clients has been profound and a motivating factor for Koeppel. These people are always intimidated by the system, Koeppel explains. Shoot, I m still intimidated by the system. A longtime VLSP volunteer, Koeppel has handled some sixty cases during the last fifteen years, including collections cases. It s kind of fun to do these cases when the bank is suing an individual who they think is without a lawyer. As soon as you notice depos, the case goes away. That makes me smile, says Koeppel, who has made VLSP work part of my regular caseload. His pro bono team consists of two junior lawyers and a paralegal. Lawyers eventually realize, Koeppel says, that they couldn t afford their own services if they got sued. If you drop down to the poverty level, they have no access to quality legal care, he says. The system is not just for corporations who can afford it. Doing pro bono work helps make the system work. Koeppel chooses VLSP as his pro bono venue because, he explains, it s very well run. It s like dealing with your best client. He cites the simplified online forms for case updates and the easy filing process for getting fees waived. The case handlers are very appreciative and never fail to say thank you. It s risk free, and the rewards are pretty great. It s good psychic income. THE BAR ASSOCIATION OF SAN FRANCISCO SAN FRANCISCO ATTORNEY 37
MARY CATHERINE WIEDERHOLD Doing pro bono work for VLSP has turned into actual moolah for solo practitioner Mary Catherine Wiederhold. In 2004, she handled a VLSP unlawful detainer case related to nonpayment of rent. The affirmative defense was that Wiederhold s client had no heat for two years and was forced to use the stove to heat the apartment. On two occasions, Wiederhold offered to settle the case, but the landlord refused. Wiederhold won at trial and recovered her attorneys fees. The landlord appealed and Wiederhold won again, recovering more fees. I got 10 percent interest. That s better than any investment I could have made. All over a stupid heater, Wiederhold quips. A former commercial real estate appraiser who now handles landlord-tenant cases, Wiederhold says she s learned about litigation strategies and acquired expertise through her VLSP cases. You re not alone handling the case, she explains. VLSP provides a list of experts you can call and say, I m stuck, what can I do? She adds that VLSP has very easy ways to volunteer you don t have to commit to hours and hours. Through VLSP, Wiederhold was given a mentor who ended up providing her office space in his building. A mold specialist, he has also funneled fee-generating cases to her. I was a tenant for a long time in college and grad school. I didn t have any [legal] problems, but if I did, I would have wanted someone out there to help me, she says about why she does pro bono work. I got some lucky breaks from people. Karmetically, I m giving it back [through VLSP] and it ll go around again. A former lawyer, Leslie A. Gordon is a freelance legal journalist living in San Francisco, not to be confused with BASF s own Leslie Gordon. 38 SPRING 2006