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TO: Hillary Rodham Clinton FROM: Pauline Abernathy CC: Melanne Verveer Jen Klein DATE: April 23, 1997 RE: Response to your challenge to D.C. law firms to partner with a D.C. public school Before I left, I wanted to be sure you knew that D.C. law firms are responding to your call for them to partner with D.C. public schools. The Washington Lawyers' Committee says that at least 12 new law firm-school partnerships are in the process of forming, and that at least 8 other firms have expressed interest in forming one. The Lawyers' Committee attributes this outpouring directly to your visit to Cleveland Elementary School and your subsequent letter to the managing partners of D.C. law firms in February. Prior to your visit to Cleveland, Iris Toyer, who facilitates partnerships at the Lawyers' Committee and participated in the panel discussion at Cleveland, had been having a tough time enlisting the participation of additional law firms. Iris is encouraging firms to partner with schools in NE and SE and with schools that do not have any partners, and is pleased that some are doing so. Hogan and Hartson is establishing a partnership with Spingarn High School in NE, and King & Spalding is establishing a partnership with Martin Luther King Elementary School in SE. Arnold and Porter is establishing a partnership at Garrison, the NW elementary school you visited with the President in February. Attached are a letter you just received from Ted Small, the lawyer from Holland & Knight who moderated the panel discussion at Cleveland, and thank you notes from second graders at Cleveland. Ted says your letter to the law firms has won the managing partners' attention, and that the discussion has moved from whether to partner with a school, to how to do it. Over 30 firms attended a panel discussion last week sponsored by the Washington Lawyers' Committee to discuss how to partner with a school. General Becton was planning to attend, but had to attend a last minute City Council hearing instead. The Washington Lawyers' Committee has invited you to speak at their annual awards luncheon on June 10th. The program will feature a tribute to law firms that have partnered with D.C. public schools, and the Lawyers' Committee believes your participation at the luncheon would help them secure commitments from additional law firms and help energize the firms. I could not be more pleased with the response to your challenge. Based on the experience of the existing partnerships, I believe these additional partnerships have the potential to make a real difference in the lives of thousands of District children and in their communities. Bravo! Attachments Law Offices HOLLAND & KNIGHT A Registered Limited Liability Partnership Atlanta Orlando 2100 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W. Boca Raton St. Petersburg Suite 400 Fort Lauderdale Tallahassee Washington, D.C. 20037-3202 Jacksonville Tampa 202-955-3000 Lakeland Washington, D.C. FAX 202-955-5564 Miami West Palm Beach April 22, 1997 Ted W. Small 202-457-7031 VIA HAND DELIVERY First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, D.C. 20037 Re: Thank-you for your visit to Cleveland Tri- School Learning Academy, Lower Campus B and Shaw Neighborhood. Dear Mrs. Clinton: I am writing to thank you for visiting with us at Cleveland Tri-School Learning Academy, Lower Campus B on February 14, 1997. After weeks of attempting unsuccessfully to find just the right words, I delegated the task of expressing our appreciation to some young writers who are hardly ever at a loss for words. The attached envelope contains some very special thank you notes from the second graders who you met during the visit. Expanding on their notes only briefly, we thank you for providing some much needed recognition for the teachers and administrators of Cleveland school, particularly Principal Annie Mair, who have worked hard for many years to develop a challenging learning environment for Shaw children. In conversations with teachers and administrators, I have noticed a renewed sense of dedication about their plans for the coming year. Several Cleveland parents have also commented how proud they were to watch television and read newspaper articles where their school was cited as a example of what is working well in the District of Columbia. Even our other non-profit clients in Shaw have interpreted your visit as a sign that their community building efforts are working and getting noticed in "high" places. In short, you have encouraged an entire community to continue working to rebuild Shaw into a place where it is safe for kids to learn and play. In my role as chair of the ABA's Public Schools Committee, I also greatly appreciate your assistance in stimulating interest and issuing a challenge to other D.C. law firms to develop similar school partnerships. In the weeks following your visit to Cleveland, I have participated in two panel discussions on this First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton April 22, 1997 Page 2 topic, one sponsored by the D.C. Bar and the other sponsored by the Washington Lawyers' Committee. Both were well-attended by lawyers as well as other professional organizations interested in obtaining some practical information about how they might meet your school partnership challenge. The project director at the Washington Lawyers' Committee, Iris Toyer, has already obtained commitments from several of these law firms that they will begin school partnerships. With this renewed interest and commitment, D.C. law firms have an opportunity to lead a movement for increasing lawyer involvement in public schools across the nation. Lastly, on behalf of Holland & Knight's Community Services Team and the entire firm, we thank you for your kind words of support for our partnership with Cleveland school and our pro bono commitment to the larger Shaw community. We are working very hard to live up to your high praise by strengthening our relationships with Cleveland school and other Shaw groups. We hope to develop a model for law firms to combine their pro bono and community services commitments into partnerships with other neighborhoods. Their involvement would become one part of an integrated series of solutions to the complex problems of America's inner cities. I very much enjoyed meeting you and also working with your assistant, Pauline Abernathy who worked so hard in the background to make this very inspiring event possible. As the children have so eloquently written in the enclosed thank-you cards, we look forward to you visiting again very soon. Very truly yours, HOLLAND & KNIGHT LLP Sheodore w.fall. Ted W. Small Enclosures CC: Pauline Abernathy (via facsimile) The White House all Jen for Sixth Floor 1250 H Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. your files 20005-5937 (202) 737-4700 FAX 626-3471 - Pan THE DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA BAR April 10, 1997 Membership Office (202) 626-3475 Sections Office (202) 626-3463 Ms. Melanne Verveer Continuing Legal Education Deputy Assistant to the President and (202) 626-3488 Deputy Chief of Staff to the First Lady The White House Homepage Address http://www.dcbar.org Washington, D.C. 20502 Dear Ms. Verveer: Myles V. Lynk President Thank you for sending me copies of the photograph of the First Lady and me at the February Carolyn B. Lamm President-Elect 14 ceremony at Cleveland Elementary School. Thomas A. Duckenfield III Please find enclosed for your information a Secretary copy of my "President's Page" column from the Howard B. Adler March/April 1997 issue of The Washington Lawyer Treasurer magazine, which is distributed to over 45,000 Board of Governors: members of the District of Columbia Bar around the Daniel F. Attridge country. In my column I commend the First Lady's Noël Ann Brennan initiative and her speech at Cleveland Elementary Carol Elder Bruce William F. Causey School, and urge lawyers to accept her challenge and Frederick D. Cooke, Jr. follow the example of Holland & Knight and other law Devarieste Curry firms in adopting needy public schools in the Gilberto de Jesus Chauncey Fortt District of Columbia. 1. Michael Greenberger Michael M. Hicks Thank you again. We deeply appreciate the Shirley A. Higuchi Susan M. Hoffman First Lady's support for the District of Columbia Darryl W. Jackson community. With all best wishes, I am, Lorraine C. Miller John W. Nields, Jr. Delissa A. Ridgway Sincerely yours, Joan H. Strand Robert N. Weiner myla Myles V. Lynk Rita M. Bank General Counsel Katherine A. Mazzaferri Executive Director MVL:ao Enclosure Charles E. Lorenzetti Assistant Executive Director, Administration E-mail address: [email protected] and Finance Cynthia D. Hill Copy to: Carolyn B. Lamm, Esq. Assistant Executive Katherine A. Mazzaferri, Esq. Director, Programs PRESIDENT'S PAGE A Sense of Community By Myles V. Lynk S I write this month's column States Attorney Eric Holder, speaking at Bar's Children's Initiative Forum for our A the D.C. Bar has just com- the D.C. Bar Winter Convention, chal- D.C. Affairs Section. In 1996 the Chil- pleted its 1997 Winter Con- lenged D.C. Bar members "to look be- dren's Initiative Forum received the vention. Attendance at the yond the narrow confines of the field of D.C. Bar's Community Outreach Project Keynote Luncheon on law" to determine "how many livable of the Year Award. Wednesday, February 26, was one of the hours we devote to our fellow citizens." What does it mean to adopt a school? highest ever. We had more than 670 at- He urged Bar members to become in- Different things to different law firms or tendees. Those who came heard very volved in the greater Washington com- agencies. Within each firm or agency it moving remarks from our Beatrice munity through a number of activities means different things to the people Rosenberg Award recipient, Elizabeth that would not invoke our skills as who actually donate time to the effort, Noël, and an extraordinary keynote ad- lawyers as much as they would require and to those who do not. dress from Joseph A. Califano Jr., on the our commitment as responsible adults: For example, last month First Lady lessons to be learned for the practice of tutoring and mentoring children; provid- Hillary Rodham Clinton, General Julius law today, from his experiences repre- ing internships in our offices for students Becton and others met at the Cleveland senting parties and witnesses in litigation we meet in our volunteer activities; Elementary School in the District of Co- arising out of the Watergate scandal 20 being guest teachers in schools to teach lumbia to honor the contributions made years ago. We were truly enriched by our students from our own experiences; es- to the school by the law firm of Holland speakers. tablishing extracurricular clubs at & Knight. As Mrs. Clinton wrote in a The Convention's Presidential schools based on our hobbies or skills; letter she sent to Washington area law Showcase programs addressed the prob- getting involved in games, sports or firms after her visit, "Holland & Knight lems faced by the District of Columbia other recreational activity with children lawyers and staff provide pro bono in this time of fiscal crisis. In one way or after school. legal assistance; tutor students ; take another these programs all asked the Since then, Bar members, law firms, children on field trips; help repair school question "What should each of us be government legal agencies facilities; donate used doing to help solve these problems?" A and corporate law depart- computers, supplies, difficult question to answer. So difficult, ments have become in- We should clothing and grocery reg- in fact, that we risk being overwhelmed volved in the community. In particular, many law provide community ister receipts; and much by the depth and breadth of the needs of more. I was told how let- District of Columbia residents and the firms and government services that ters that had fallen on diminution of city services, as compared agencies have "adopted" deaf ears when written with our limited personal resources to public schools in the Dis- draw on our by a parent, received an address these needs. This sense of being trict of Columbia. They abilities immediate response overwhelmed is compounded by the work with the children in when sent on an law dilemma we face as lawyers in distin- these schools on many of as educated, firm's letterhead. One guishing between our obligation to pro- the activities Eric Holder long-time community vide pro bono legal services to the poor, referred to in 1994. The caring people. leader told us the law and our capacity to provide community Office of the United firm partnership was 'the services that draw on our abilities as ed- States Attorney for the District of Co- most valuable thing that has happened ucated and caring human beings, not on lumbia has adopted the Margaret A. in [the] Shaw [neighborhood] since our legal skills. This is not an either-or Amidon Elementary School in south- urban renewal in 1966." proposition. We should do both. Yet west Washington. Covington & Burling It was an inspiring event. Teachers while we all have some understanding of has adopted Cardozo Senior High and parents were uniform in the view what it means to provide pro bono legal School. Steptoe & Johnson, Howrey & that lawyers and other staff from Hol- services, we have no common definition Simon and Patton Boggs also have land & Knight had contributed to the of community service. adopted schools. The District of Colum- success of their efforts with the children. Three years ago, another D.C. Bar bia Office of the Corporation Counsel They greatly appreciated having volun- Winter Convention keynote speaker has adopted the Walker-Jones Elemen- teers spend time with the children. The tried to provide us with that common de- tary School. Angela Harvey, assistant resources and adult involvement we may finition. On March 2, 1994, United corporation counsel, began the D.C. continued on page 85 6 THE WASHINGTON LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 1997 President's Page STOCK OPTION continued from page 6 take for granted in the lives of our own children cannot be taken for granted in the lives of these children. Lawyers and law firms willing to commit some of their XECUTIVE OFFICE time and energy to these young lives can UITES make a big difference. of Ellicott City, Inc. Mrs. Clinton asked law firms in the District to establish or strengthen ties to one or more public schools in the city. Attractive, fully-furnished Office Suites, Flexible Cost- Law firms, government agencies, corpo- Corporate lawyers and paralegals can Effective Leasing Packages, State-of-the-Art Business Equipment, Telephone Answering & Support Services, rate law departments and individual at- track clients' general corporate and secu- Training Center & Conference Rooms. torneys who wish to become involved in rities information, prepare stockholder Centrally located between Baltimore and Washington in such community service projects should and director consents and print to stock Ellicott City. Wuhin easy walking distance of the contact Col. Harvey Dickerson at the certificate forms with Corporate Focus- Howard County Government offices and District Court. D.C. Public Schools, 202/724-4222, or Professional, Version 2.1, a new, more Iris Toyer at the Washington Lawyers' powerful version of Two-Step Software's Providing You Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Corporate Focus. The software runs on A Complete Office Affairs, or the D.C. Bar's Children's Ini- Windows in both single-user PC and With Services! tiative Forum. This year's forum will be multi-user networked versions. Costs held on Wednesday, May 14, from 4:00 start at $795. Free upgrade for current to 7:00 p.m., at the law firm of Hogan & users. For additional information please call Hartson. Call 800-252-2454; Internet: [email protected]. Kathy Greer at Please consider making a commit- 410-203-2300 ment to community service. Such activi- KEEPING TABS ties are twice blessed; they reward those New index tabs for family law, estate who undertake them, and those whose planning and probate are available from lives are enriched by the benefits they Bindertek LawFiles. The family law or- receive through the service of others. ganizer covers all phases of a divorce pro- ceeding; the estate planning tabs include all relevant estate documents; the pro- bate organizer provides access to the doc- uments necessary to transfer assets and The DC Bar handle tax compliance. Tabs fit two- or three-ring binders and two-prong file folders. Cost: $6 per set. LIFE, HEALTH & DISABILITY PROGRAM Call 800-456-3453; e-mail: Bindertek@aolcom. We've Got You Covered As a member of The DC Bar, you can protect your family's financial resources with our Major Medical Expenses, Term Life, Disability Income, Personal Accident and Hospital Indemnity plans. All plans other than the Major Medical are also available to your full-time employees. For more information, please call Near North at: 800 553-0783, fax 312 915-4671 or E-mail [email protected] NEAR NORTH INSURANCE BROKERAGE, INC., A MEMBER OF THE NEAR NORTH NATIONAL GROUP TURN TO A NAME WITH INTEGRITY THE WASHINGTON LAWYER MARCH/APRIL 1997 85 VOL EB/MAR,1997 OFFIC AL 5598 Permitted SPAPER ad Ship Budget hearing set Outstanding TRI LEARN public hearing on the Bar's members, projects A proposed budget for fiscal to be saluted year 1997-98 will be held at 1:45 p.m. on Tuesday, April 8, in the D.C. Bar's meeting rooms, 1250 H T he D.C. Bar will recognize out- standing members and projects at its Street, NW. Annual Awards Luncheon and Busi- As Bar Report went to press, the ness Meeting. set for June 18 at the Capital Bar's Budget Committee approved a Hilton Hotel. proposed budget. Highlights of the Among the awards to be presented are proposal include a recommendation the Frederick B. Abramson President's that Bar dues remain at current lev- Award for extraordinary service to the pro- els and a proposal that the late fee fession: and the William J. Brennan Ji. and charged to members who fail to pay Thurgood Marshall Awards for excellence their Bar dues promptly be increased in public interest law. by $10 to $30. The Committee's full Also to be presented are awards for Pro report will be published in the Bono Lawyer of the Year. Pro Bono Law March/April edition of The Washing- Firm of the Year. Best Section Community ton Lawyer magazine, distributed by Outreach Project. Best Section Committee. mail to all D.C. Bar members. Members of the law firm of Holland & Knight in the District of Columbia joined the Best Section. Best Bar Committee. and Following the public hearing, the First Lady on Valentine's Day in reading a story to students at Cleveland Elementary Best Bar Project. proposal will be submitted to the School in Northwest Washington. The firm has "adopted" the students at Cleveland, Honored last year were: The Hon. Bar's Board of Governors for providing volunteer music instructors. tutors, sports coaches. and advocates. The First William B. Bryant (Brennan Award). Lady challenged other firms and individual lawyers to follow Holland & Knight's exam- consideration. ple in order to make a difference in the lives of the District's youngsters. Judith L. Lichtman (Marshall Award). the Reproductive Cancer Task Force (Freder- First Lady hails Holland & Knight's D.C. public school partnership ick B. Abramson Award); Michael J. Zoeller of Crowell & Moring (Pro Bono O n Valentine's Day. First Lady resources with a school in this city. I chal- Panel moderator Theodore W. Small Lawyer Award): the law firms of Coving- Hillary Rodham Clinton went lenge each managing partner to call the of Holland & Knight emphasized the value ton & Burling and Shea & Gardner (Law back to school to present a bou- Washington Lawyers' Committee and vol- of the partnership to his law firm. "By Firm Pro Bono Awards): the D.C. Affairs quet to the law firm of Holland & Knight unteer to adopt a school." working here at Cleveland, we have estab- Section's Children's Initiative Forum (Best for "adopting" a D.C. public school and to The Washington Lawyer's Committee lished that much needed connection to the Section Community Outreach Project): the challenge other firms to follow suit. for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, the link community." Employee Benefits Committee of the Taxa- Lady challenged other firms and individual lawyers to follow Holland & Anigni S consideration. Judith L. Lichtman (Marshall Award). the ple in order to make a difference in the lives of the District's youngsters. Reproductive Cancer Task Force (Freder- First Lady hails Holland & Knight's D.C. public school partnership ick B. Abramson Award): Michael J. Zoeller of Crowell & Moring (Pro Bono n Valentine's Day. First Lady resources with a school in this city. I chal- Panel moderator Theodore W. Small O Lawyer Award); the law firms of Coving- Hillary Rodham Clinton went lenge each managing partner to call the of Holland & Knight emphasized the value ton & Burling and Shea & Gardner (Law back to school to present a bou- Washington Lawyers' Committee and vol- of the partnership to his law firm. "By Firm Pro Bono Awards); the D.C. Affairs quet to the law firm of Holland & Knight unteer to adopt a school." working here at Cleveland, we have estab- Section's Children's Initiative Forum (Best for "adopting" a D.C. public school and to The Washington Lawyer's Committee lished that much needed connection to the Section Community Outreach Project): the challenge other firms to follow suit. for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, the link community." Employee Benefits Committee of the Taxa- At a program on D.C. schools/D.C. law between the schools and the legal commu- Holland & Knight's Melinda Burrows tion Section (Best Section Committee): the firm partnerships held at the Cleveland Ele- nity, can be reached at 202/835-0031. hoped that other firms would accept the Health Law Section (Best Section): the Pro mentary School. Holland & Knight's part- During an ensuing panel discussion, First Lady's challenge. "We're doing what Bono Initiative Working Group (Best Bar ner. the First Lady demonstrated how much Julius W. Becton Jr., chief executive officer she and the President are trying very hard Committee); and the Examination of Rule law firms can do for schools by enumerat- and superintendent of D.C. Public Schools, to promote, and in a small way it's work- 49 Committee (Best Bar Project). ing Holland & Knight's contributions. noted that 23 of the District's 156 schools ing. We lawyers take an awful lot from the Nominations must be submitted to the "Lawyers and staff have tutored students lack partners and invited firms to call the city; this is one way to give something D.C. Bar Executive Director, 1250 H Street and have spent afternoons reading with D.C. Schools hotline (202/724-4016) to back." NW, Sixth Floor, Washington, DC 20005- them. They have taken children on field inquire about vacancies. 5937, by April 1. trips. helped repair school facilities, and Board revises ACAB rules, sets up pilot mediation program helped reclaim historic Kennedy Park from drug dealers. They have donated comput- he D.C. Bar Board of Governors T time limit within which parties must file a of Procedure, contact Wendy Mays, ers. supplies, and clothing, and they have has approved a number of signifi- response to a petition to arbitrate, a request 202/737-4700, ext. 216. helped parents with legal problems." cant changes in the Attorney/Client to dismiss based on the jurisdiction of the Acting on requests for mediation of fee Over the last 15 months, Holland & Arbitration Board (ACAB) Rules of Proce- ACAB to process the petition, or a counter- disputes by numerous clients and attorneys. Knight spent 650 hours-valued at dure for the Fee Arbitration Service and claim. the ACAB requested and received permis- $115,000-to help the school and donated endorsed implementation of a six-month New language in one revision extends sion to offer the option of mediation to an additional 920 hours of pro bono work Voluntary Fee Dispute Mediation Pilot the definition of "client" to allow inclusion every party to a fee dispute. Beginning on for organizations in the Shaw neighbor- Program. of a party who has no client relationship February 1, along with an Agreement to hood, said Clinton, who applauded other In one of the most substantive rule with a lawyer but who assumes the client's Mediate form, each party receives informa- legal organizations with partnership pro- changes, the ACAB has codified its policy legal right to collect a refund of legal fees tion explaining the voluntary mediation grams: Covington & Burling; Steptoe & of enforcing a predispute agreement to or who is legally responsibile for paying process and how it differs from arbitration. Johnson; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & arbitrate a fee dispute only if the agree- fees on behalf of the client. If both parties agree in writing to mediate. a Jacobson; Crowell & Moring; Patton ment meets specific criteria laid out by the Under the revised rules, the ACAB can volunteer mediator is assigned who has Boggs; GWAC-Greater Washington Area Legal Ethics Committee in its Opinion now accept a petition to arbitrate a fee dis- been selected from among ACAB's volun- Chapter, Women Lawyers Division, 218. In general, the agreement must pute even when the dispute is the subject of teer arbitrators and a mediation session is National Bar Association; and the D.C. advise the client in writing about the avail- a pending lawsuit. scheduled. Cases that cannot be mediated Office of Corporation Counsel. ability of written materials on the ACAB "The new rules reflect changes in the will be returned to arbitration. The First Lady concluded by throwing process and the client may contact ACAB program made as a result of implementa- After the conclusion of the pilot pro- down a gauntlet. "I would like today to staff for counseling about the ACAB tion of mandatory arbitration," said Carla gram, on July 31, 1997, the ACAB will challenge every single law firm in the Dis- program. Freudenburg, ACAB director. For a full text evaluate the program and make its recom- trict of Columbia to share its talents and Another revision establishes a 20-day of the revised ACAB Fee Arbitration Rules mendations to the Board of Governors.