American College of Bankruptcy Announces 2018 Pro Bono Grantees

Thursday, November 15, 2018
The American College of Bankruptcy and the American College of Bankruptcy Foundation announced today that they have awarded 48 pro bono grants, totaling $448,500, to legal services organizations located in 27 different states (including the District of Columbia). As one of their missions, the College and its Foundation, through their Pro Bono Committee, award grants to organizations providing assistance to individuals and groups in need of bankruptcy-related legal representation, training and/or education. In the last five years, the College and Foundation have awarded over $2 million in grants to these worthy programs.
 
The grantees for 2018 are the following:
 
Alameda County Bar Association VLS
Oakland CA
 
Birmingham Bar Volunteer Lawyers Program
Birmingham, AL
 
Brooklyn Legal Services Corporation A
Brooklyn, NY
 
California Western Community Law Project
San Diego, CA
 
Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Chicago
Chicago, IL
 
CENTS
Seattle, WA
 
City Bar Justice Center
New York, NY
 
Conejo Free Clinic
Thousand Oaks, CA
 
Dade Legal Aid-Put Something Back
Miami, FL
 
DC Bar Pro Bono Center
Washington, DC
 
District 10 Pro Bono Program
Bloomington, IN
 
Greater Boston Legal Services
Boston, MA
 
Idaho Legal Aid Services, Inc.
Boise, ID
 
Lakeshore Legal Aid
Warren, MI
 
Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma, Inc.
Oklahoma City, OK
 
Legal Aid Society of Eastern Virginia
Norfolk, VA
 
Legal Aid Society of Greater Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH
 
Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee & the Cumberlands
Nashville, TN
 
Legal Aid Society of Mid-New York, Inc.
Utica, NY
 
Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee
Milwaukee, WI
 
Legal Aid Society, Inc.
Louisville, KY
 
Legal Assistance Foundation (LAF)
Chicago, IL
 
Legal Services Law Line of Vermont
Burlington, VT
 
Legal Services of North Dakota
Bismarck, ND
 
Maryland Volunteer Lawyers Service
Baltimore, MD
 
Massachusetts Debt Relief Foundation
Boston, MA
 
Massachusetts Law Reform Institute
Boston, MA
 
Mid-Shore Pro Bono, Inc.
Easton, MD
 
Military Assistance Project
Philadelphia, PA
 
Mississippi Center for Legal Services Corporation
Hattiesburg, MS
 
Neighborhood Legal Services of LA County
Glendale, CA
 
New York Legal Assistance Group (NYLAG)
New York, NY
 
Ohio State Legal Services Association
Columbus, OH
 
Pro Bono Resource Center of Maryland
Baltimore, MD
 
Public Counsel
Los Angeles, CA
 
Public Law Center
Santa Ana, CA
 
Public Service Law Corporation
Riverside, CA
 
Rutgers Law School
Camden, NJ
 
S.J. Quinney College of Law
Salt Lake City, UT
 
Southeast Louisiana Legal Services
New Orleans, LA
 
Statewide Legal Services of Connecticut, Inc.
Wethersfield, CT
 
The Legal Aid Society of Cleveland
Cleveland, OH
 
The Pro Bono Project
New Orleans, LA
 
Utah Legal Services
Salt Lake City, UT
 
Veterans Legal Services
Boston, MA
 
Volunteer Lawyers for Justice
Newark, NJ
 
Volunteer Lawyers Network
Minneapolis, MN
 
Volunteer Lawyers Project of the Boston Bar Association
Boston, MA
 
The Foundation has awarded its Michael L. Cook Extraordinary Grant to the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, one of the nation's oldest, continuously operating, public interest law firms. It provides free legal assistance to low-income Milwaukee County residents with civil legal problems. The Committee made this grant based principally on the Society's request to bring the innovative "bankruptcy bypass" program for the first time to the Milwaukee area to meet the needs of the elderly, disabled and other low income clients.
 
The Michael L. Cook Extraordinary Grant was created in Mr. Cook's honor in 2016. It is awarded to a legal services organization that offers an innovative and exemplary approach to a previously underserved area of need. A Fellow since 1997, Michael Cook served as Chair and President of the College and Chair of its Board of Regents from 2010-2016, and as Chair of the Pro Bono Committee from 2008-2010.
 
At the most recent meeting of the College Board of Directors, Marc Levinson, Chair of the Board, expressed his thanks to the leadership of the Foundation and the Pro Bono Committee, and his appreciation to the members of the Committee for having reviewed and analyzed countless grant applications and selected such worthy recipients. He also praised the Fellows of the College for their generous donations, saying it was heartwarming that Fellows continually help fund public service organizations that are doing such important work for those in need.
 
The American College of Bankruptcy is an honorary association of bankruptcy and insolvency professionals. The Fellows of the College are selected for membership based on a proven record of the highest standards of professionalism and service to the profession, and include commercial and consumer bankruptcy attorneys, bankruptcy and other federal judges, bankruptcy trustees, United States Trustees and other federal officials, law school professors, and others involved in the bankruptcy and insolvency profession. The College offers unique and challenging educational programs and publications, maintains the National Bankruptcy Archives at the University of Pennsylvania School of Law, and is believed to be the single largest financial supporter of pro bono bankruptcy services in the United States. There are approximately 900 Fellows of the College. The American College of Bankruptcy Foundation is a Section 501(c)(3) charitable organization, supported by the College and by tax-deductible contributions from Fellows of the College and others. For additional information about the College and the Foundation please contact Shari Bedker, Executive Director, at sbedker@amercol.org or 434-939-6004.