June 6, 2010
PHILADELPHIA, PA — Community Legal Services (CLS) of Philadelphia is pleased to announce that its annual Breakfast of Champions was held on Thursday, May 27, 2010 at the Radisson Plaza-Warwick Hotel. This year, Laurence Tribe, the Senior Counselor of Access to Justice, a new initiative of the United States Department of Justice, was the Keynote Speaker. In this newly created position, Professor Tribe is charged with suggesting ways to improve legal services for the poor. For the past 42 years, he has taught constitutional law at Harvard, where he has been an admired faculty member and a mentor to many former students, including President Barack Obama. He has helped write constitutions for South Africa, the Czech Republic, and the Marshall Islands. He has written 115 books and articles, including his treatise, “American Constitutional Law,” cited more often than any other legal text since 1950.
View the transcript of Professor Tribe's speech >
Watch the video of Professor Tribe's speech >
This year, CLS presented the Champion of Justice Award to State Representative Kathy M. Manderino. Representative Manderino has been an incredible supporter of access to justice and access to civil legal aid during her tenure in the Pennsylvania House. Extremely knowledgeable, Manderino has often led the fight in the House to preserve a safety net for the poor. She has worked to preserve public benefits, Medicaid, access to health services, and insurance. She has been at the forefront of maintaining and expanding child support issues, increasing the proportion of child support that goes to families.
CLS also presented Equal Justice Awards to Michael J. Boni, Esq., Johnie Mae Coles and Anita Santos-Singh, Esq. Michael J. Boni, founding partner of Boni & Zack LLC, has been a longtime suporter of CLS, serving on both the Board of Directors and the Leadership Council. Johnie Mae Coles has worked as an intake paralegal at CLS' Law Center North Central office for many years, and is respected, admired and trusted by her colleagues and clients. Anita Santos-Singh, Esq. is the Executive Director of CLS' sister organization, Philadelphia Legal Assistance, and has been at the helm of many successful endeavors such as the Save Your Home Philly Hotline among others.
View photo slideshow of this year's Breakfast of Champions >
The Champion of Justice Award and Equal Justice Awards are given annually by Community Legal Services to recognize those who have made extraordinary efforts to ensure equal access to justice through the legal system for all, regardless of income.
For the last twenty one years, the Philadelphia Trial Laywers Association has generously sponsored CLS' Breakfast of Champions, which kicks off CLS' annual Bar Campaign to raise funds from the Philadelphia legal community to support legal services for low-income Philadelphians. Thanks to the effort of the Leadership Council, CLS' Bar Campaign raises nearly $400,000 annually from local law firms, companies and individuals to support the provision of legal services to the poor.
So far, CLS has raised $363,000 from 81 law firms and companies.
Check out who's contributing >
CLS thanks the following members of the 2010 Leadership Council for making this possible:
Co-chairs Joseph A. Tate, Esq., Dechert LLP; Gerald A. McHugh, Jr., Esq., Raynes McCarty; Members Michael J. Boni, Esq., Boni & Zack LLC; Edward F. Chacker, Esq., Gay, Chacker & Mittin; Stephen J. Driscoll, Esq., Saul Ewing LLP; Alan M. Feldman, Esq., Feldman, Shepherd, Wohlgelernter & Tanner; Nancy J. Gellman, Esq., Conrad O'Brien PC; William T. Hangley, Esq., Hangley Aronchick Segal & Pudlin; Marilyn Heffley, Esq., Sunoco, Inc.; Joanne C. Lewers, Esq., Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP; Roberta D. Liebenberg, Esq., Fine, Kaplan, & Black RPC; Barbara T. Sicalides, Esq., Pepper Hamilton LLP; Joseph A. Sullivan, Esq., Pepper Hamilton LLP; Dennis R. Suplee, Esq., Schnader, Harrison, Segal & Lewis LLP; Joanne Zack, Esq., Boni & Zack LLC.
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For over 40 years, Community Legal Services (CLS) of Philadelphia has provided the highest quality legal assistance to low-income Philadelphians who cannot afford legal counsel when they most need it. Created by the Philadelphia Bar Association in 1966, CLS is widely recognized as one of the most sophisticated, respected legal services programs in the nation. It is also the largest and most experienced legal services provider with the broadest scope in Pennsylvania.