Legal services marks Pro Bono Week - Westfair Communications

From left: Tamara Mitchel, Pro Bono Director Marian Genio, John Pappalardo, Georgia Kramer and Michelle Lewis.

Legal Services of the Hudson Valley on Oct. 24 marked National Pro Bono Week with a celebration at its White Plains offices.

Five pro bono attorney volunteers were honored: Henry Berman and Tamara Mitchel from Berman Frucco Gouz Mitchel & Schub PC in White Plains; John Pappalardo from Farber, Pappalardo & Carbonari in White Plains; and Georgia Kramer and Michelle Lewis from Kramer Kozek LLP in White Plains.

National Pro Bono Week was launched in 2009 by the American Bar Association to raise awareness about the unmet legal needs of vulnerable and economically disadvantaged individuals and families and to encourage more legal professionals to volunteer their services.

The nonprofit has more than 85 attorneys in its nine offices in the lower and mid-Hudson Valley. It relies on approximately 300 volunteer attorneys and paralegals to provide pro bono legal assistance to clients in matters that its staff cannot handle because of limited resources.