FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE AG THURSDAY, JUNE 6, 1996 (202) 616-2765 TDD (202) 514-1888 ATTORNEY GENERAL APPLAUDS DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE ATTORNEYS PARTICIPATING IN THE D.C. BAR'S PRO BONO CLINIC WASHINGTON, DC -- Following the Department of Justice's announcement of its new pro bono policy, Attorney General Janet Reno congratulated the first group of Department attorneys who donated a free evening to staff one of the D.C. Bar Public Service Activities Corporation's (PSAC) bi-monthly Pro Bono Clinics on June 5, 1996. For the first time in the Bar Clinic's history, the entire clinic was staffed by Justice Department volunteers. Sixteen attorneys and seven non-lawyers from the Department interviewed and provided representation to indigent clients on landlord-tenant and family law areas that were prescreened to prevent a conflict of interest. Reno said, "While service in the Department of Justice is itself one of the highest forms of public service, the Department further strives to increase access to justice for all and to strengthen our communities." To do this, the Attorney General encouraged Department attorneys to set a personal goal of at least 50 hours per year of pro bono legal and volunteer work by issuing a new Department policy -- a first step to implementing President Clinton's recent Executive Order directing federal agencies to develop appropriate programs to facilitate pro bono legal and other volunteer service by government employees on their own time. Reno personally thanked the first group of Department employees who volunteered under the new pro bono policy. "Making the law real for all Americans is one of the greatest challenges we face," said Reno. "I know how hard everyone works here at the Justice Department, and I want you to know how much I respect and admire you for taking on these cases." D.C. Bar President Robert N. Weiner also thanked the Department's volunteers and applauded the Attorney General's efforts in encouraging government attorneys to provide help to the District's needy. "We are delighted that the Department of Justice, the largest law firm in the country, is joining the 37 other firms participating in this clinic to deliver pro bono legal services to the neediest members of our community," he said. "The Attorney General's leadership in establishing the Department's pro bono program and encouraging Department attorneys to get involved does honor to the highest traditions of our profession. The individual attorney volunteers already serve the public every day as government lawyers. As D.C. Bar President, I want to thank them for their additional service to the community through this pro bono effort and for helping to secure access to justice for the poor in D.C." The Department's volunteer attorneys and non-lawyer volunteers were eager to assist in alleviating the legal services problems in the District and found their experience rewarding, according to Charlotte Grzebien, Assistant Counsel for the Office of Community Oriented Policing Services and the Department's coordinator for the project. "The clinic night was a great first step in making a real difference in the lives of some of our neighbors here in the District," she said. PSAC Supervising Attorneys Mark Herzog and Jeanne Jones and PSAC Director Maureen Thornton Syracuse, briefed Department participants in a pre-clinic orientation session. # # # 96-256