In the first year of its existence, the University of Wisconsin Law School’s Pro Bono Project has won a Dane County Bar Association (DCBA) Pro Bono Law Student Award in recognition of its service to legally under-represented residents of Dane County.

Five UW law students who worked on the project in 2007-08 share the award as co-recipients: Paul Burant, Gretchen Cleveland, Emily Gold, Bryn Heimann, and Sara Vanden Brook.

The Pro Bono Project was designed to provide civil legal services to the under-represented of Dane County by creating partnerships between local attorneys and law students committed to public service. "This is a proud moment for our Law School as we are creating a mechanism to reach out to needy members of our community and strengthening our relations with members of the bar," said Professor Marsha Mansfield, who co-directs the Project with Professor Ben Kempinen.

"The strength of any such program is in its students and without the extraordinary efforts of these students the project would not have become a reality," Mansfield said.

With the support of a grant from the State Bar of Wisconsin, the students researched other pro bono programs, developed strategies to reach out to students, and arranged for a reception for participating students and firms.

"Early in the fall semester we invited a few local firms who expressed interest in working with us to meet with interested law students," Mansfield said. "Our meeting was productive and systems were put into place to match attorneys, students and needy persons."

Mansfield adds, "I have had the pleasure of working with students, both individually and in group settings, and can say without reservation that the effort of this group was extraordinary."

The Pro Bono Project joins another Law School winner of a DCBA Pro Bono Law Student Award: Emily Long, whose work in public interest law also won her the 2007 State Bar of Wisconsin Public Interest Law Student Award (see http://law.wisc.edu/news/index.php?ID=1151 .)

Submitted by on May 1, 2008

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