Pro bono work is a professional responsibility and an individual ethical commitment of each lawyer. The BLS Pro Bono Committee invites you to celebrate National Pro Bono Week with us. There is an increasing need for pro bono services during the current harsh economic times, particularly now with the expected tsunami of evictions and foreclosure actions as a result of the ongoing pandemic. BLS members need to stand ready for the unprecedented response of attorneys to meet this demand.
Every October since 2009, legal organizations across America participate in the National Celebration of Pro Bono to draw attention to the need for pro bono participation, and to thank those who give their time year round. The BLS is no different. Celebrate! Participate! Get involved! Take the Pledge!
We are pleased to announce our TOP 50 Pro Bono Superheroes, by number of hours reported. THANK YOU!!
Marianne Coulton 1,000
Paul J. Keenan Jr. 791
Louise McAlpin 750
Bruce Jay Colan 640
Charles H. Lichtman 600
Randall Odo Reder 500
Elizabeth M. Lorie 480
Scheril Murray Powell 437
Cathy Jackson Lerman 422
James A. Nolan 400
Donald Christopher 400
Maxine Master Long 400
Lorna E Brown-Burton 400
John R. Dodd II 395
Cristina Boullon Rodriguez 393
Yasin Daneshfar 380
Alexandra M. Mora 350
Alexis Gonzalez 350
Lauren Z. Alexander 335
Corey K. Brady 325
Jay D. Mussman 323
Howard L. Schwartz 300
Steven E. Wallace 300
Ahmed Mori 300
Robert DeV. Bunn 270
Thomas N. Julius 260
Jaime R. Vining 250
Morgan Lyle Weinstein 250
Sandy R. Pineda 250
Karen Droleski Sullivan 250
Daniel F. Pilka 250
Carlos F. Gonzalez 250
Tina M. Talarchyk 250
Mark E. Stein 250
Edward Soto 249
Andrew J. Mayts Jr. 225
Jenay E. Iurato 225
Marlon Andrew Hill 220
Bradley Dean Houser 211
Jason Bennett Sherry 210
Ilene M. Tognini 200
Kadisha D. Phelps 200
Claudia T. Pastorius 200
Amy L. Judkins 200
Melissa H. Orlen 200
Pedro Garcia Menocal 200
Charles Throckmorton 200
Nicole Sauvola-LaMay 200
Robert W. Murphy 200
Gil Ben-Ezra 190
Pro Bono Thoughts from the Judiciary:
Judge Williamson
Judge Williamson gives an insight into National Pro Bono Week and the importance of pro bono work to the judiciary, and, in particular, bankruptcy courts
Marianne Coulton is a solo practitioner who operates her own law firm named Marianne Coulton, P.A., located in Boynton Beach, Florida. She was forced to retire in 2017 because she was suffering from severe chronic illnesses that she has now overcome to a degree that allowed her to return to the Practice of Law in March 2019. To prepare to operate her new practice, Marianne attended the Florida (attorneys’) Bar Convention in June 2019 and completed many hours of Continuing Legal Education (“CLE”). Marianne was graduated from American University in Washington, D.C., in 1978. A former CPA (licensed in the Commonwealth of Virginia) she obtained her CPA license (which is no longer active) after she worked as an auditor for the General Accounting Office and the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General for 10 years before attending law school. During law school she authored a paper on International Partnership Taxation.
Marianne practiced in Illinois after receipt of her Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern Law School in 1991, with honors, and she began to practice law in Florida in 2007 after recovering from breast cancer and the extensive side effects of chemotherapy. Her past practice areas include: Income tax preparation; counseling individuals and small business owners concerning income and estate planning as well as estate tax planning, formation of Family Limited Partnerships; probate matters; selection of types of business entities when forming a corporation or other entity to achieve asset protection; writing and reviewing contracts; employment agreements; independent contractor agreements; shareholders’ agreements; formation of non-profit entities and obtaining and retaining tax exemptions; formation and dissolution of partnerships; pursuing certain litigation matters for individuals and small businesses (including remedies for a breach of contract). A client Marianne met when practicing for a Boca Raton law firm years ago recently told her she was the most “tenacious attorney” he has ever met when she assisted him with a business contract issue. Additionally, while practicing in Illinois from 1991 to 2016, Marianne worked with corporations who needed to sell assets, obtain bank financing, and she rendered legal opinions clients needed for corporate financing and also rendered securities advice, and assisted certain clients by preparing corporate documentation and closing Initial Public Offerings. While working on Estate Planning in the Chicago area, Marianne was a member of the National Network of Estate Planning Attorneys. In 2019, when she described her practice areas to another attorney, she was asked how many partners she had. For now, the answer is none, but she is exploring the possibility of a partnership.
During 2019, Marianne invested significant time in helping different seniors with their legal issues. She invested heavily in discovery procedures to defend a pro bono litigation client who survived the 9/11 atrocity in 2001 and she got the case, which alleged over $20,000 in damages, dismissed without mediation. She has started work required to negotiate an offer in compromise with the IRS for a client who has been threatened with levy of his assets. She also successfully negotiated a settlement for another client and collected an amount due under a contract without mediation or filing of a lawsuit. In addition, she gave another pro bono client many hours of special attention in addressing housing problems which were contributing to her health and wellness problems and helped her invest in purchasing a home for the first time in her life. Marianne also assisted aged neighbors in need of estate planning, real property matters, and obtaining settlement amounts available through a class action suit during 2020. Marianne has reported that COVID-19 has led to her most challenging year ever in her lengthy career. In the past few months, an attorney told Marianne she was an “asset” to the Florida Bar. Another client called her a “legal eagle.”
Did you guess correctly?
Judge Mindy Mora
My favorite movies are The Godfather, Parts I and II
