Catholic Charities Legal Network

Newsletter 

Fall 2022

Legal Network Tournament Exceeds Its Goal Thanks to Golfers

By Christina DeNovio

Members of our community showed their support for the Catholic Charities Legal Network on Monday, Sept. 26, by participating in the annual golf tournament at Westfields Golf Club in Clifton, Va.

For 19 years, the Catholic Charities Legal Network golf tournament has been a tradition that supports the pro bono services the civil legal team provides to low-income residents.

Golfers began to arrive at 10:30 a.m. for registration and an early lunch before playing their rounds. With the 75 degree, partially cloudy weather, the group was excited to play Westfields’ beautiful course.

Before the start, Catholic Charities President and CEO Msgr. John Enzler said, “What a beautiful, great day for golf. What a great day to give money to Catholic Charities, and what a great day to support the Legal Network.”

Father John continued with a message to the golfers: “Thanks for all your support, and God bless you all. We are so pleased to have you play today.”

At 12:30 p.m., the shotgun start sent 76 Catholic Charities donors, supporters and friends of the Legal Network onto the course.

The golfers enjoyed the impressive 18-hole course, and many took advantage of the use of a golf pro to hit their tee shot on the 15^th hole. All the while, it was important to recognize what taking part in this tournament represents for the communities in need. For three decades, the Catholic Charities Legal Network has served low-income residents of Washington, D.C., and its surrounding Maryland counties in civil legal areas such as debt, bankruptcy, employment, family law, housing, public benefits and more. Maria O'Toole Jones, Member of Miller & Chevalier Chartered, chair of the tournament, said, “We had a fabulous day with a great turnout of golfers. Most importantly, we were able to raise a significant amount of money to support CCLN.”



Along with procuring a successful golfer turnout, the event surpassed its fundraising goals. Director of Catholic Charities Legal Network, James Bishop, said: “This year, we’re proud to say that we have grossed over $100,000. We are so thankful to players for supporting our work to ensure that low-income D.C. and Maryland residents get access to pro bono legal services and law-related education seminars.”

Christina DeNovio, a junior at Wake Forest University, is a fall 2022 intern at Catholic Charities.

Caption below is from the Catholic Standard’s article on October 3, 2022, which can also be clicked at: https://cathstan.org/

After the Red Mass Brunch on Oct. 2, 2022 at the Capital Hilton, recipients of the John Carroll Society’s 2022 Pro Bono Legal Service Awards posed for a photo with Washington Cardinal Gregory and representatives of the John Carroll Society. From left to right are Michael J. Francese, Esq., a partner at Covington & Burling LLP, and recipient of the Pro Bono Legal Service Award; John D. Renneisen, Esq., a senior counsel at O’Melveny & Meyers LLP, and a recipient of the Pro Bono Legal Service Award; Sharon Taylor Smith, a retired attorney who received the Pro Bono Legal Service Award; Edward O’Connell, the chair of the 2022 Red Mass Committee; Cardinal Gregory; Andrew Cook, the president of the John Carroll Society; Timothy F. Maloney, Esq., a partner at Joseph, Greenwald & Laake, PA, who received the Pro Bono Legal Service Award; Laura Foggan, a partner with Crowell & Moring, LLP, who accepted a Pro Bono Legal Service Award on behalf of her firm; and Msgr. Peter Vaghi, the chaplain of the John Carroll Society. (John Carroll Society photo by Christopher Newkumet)

Bilingual Paralegal Ana Marin-Delgado

Will you Volunteer?

CCLN Seeks Volunteer Attorneys to Offer Time and Talent: Do you have time to give your talent to low-income members of our community? CCLN is actively seeking volunteers for the following roles:

• Accepting pro bono cases in Maryland and Washington, DC, by representing low-income clients especially in civil law areas of custody, will drafting and landlord-tenant matters;
• Offering attorney training for new volunteers interested in accepting pro bono cases from the Legal Network;
• Conducting community education seminars to low-income clients either in-person or virtually on topics related to will drafting and advanced healthcare directives/financial power of attorney, custody, government entitlements such as SSDI and landlord-tenant matters; or
• Serving as a mentor attorney to volunteers representing pro bono clients.

Please contact Carolyn Ruyak at carolyn.ruyak@cc-dc.org or (202) 519-2091 if you can help.

The DC Bar Pro Bono Center is sponsoring the following upcoming training:

Navigating Discovery and Evidence (Domestic Relations cases)

Wednesday, December 7, 2022 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Join us to learn the guiding principles of discovery and evidence and how they operate in practice in the D.C. Superior Court Domestic Relations Branch. The presenters will guide attendees through newly published discovery materials intentionally designed for use by pro se parties as well as attorneys advising or representing pro bono clients. This training will further cover how evidence can be presented to the Court throughout the life of a family court case and tips for how to deal with the most common evidence, such as text messages, videos, financial documents, and business records. For more information click here.

To subscribe to our monthly case summary list, click the button below.

Legal Network Staff

James D. Bishop, Director, james.bishop@cc-dc.org

Deacon Darryl A. Kelley, Staff Attorney, darryl.kelley@cc-dc.org

Ana Marin-Delgado, Bilingual Paralegal, ana.marin-delgado@cc-dc.org

Carolyn D. Ruyak, Staff Attorney, carolyn.ruyak@cc-dc.org

Please remember Catholic Charities Legal Network in your Year-End Planning! Thank you, as always, for your support for our organization. Your generous support helps us to assist those in need of legal representation in the Washington, DC, area.