Judge Warns Firms: Be Sure to Supervise Pro Bono Counsel
A Bronx trial judge used a divorce case as an opportunity to warn law firms that they ought to be more careful when sending inexperienced lawyers to do pro bono legal work.
The caution came from Acting Supreme Court Justice Ellen Gesmer, who granted a woman’s motion to void a settlement stipulation because her pro bono divorce lawyer from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom made errors and was inadequately supervised, the New York Law Journal reports.
Notably, Gesmer said that law firms should be sure their subordinates “receive appropriate support and supervision, so that they can provide pro bono clients with the same careful legal representation that they provide to paying clients.”
At issue was the staff attorney’s handling of her first divorce case, which she took on for inMotion, a not-for-profit legal group that assists low-income women.
A Skadden partner in charge of the firm’s pro bono program characterized the complaint as a rare instance of someone complaining about the quality of the firm’s representation.
The Law Journal reports that the staff attorney accepted an initially uncontested divorce case, but failed to seek assistance once the woman’s husband contested the action.
Updated at 3:07 p.m. to indicate that it was a staff attorney who handled the case.
