James Vale, II
NFPA Pro Bono Coordinator
410-338-9748
"She is an outstanding example of what a paralegal can and should be," wrote Silvia Lee's supervising attorney Sharon Liebhaber, nominating Lee for The Affiliates Pro Bono Award. The Affiliates had developed the award, which will be given annually, to recognize substantial efforts by a paralegal to deliver services to those in need. Accompanying the award of a plaque, which was announced at NFPA's Fall Convention, is a $1,000 donation by The Affiliates to the pro bono project designated by Lee.
As a volunteer, Lee initiated and recruited workers for a tax assistance clinic that served Spanish-speaking migrant agricultural workers -- over 170 in 1996, its first year, and over 300 in 1997. Using her mastery of Spanish and other languages, Lee personally undertook to educate the workers in an attempt to prevent their future tax problems.
In the same time frame, through Congreso de Latino Unidos Lee taught an English as a second language class. When the class lost its meeting site, Lee personally located another site and kept the class going. One hundred per cent of Lee's students passed the citizenship test and have become United States citizens.
Lee has joined her colleagues in the Philadelphia Association of Paralegals to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation and give a Christmas party at a homeless shelter.
In addition to her volunteer work for low-income people, Lee works for them full-time as a paralegal for the Philadelphia Volunteers for the Indigent Program (VIP). Lee's duties at VIP include recruiting, training and matching volunteer lawyers, law students, and paralegals with low-income persons who need representation on civil matters.
The Affiliates, a leader in specialized legal staffing, has indicated its support of pro bono publico for paralegals by creating The Affiliates Paralegal Pro Bono Award. "This award will help promote the outstanding pro bono efforts that are underway throughout the country," said Kathleen Call, executive director of The Affiliates. "We are pleased to work with NFPA on this worthy cause and invite paralegals nationwide to take part by submitting their work for consideration."
Headquartered in Kansas City, Missouri, NFPA is a non-profit professional organization representing more than 17,000 paralegals in the United States and Canada. NFPA is the national voice and the standard for excellence for the paralegal profession through its work on the issues of regulation, ethics and education.
