Attorneys Bob Koch and Sadie Concepción were featured panelists on a June 24 webinar hosted by the Multnomah Bar Association. The program, moderated by U.S. District Magistrate Judge Stacie F. Beckerman, offered a variety of perspectives and options for civil litigators to contribute to the community through pro bono work.
Bob, who chairs the firm’s Appellate Practice Group, shared ways that attorneys can engage in appellate work at the state and federal level through pro bono programs. He recounted details from two recent pro bono appeals on which he has worked, one in the Oregon Supreme Court, and one in the Oregon Court of Appeals. Bob also noted that, while pro bono appellate work offers important professional development opportunities for sharpening the niche legal skills required to brief and argue cases on appeal, it also provides meaningful personal fulfillment by supporting social justice causes such as upholding civil rights and fighting LGBT bias.
Sadie, an associate in Tonkon Torp’s Litigation Department who recently won the Oregon State Bar’s 2019 New Lawyers Division Pro Bono Challenge Award, gave background on the CLiF Project, which stands for "Changing Lives Forever.” CLiF was founded at Tonkon Torp in 2011 to assist individuals who have satisfied all components of the statutory relief scheme in navigating the complex process of terminating their lifetime requirement to report as juvenile sex offenders. She also shared what she has found personally fulfilling through her work with CLiF.
A recording of the program can be viewed here.
