Date: March 29, 2007
Contact: Kelly Griffith, Marketing Manager
Phone:
(612) 492-7514
Email: kgriffith@fredlaw.com
For Immediate Release
Fredrikson & Byron Receives ABA National Public Service Award
Minneapolis, MN March 29, 2007 – – Fredrikson & Byron was chosen to receive the American Bar Association Section of Business Law’s National Public Service Award. The National Public Service Award is presented annually to one individual and to one law firm or corporate legal department that have demonstrated a commitment to providing free legal services to the poor in a business context.
The Pro Bono Committee of the ABA Section of Business Law presented the award at the section’s Spring Meeting in Washington D.C. on March 16, 2007. Mara O’Neill, Chief Financial Officer of the Neighborhood Development Center, and primary nominator of the firm, stated: “Many of our graduates who started business told us how overwhelming it was to deal with leases, incorporations, contracts, employment issues, and so on, as they were trying to start their businesses. Because we work with low-income individuals, most of our graduates did not have the financial resources to pay for their own legal services. Moreover, our clients often come in contact with unscrupulous landlords and contractors who try to take advantage of their lack of sophistication in business matters. Fredrikson & Byron (in particular attorney Jim Baillie) was instrumental in helping us set up a program that would provide pro bono legal services to graduates of NDC’s training program on issues directly relating to business. To date, Fredrikson & Byron lawyers have assisted nearly 350 of NDC’s clients with entity formation and general business advice, business contracts and agreements, employment and immigration issues, intellectual property issues and much more.”
During the presentation ceremony in Washington DC, Kathy McLeroy, a shareholder with Carlton Fields law firm in Tampa, and a member of the ABA’s Business Law Pro Bono Committee, stated that “Fredrikson & Byron is not an international behemoth with a staff of attorneys who devote their full time efforts to pro bono. They are, instead, a 206 attorney law firm who has, through their collective pro bono work, left an indelible mark on their community.”
Fredrikson & Byron was recognized due to the breadth and depth of the work the firm donates to small businesses and nonprofits. Since 1992, Fredrikson has assisted in the creation of the Neighborhood Development Center (one of the developers of the Midtown Global Market and the Mercado); obtained NDC’s tax-exemption; assisted in setting up the Neighborhood Business Loan Fund; assisted more than 350 NDC clients with entity formation, immigration, and intellectual property advice; conducts monthly seminars on legal issues important to small business owners; conducts a walk-in business law clinic for these same business owners, and more. In addition to working with NDC and the Metropolitan Economic Development Association (MEDA), Fredrikson & Byron lawyers have been very active assisting small nonprofits through MAP for Nonprofits and Springboard for the Arts. Charley Ravine, Director of Legal Services for MAP for Nonprofits stated in his letter of support: “There are many outstanding volunteers and law firms in the Twin Cities and Minnesota, Fredrikson is a leader within this community, and I am proud to support their nomination for the ABA Public Service Award.”
The National Public Service Award was initiated in 1994 as part of the Business Law Section’s pro bono project, A Business Commitment (ABC). The ABC project was designed to match business lawyers with legal service programs, community development corporations, charitable organizations, or individuals that cannot afford to hire lawyers. For more information about the National Public Service Award, visit the Section of Business Law Web site, www.abanet.org/buslaw/.
Fredrikson & Byron is a 200-plus attorney law firm based in Minneapolis, with offices in Iowa, London and Monterrey, Mexico. The firm's primary areas of practice include banking, corporate, employment, franchise, government relations, healthcare, intellectual property, international, litigation, real estate, securities, tax and wind energy. We serve a broad range of clients, including multinational corporations, public companies, privately-held businesses, entrepreneurs, government agencies, and family businesses. Fredrikson & Byron's attorneys also work with individuals on estate planning, family law, and immigration matters. We are the exclusive Minnesota law firm member of the World Services Group, a worldwide network of professional service providers. More information about the firm is available at www.fredlaw.com.
The American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world. With more than 400,000 members, the ABA provides law school accreditation, continuing legal education, information about the law, programs to assist lawyers and judges in their work, and initiatives to improve the legal system for the public.