This year, three incoming first-year associates from Katten Muchin Rosenman LLP are participating in the firm's year-long First Year Public Service Fellowship Program. Davis Kerastas, Jennifer Saba and Sheila Simhan are spending their first year of legal practice working as staff attorneys for legal services organizations and providing pro bono legal counsel to clients in need. Katten was one of the first law firms in the nation to offer this type of program for first-year associates, introducing it in 2003.

Mr. Kerastas, a University of Virginia School of Law graduate, is working with the National Immigrant Justice Center (NIJC). Ms. Saba, who earned her J.D. from DePaul University College of Law, is working at the Roger Baldwin Foundation of ACLU Inc., the legal arm of the ACLU of Illinois. Ms. Simhan, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin Law School, is performing her fellowship at the Small Business Opportunity Center of the Northwestern University School of Law.

Under its First Year Public Service Fellowship Program, Katten makes a donation to each agency sufficient to cover salary and benefits for the associates during the year of service. Associates are placed on the payroll of the agency, not the firm, in order to avoid conflicts that might limit the scope of the associate's work. Following one year of service to their respective organizations, the three attorneys will return to Katten as fully-fledged second-year associates.

"We know from our pro bono efforts as a firm that many legal services organizations that serve as valuable resources for underserved segments of the population, are often severely understaffed," said Jonathan Baum, Katten's Director of Pro Bono Services. "Through our First Year Public Service Fellowship Program, we are able to assist these organizations with their staffing needs while at the same time offering our associates hands-on legal experience serving their community." This group of three associates is the largest in the program's history and reflects an increased desire among law school graduates to contribute through public service. Mr. Baum notes the symbiotic benefits of the program: "We hope to both provide key additional staffing to understaffed legal services agencies and provide our associates with (1) an opportunity for service, (2) skill-developing experience, and (3) a taste for pro bono that will stick with them throughout their careers."

Katten tries to match associates' interests within their respective law practices to the needs of the organization. The associates are assigned to agencies based on both their interests and on where they are likely to have the best opportunity for skill-developing experience. Assignments are made only after the associate and their prospective supervisors at the agency have met and all agree that it is a good fit.

Katten's pro bono program has been honored with the National Public Service Award, presented by the American Bar Association Section of Business Law, and recognized by the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund in Chicago, the Lawyers Alliance for New York, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois and numerous other organizations.

Click here to view Katten's official press release on the program.