Washington Lawyer - July 2017 - 31

In the legal world, there was the "trial of the
century" - the O.J. Simpson double murder case
that gripped the nation. DNA evidence was increasingly being used in criminal trials, and the country
took a tough stance on crime with the Violent
Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994.
President Bill Clinton became the second president
in U.S. history to be impeached.
The decade was significant for the D.C. Bar as well:
For the first time, attorneys admitted to practice in
the District of Columbia were now required to take
a mandatory course within 12 months of admission
to the Bar. The Bar also began an ambitious reenvisioning of its Pro Bono Program (now Pro Bono
Center) and an expansion of its Programs Division.
Many of the Bar's achievements from this decade
continue to impact the organization today.

PRO BONO CENTER:
FINDING ITS IDENTITY
Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, in response
to federal cutbacks in legal aid, there was a national
push for more coordinated pro bono initiatives, but
the District was lagging in this effort.
"Demand for legal services by many in D.C. was
front and center," recalls Cornish Hitchcock, a
member of the Bar's Board of Governors during
the early 1990s.
The D.C. Bar decided to take a close look at its Public
Services Activities Corporation (PSAC), forerunner of
the Pro Bono Program. PSAC was a nonprofit

service established by the Bar following the 1980
referendum in which members voted to limit the
use of mandatory dues to four specified areas,
which excluded funding of public interest activities.
PSAC provided telephone callers with information
and referrals to private attorneys or to legal services
providers for those unable to pay a lawyer. It also
placed some more complex pro bono cases with
private or government attorney volunteers. During
this time, PSAC also worked to attract charitable
contributions to support its services.
In 1990 D.C. Bar president Sara-Ann "Sally"
Determan tapped Stephen Pollak, a former Bar
president, to chair the PSAC Review Committee.
Working for two years, the Review Committee was
exhaustive in its approach, examining PSAC's
accomplishments and budget, communicating
with stakeholders, and looking at pro bono
programs around the country. It also consulted with
Esther Lardent, a major advocate for pro bono
service who later founded the Pro Bono Institute.
In June 1992, the Review Committee brought its
findings to the Bar's Board of Governors, concluding
that PSAC's lawyer referral services, which began in
the 1970s, were outdated. PSAC had to be proactive
instead of reactive, the committee said, and must
work harder to identify and target unmet legal
needs in the community. The committee concluded that PSAC needed to get a greater number
of attorney volunteers involved, and that its activities should have a multiplier effect, helping the
most people possible.

1992

1993

D.C. Bar overhauls its Public Services
Activities Corporation (precursor of its
Pro Bono Program, now Pro Bono
Center) to increase legal services for
low-income people in the District.

D.C. Bar establishes the William J.
Brennan Jr. Award and the Thurgood
Marshall Award for exceptional
achievement in the pursuit of equal
justice and opportunity.

D.C. Council imposes a $250 tax on
most professionals in the District,
specifically including active members
of the D.C. Bar. Nearly 5,000 members
switch from active to inactive status
to exempt themselves from the fee,
negatively affecting the Bar.

1994

Pro Bono Center holds first biweekly
Law Firm Pro Bono Clinic and launches
the Pro Se Plus Divorce Clinic.

Pro Bono Center opens Bankruptcy
Clinic.
D.C. Court of Appeals adopts rules
that all attorneys admitted to the D.C.
Bar after July 1, 1994, must complete a
course on the D.C. Rules of
Professional Conduct and the practice
of law in the District of Columbia.

D.C. Bar Presidents
1990-91

Sara-Ann "Sally" Determan
1991-92

James Robertson
1992-93

Jamie S. Gorelick
1993-94

Mark H. Tuohey III

1994-95

Pauline A. Schneider

1995-96

Robert N. Weiner

1996-97

Myles V. Lynk

1997-98

Carolyn B. Lamm
1998-99

Andrew H. Marks
1999-00

Joan H. Strand

Cynthia D. Hill

was quite a challenge . . . But we got
" Itwhere
we needed to go as far as being
able to provide a full-service CLE
Program for our members.
CYNTHIA D. HILL
Former D.C. Bar Chief Programs Officer

WASHINGTON LAWYER

JULY 2017

http://www.dcbar.org

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Washington Lawyer - July 2017