Pro se litigants receive pro bono assistance in mandatory federal ADR proceedings and Jones Day volunteers are honored for managing the program
Client(s) Jones Day's Mediation Program - Western District of PA
On November 21, 2011, Jones Day's Pittsburgh Office hosted a luncheon to thank all the volunteers from Jones Day and other local law firms that have participated in the Pro Se Pro Bono ADR Program in the United States District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania. In the program, which Jones Day coordinates, facilitates, and manages for the Western District, Jones Day matches pro bono counsel with pro se litigants for purposes of the Court's mandatory ADR sessions. Pro bono counsel advise clients on the merits of their cases and assist clients in preparing for and attending the ADR sessions. The program promotes resolution of cases without expenditure of unnecessary judicial resources. Since its inception in 2007, twenty-seven local practitioners have accepted pro bono representation in thirty-one different cases. Over half of the referred cases have settled at the ADR sessions without further court intervention. The program and its pro bono participants are well-regarded and much-appreciated by the Court, and five district court judges, one Third Circuit judge, and key Court personnel, including the Clerk of Court and members of the Court's Case Management/ADR Committee, attended the appreciation luncheon. Jones Day Pittsburgh, in particular, was honored at the luncheon with an award for the time and effort that the office has dedicated to coordinating and facilitating the Pro Se Pro Bono ADR Program.
