MONTGOMERYBAR.ORG
By Marion Hoffman Fraley, Communications Director Legal Aid of Southeastern PA
Legal Aid of Southeastern PA celebrates 20+ years of service at Fête for Justice! 4 Freedoms, 4 Counties, 4 Justice! Legal Aid of Southeastern PA celebrated 20+ years as a regional civil legal aid provider at the Fête for Justice on May 19. THANK YOU to the Montgomery Bar Association, MBA members, and all sponsors and friends who supported and joined us at Normandy Farm, Blue Bell for this milestone. Keynote Speaker Reuben Jonathan Miller, sociologist, University of Chicago assistant professor and author of Halfway Home: Race, Punishment and the Afterlife of Mass Incarceration, challenged attendees to consider the disproportionate impact of mass incarceration on Black and Brown people. Trapeta B. Mayson, 2020-21 Philadelphia Poet Laureate, shared healing words of verse, including “In This Season” and “Superhero.” We celebrated 47 Honorees, whose work collectively paved the way for LASP’s service across 20+ years. William L. Baldwin, LASP Board President and Delaware County Bar Association Executive Director, and C. Shawn Boehringer, LASP Executive Director, both shared brief remarks. Honorees whose work on behalf of LASP has taken place primarily in Montgomery County included: • Nancy R. Paul, former Montgomery Bar Association and Montgomery Bar Foundation Executive Director for over 30 years. A driving force behind many award-winning access-tojustice initiatives, Nancy served as president of the LASP Board 20 SIDEBAR
of Directors from 2014-16 and was a longtime member of the LASP Board. • Harvey F. Strauss joined Montgomery County Legal Aid Service (MCLAS) in 1976 as staff attorney and became director in 1978. Harvey was chosen as one of the two directors with Elizabeth Wood Fritsch in Bucks County to lead the newly formed LASP, a position he held until his 2013 retirement. • Longtime current members of LASP’s Board of Directors Joseph P. Lynch and Paul Troy. • Consumer law attorney, Cary L. Flitter has presented consumer law trainings to LASP staff, including virtually during the pandemic, and has been instrumental in directing over $260,000 in residual class action funds to LASP. • Current longtime LASP staff Jean Gauger, Pottstown Office Manager; Nanci Hoover, Helpline Supervising Attorney; and Susan Rizzardi, Norristown Office manager. • Edward Danelski and Susan Strong both retired as LASP Staff Attorneys in fall 2021. Susan served more than 41 years and Ed more than 39 years. Both received the Honorable Milton O. Moss Public Service Award from the Montgomery Bar Foundation in January 2022. • Hon. Stewart J. Greenleaf, Sr. (1939-2021). As chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, he led hearings across the state in 2013 on access to justice for low-income Pennsylvanians. • John Paul Knox (1927-2015), who was on the Board of Directors of Montgomery County Legal Aid Service and was appointed as a Montgomery County representative in the merger mediation process. His firm, Timoney Knox, hosted several mediation meetings, and he was on LASP’s inaugural Board in 2001. • Mark Levin, retired Chief Counsel of Regional Housing Legal Services, was Executive Director of RHLS affiliate Commonwealth Housing Development Corporation. In that role, he acquired and redeveloped 625 Swede Street in Norristown to serve as LASP’s headquarters and assisted LASP in establishing a reserve fund for maintenance of the building. • Mitchell W. Miller (1926–2016) played a major role in the efforts of the private bar to develop a legal services program for Montgomery County. Mitch’s reputation as a skillful advocate and dedicated and compassionate civic leader did much to advance the idea for a legal service program among the leaders of the Montgomery Bar Association. These efforts culminated in the founding of the Montgomery County Legal Aid Service in
