Pro Bono at Lerman Senter

 

OVERVIEW OF PUBLIC & COMMUNITY SERVICE SUPPORT

Lerman Senter personnel have been involved in a wide range of public and community service activities. Our attorneys have served as pro bono counsel and mentors, and have provided volunteer and fundraising support to a wide range of non-profit, charitable, educational, and professional organizations and programs – locally and nationally.  These organizations include the Federal Communications Bar Association (and particularly its charitable foundation), Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Union of Concerned Scientists, Delta Research Educational Foundation, Carolina for Kibera, Inc., and various schools, universities and college alumni associations.  Lerman Senter personnel have also been instrumental in the creation and founding of numerous organizations, and have served in prominent leadership roles. 

LERMAN SENTER's COMMITMENTS

While Lerman Senter attorneys pursue their own individual charitable and pro bono interests, Lerman Senter as a firm provides both legal and volunteer support to the Minority Media and Telecommunications Council (“MMTC”), and has also initiated a relationship with the Washington Area Lawyers for the Arts (“WALA”).  In addition, LS member S. Jenell Trigg provides instruction concerning legal issues faced by broadcast executives and managers as part of the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation’s Broadcast Leadership Training Program.

MINORITY MEDIA & TELECOMMUNICATIONS COUNCIL

MMTC is a non-profit, public-interest organization that advocates for diversity in ownership, employment and participation by minority groups and women in telecommunications industries. Lerman Senter has supported MMTC and its Executive Director David Honig for many years.  In recognition of its long-standing commitment to MMTC, the firm was honored with MMTC’s “Distinguished Pro Bono Achievement Award” at an award luncheon in July 2006.  Steven Lerman, the firm’s managing partner, and S. Jenell Trigg, also partner in the firm as well as a member of MMTC’s Board, proudly accepted the award on behalf of the firm.

Lerman Senter is currently counseling MMTC in the areas of trademark, copyright, privacy, and regulatory and policy matters pertaining to minority ownership in the broadcasting and wireless industries.  The firm is also involved in the planning and is a sponsor of MMTC’s well attended Annual Access to Capital Conference.   LS is the sole sponsor of the Telecom Policy Luncheon at the  MMTC’s Access to Capital and Telecommunications Policy Conference on July 20, 2009.  LS member S. Jenell Trigg is a moderator of a conference panel regarding broadband stimulus and allocations to minorities. www.mmtconline.org

WASHINGTON AREA LAWYERS FOR THE ARTS

WALA has supported artistic expression and creative innovation by serving the legal needs of Washington, Maryland and Virginia’s arts and cultural communities for twenty years. A  501(c)(3) not-for profit organization, WALA provides education, advocacy and volunteer legal services through workshops and seminars, legal clinics for artists and arts organizations, and pro-bono referral services.  WALA regularly circulates a list of local artists, film makers and other members of the creative community who need legal services, primarily in the areas of intellectual property and nonprofit creation and organization as a 501(c)(3) charity.  Lerman Senter attorneys have undertaken pro bono projects in these areas on behalf of WALA-referred clients.  www.thewala.org

BROADCAST LEADERSHIP TRAINING

Lerman Senter member S. Jenell Trigg serves on the faculty of the National Association of Broadcasters Education Foundation’s Broadcast Leadership Training Program.  This is an executive MBA-style program targeted to senior level broadcast managers of proven ability who aspire to become group executives or station owners.  S. Jenell teaches privacy and data security law to program participants, and is herself an alumnus of the program.  www.nabef.org