The Concordance Academy of Leadership advocates for some of our society’s neediest and most challenged individuals – those who are being released from a correctional facility. The population served by the academy will now have expert, pro bono legal assistance from a blue-chip law firm, Bryan Cave LLP.
The global firm, based in St. Louis, is currently interviewing candidates for the first recipient of its new Bryan Cave-Concordance Academy Legal Fellowship, according to Bob Newmark, managing partner of the St. Louis Office.
“Our fellows will assist with personal legal matters,” Newmark told The American. “We understand that many people, as they come out of incarceration, have a host of legal issues that they still need assistance with.”
Newmark rattled off a few legal problems people commonly face as they exit prison: “outstanding warrants for other matters, traffic matters, landlord-tenant issues that remain unresolved, help sorting through housing arrangements, family legal matters.”
Notably, this assistance does include “minor criminal issues,” Newmark said. Other legal advocates that assist this population, like Legal Services of Eastern Missouri, restrict their case load to civil matters.
Bryan Cave will begin the legal fellowship program with one lawyer, starting in the fall of 2016. An additional lawyer will be added in the fall of 2017. Each will serve for two years, running in staggered terms. Each fellow will spend approximately 50 percent of his or her time on pro bono matters for Concordance Academy participants, and the balance of his or her time on Bryan Cave billable matters.
Newmark said that Hal Goldsmith – a former federal prosecutor, now with Bryan Cave – is the partner who will mentor the fellows.
“This project tries to help people, who are coming out of prison, get back into society,” Goldsmith told The American. “That’s my former world. It’s pretty exciting that we’ll get to help.”
Newmark said the firm’s partners have been discussing launching a fellowship to engage people coming out of law school who want to serve the public interest. When Danny Ludeman, the former Wells Fargo Advisors CEO who founded Concordance Academy (in collaboration with Carrie Pettus-Davis of Washington University), approached Bryan Cave for assistance, this fellowship “seemed a natural fit,” Newmark said.
“We thank Bryan Cave as they continue to demonstrate good corporate citizenship,” Ludeman said in a statement. “So many of our participants face a backlog of legal matters upon returning to the community, from child support to outstanding warrants. These fellows will be providing essential services that will make for successful transitions for this underserved population.”
The Concordance Academy works in partnership with the Concordance Institute for Advancing Social Justice, a research center housed at Washington University’s Brown School of Social Work that identifies and tests best practices to inform the academy’s work. Ludeman describes this partnership as “the first holistic, integrated, evidence-driven model in the country that engages the public, private and academic communities in providing quality services tailored to reentering prisoners.”
To learn more about the Concordance Academy and its services, visit www.concordanceacademy.com, and to learn more about the Concordance Institute and its research, visit www.concordanceinstitute.com.
Newmark said fellows will likely to be getting their first job out of law school, and his firm wants to hear from freshly baked lawyers or law students nearing the end of their studies. Anyone interested in applying for the fellowship should submit a resume to Jennifer Guirl at Jennifer.guirl@bryancave.com.
