Local attorney recognized for public service

MILWAUKEE, May 3, 2005 – The State Bar of Wisconsin annually recognizes lawyers, law students and law firms who have helped make the legal system more accessible by providing pro bono legal services, community service and law-related education to the public. The Public Service/Pro Bono Volunteer Lawyers Recognition Celebration will be held at the State Bar's annual convention on Wednesday, May 4 from 6-8 p.m. at the Hilton Milwaukee City Center.

The 2004 Outstanding Public Interest Law Student will be presented to Stefanie Ebbens of Milwaukee. In 2002 during her first year at Marquette Law School, she became actively involved in the Public Interest Law Society. In May 2003, she received a Summer Fellowship from the Public Interest Law Society to work as a law clerk in Prestonsburg, Kentucky with the Appalachian Research and Defense Fund (Appalred). In 2004 she returned for a second summer clerking with Appalred. For the next two years at Marquette, she dedicated her time to the cause of equal access and continued her work with the Public Interest Law Society by organizing the 11th Annual Howard B. Eisenbeg's Do-Gooders Auction, and helping to organize educational opportunities for her fellow students interested in the noble field of Public Interest Law. She has also had the opportunity to work as a law clerk at the Legal Aid Society of Milwaukee, and the AIDS Resource Center of Wisconsin. In addition, she helped to launch the pilot year of the Street Law Program at MULS, by participating as a law student instructor. Street Law is a practical law class taught to high school students in MPS, and which culminates in a city wide moot court competition for those students.

The State Bar of Wisconsin is the mandatory professional association, created by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, for attorneys who hold a law license in Wisconsin. With more than 21,000 members, the State Bar aids the courts in improving the administration of justice, provides continuing legal education for its members, and assists Wisconsin lawyers in carrying out initiatives to educate the public about the legal system.

For more information, visit www.wisbar.org.

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