The Berks Barrister Summer 2017 - 6

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Pro Bono Profiles

Recognizing Ten Who
Are Always On Call
By Donald F. Smith, Jr., Esquire

E

xpenses are exceeding income. Credit cards are tapped out.
Feeling overwhelmed. Declare bankruptcy? No money
for an attorney. Where to turn?
The answer is MidPenn Legal Services and its panel
of private bankruptcy attorneys willing to provide pro bono
representation. "When cases are identified by MidPenn attorneys
as appropriate for bankruptcy, they are referred to the panel,"
explained Amy B. Good, Esquire, the manager of Reading's
MidPenn office. "Generally, for each year they have been on the
panel, the attorneys have handled two to three cases personally
from start to completion by obtaining a discharge in bankruptcy
for the client."
To honor such devotion, the ten attorneys who have been
on the panel for more than a year are each receiving the 2017
Pennsylvania Bar Association Pro Bono Award. The presentation
will be made on October 24, as part of the Berks' Pro Bono
Celebration, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. The Celebration includes
lunch, two seminars and a reception, all free for Pro Bono Team
members.
All of this year's awardees, while having diverse backgrounds
and diverse interests beyond the law, share a passion for helping
those in need, providing access to justice.
The dean of the group is David S.
Gellert, Esquire, who has practiced
bankruptcy law exclusively for more
than thirty years. The Pottsville
native worked at several firms
following law school before going
solo in 1998 with offices in Reiffton
and Allentown.
He finds that the clients referred
by MidPenn are "floundering around
in life, needing help. It is our job to
help the poor, and it feels really good
doing so." Dave is an avid scuba diver, going on dives every other
year in Honduras and weekly during the nonwinter seasons in
Willow Springs Park, outside of Myerstown.
Practicing bankruptcy law for
almost as long, but not exclusively, is
Shawn J. Lau, Esquire. His work
in the field began in 1989 when he
started with Bingaman Hess. Eleven
years later he struck out on his own
with an office in St. Lawrence.
6 | Berks Barrister

Shawn likes handling bankruptcy cases because he likes
"preserving value, recycling value back into the economy." He
sees his pro bono work as "part of our duty as lawyers to help the
indigent, giving back." The Lehigh native is an outdoorsman,
enjoying hunting, fishing and golf.
The bankruptcy panel was begun
in the early 1990s at the request
of George M. Lutz, Esquire. He
had been volunteering at Central
Pennsylvania Legal Services, MidPenn's
predecessor, as part of the BCBA Pro
Bono Program, when he was asked to
pursue a PFA for a woman whose life
had been threatened. "Being asked
to prevent a person from being killed
scared the hell out of me," explained
George. Not wanting to give up helping the poor, the scare
inspired George to lobby for a panel of bankruptcy attorneys.
After all, bankruptcy was his comfort zone. Being
"mathematically inclined" he considers the practice "easy lifting."
In fact, George enjoys "recreational mathematics," having a library
of about 100 volumes on mathematics. He also finds time to play
racketball three times per week as well as solving and constructing
crossword puzzles. He is an avid cruciverbalist!
John A. DiGiamberardino,
Esquire, has practiced bankruptcy
law exclusively for twenty-five years.
He likes "being able to help people
fight on a level playing field with the
big banks and collection agencies."
He is especially "happy to do pro
bono" explaining that attorneys "have
been blessed to make a good living,
and we have a responsibility to give
back. Our job should not just be
about dollars and cents at the end of
the week. Not everyone can write a
check."
When not working, John enjoys reading science-fiction and
ancient history.
A native of York, James J. "Jay" Davis, Esquire, began to
practice law in Reading in 1986. "The Berks Bar is big enough
to be good but small enough to be collegial." While bankruptcy
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