Berks Barrister Summer 2019 - 12

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Award-Winning
Juggling Performance
By Donald F. Smith, Jr., Esquire

Such an
accomplished
juggler!

hat would be Gabriela Raful,
Esquire-wife, mother, law
partner, active Bar Association
member and community minded person.

The juggling includes a strong
commitment to taking on pro bono work,
a commitment for which she is being
recognized by the Pennsylvania Bar
Association with the presentation of the
PBA Pro Bono Award at the Berks Bar's
Pro Bono Celebration on October 22.

Last fall, when the Reading office
of MidPenn Legal Services had a staff member leave who had
primarily handled Social Security Disability cases, Gabby assumed
the handling of six cases on a pro bono basis. At the time, she also
shared her expertise in training the MidPenn staff. While three
cases were resolved quickly with success, she continues in litigation
with the others.
"We could always count on Gabby to complete her annual
pro bono obligation at MidPenn, but in 2018 she went above and
beyond making herself available," reports Amy B. Good, Esquire,
former managing attorney of the local legal aid office. "She is an
amazing, effective volunteer."

A partner in the firm of Galfand Berger, LLP, Gabby is the
principal partner in its Reading office, but also works out of its
Philadelphia office, with her areas of practice being personal injury
and worker's compensation as well as SSD/SSI. Along with her
firm, she provides counsel at the Medical-Legal Clinic for the
Disabled in Philadelphia. During 2017-2018, she took on three
pro bono cases there involving SSD, medical-legal powers of
attorney, guardianships and wills.
12 | Berks Barrister

"This is one of the many reasons I
love my firm. They always encourage
pro bono work and support me
whenever I want to volunteer." That
desire to volunteer has also included
organizing clinics to draft Caregiver
Designation Forms for undocumented
immigrants with children. The forms
name caretakers for the children if
the parents are suddenly detained
and deported. Since the summer of
2017, the clinic at Reading's St. Peters
Roman Catholic Church has assisted
34 individuals, assuring them of some
peace of mind.

"There are so many people in
need," Gabby notes in explaining her
volunteering in various endeavors.
"Lawyers are blessed with the
knowledge and ability to help. I feel
morally obligated to provide pro bono
representation. I wish I could do more."

Do more?! Considering how full her "plate of life" is otherwise,
the time she spends helping those in need with free representation
is awe-inspiring. The devoted mother of an active four-year-old
son, Gabby still manages to be a successful, full-time litigator, with
a packed schedule of depositions, mediations and hearings. She
also serves as a member of the Berks County Bar Association's
Board of Directors and chairs its Minority Bar Section. She
has even taken time to author articles for The Berks Barrister on
workers' compensation and language access.
In 2018, she appeared on the radar screen of the Pennsylvania
Bar Association as an engaged young attorney, whereby Charles
Eppolito, III, PBA President at the time, named her to the 20182019 class of the Association's Bar Leadership Institute (BLI).
Gabby was the first Berks County attorney to be so honored.

The BLI class is limited in number, less than a dozen lawyers,
and includes only those who have demonstrated leadership ability.
The mission of BLI "is to inform participants on the day-to-day

Berks Barrister Summer 2019

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