D.C. 靠谱的滚球平台协会纪念法律传奇斯蒂芬·波拉克
February 20, 2024
The D.C. Bar joins the legal community in mourning the loss of civil rights champion Stephen J. Pollak, former president of the Bar and who many considered the “godfather” of the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center. 波拉克于2月3日去世，享年95岁.
当波拉克1972年加入靠谱的滚球平台协会时, he immediately jumped into volunteer leadership work, serving as member of the Board of Governors for two terms, as secretary, 然后作为总统(1980-1981). At the Bar, Pollak is best remembered as leading the team that created what is now the D.C. Bar公益中心，哥伦比亚特区最大的无偿法律服务提供商.
In the 1990s, 担任靠谱的滚球平台协会公共服务活动审查委员会主席，负责评估靠谱的滚球平台协会现有的公益项目, 波拉克和委员会成员前往全国各地，了解哪些措施有效，哪些措施可以改进.
“Steve’s goal was to find the most effective and high-quality program for the D.C. Bar. He recommended, 董事会通过了, fundamental and lasting changes to how the Bar would do pro bono,” said former D.C. 酒吧首席执行官Katherine Mazzaferri说. 波拉克深远的探索成果反映在公益中心过去四十年的运作方式中.
“其中一个概念是利用小, but very expert, pro bono legal staff to be available to the volunteer lawyers. 另一个概念是将大量的靠谱的滚球平台和客户聚集在一个地方(诊所模式)，并由公益中心的工作人员组织和预先筛选案件, 这一切都是为了充分利用志愿者时间. 我们称之为“乘数”效应. 志愿者通常与法律服务提供者靠谱的滚球平台组成小组，作为专家导师, which created important relationships between law firms and legal service providers,” Mazzaferri added.
为正义挺身而出
波拉克的靠谱的滚球平台生涯始于华盛顿特区.C.1956年在科文顿 & Burling LLP, 他在那里研究各种反垄断, libel, 沟通也很重要，公益案件的重点是改善贫困人口的住房状况.
As the United States entered the tumultuous 1960s, Pollak stood at the forefront of the fight for racial justice. In 1961 he left private practice to work for the U.S. 律政司(DOJ), where he first served as special assistant to the solicitor general until 1964. 那一年，他还担任约翰逊总统反贫困特别工作组的法律顾问.
1962年，波拉克协助当时的司法部长罗伯特·肯尼迪执行一项法院命令，支持詹姆斯·梅雷迪思作为密西西比大学第一位黑人学生入学的权利，从而推动了民权运动.
In 1965, on Pollak’s first day as first assistant to John Doar, assistant attorney general in charge of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division, 他被送到塞尔玛, Alabama, 此前，州警袭击了黑人民权领袖和和平穿越埃德蒙·佩特斯桥要求投票权的示威者. 波拉克帮助确保阿拉巴马州和地方官员遵守联邦法院的命令，允许示威者游行到州首府.
“The big concern was that there would be disruptions and violence. 阿拉巴马州国民警卫队已经联邦化, 在游行路线上有大量的国民警卫队，特别是在蒙哥马利和州议会大厦，在游行的高潮,波拉克在接受《靠谱的足球滚球平台》采访时说.C. Bar in 2000. “公共秩序得到了维持. I’ll never forget the huge throng in front of the state capitol to greet the marchers. It was ‘electric’ and had the feel of an important, history-making day.”
That protest was a catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 波拉克与参议员迈克·曼斯菲尔德(Mike Mansfield)和埃弗雷特·德克森(Everett Dirksen)的法律顾问一起起草了一份折衷法案，该法案后来成为具有里程碑意义的法律, which Pollak called “the pinnacle of my government service.”
In 1967 Pollak served as advisor to the president for National Capital Affairs, 然后在1967年12月至1969年1月期间担任司法部民权司助理司法部长. 波拉克回忆说，1968年民权法案的通过是他在司法部工作期间的一个高潮.
Returning to private practice in 1969, Pollak became a partner at Shea & Gardner, which later merged with Goodwin Procter LLP. He served as senior counsel at the firm from 2004 until his retirement.
Tireless Advocate
在他50年的执业生涯中, Pollak was actively involved in the legal services community in Washington, D.C., serving in various leadership roles at the District of Columbia Bar Foundation, the D.C. 司法公正委员会, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, 在一长串的组织中.
“Steve was laser-focused on seeking justice and, during his tenure, 始终敦促委员会深入研究最有可能使我们更接近取得有意义进展的核心问题,” said DC 司法公正委员会 Executive Director Nancy Drane. “他知道我们的司法问题很大, 但与其被这事压垮, 他鼓励我们优先考虑那些对我们城市的司法公正产生最大影响的工作. 在我们继续处理摆在我们面前的紧急司法工作时，委员会将而且必须牢记史蒂夫的榜样.”
波拉克在华盛顿靠谱的滚球平台基金会的领导地位, 包括在一个委员会任职，该委员会的任务是研究该基金会如何更有效地筹集资金，以支持法律服务提供商, 是他不朽的遗产之一吗, 据Mazzaferri说.
“史蒂夫坚持不懈地为那些无力支付靠谱的滚球平台费用的人提供高质量的法律服务. 他做了必要的跑腿工作来了解问题，并将他非常可观的才能用于确定解决方案,” Mazzaferri said. “他理解我们法律界有时会出现的困难关系，为了实现加强司法公正的目标，他将自己的信誉置于危险之中. He was a force. 他有很高的标准. He reviewed documents with care, treating each one as though it were going to the U.S. Supreme Court.”
D.C. Bar公益中心主任Kelli Neptune对波拉克表示敬意，他“以远见卓识规划了公益中心的进程，照亮了我们今天的道路。.”
“他孜孜不倦的倡导和对推进公益服务的不懈承诺，在我们组织和民主党身上留下了不可磨灭的印记.C. legal community. Steve’s influence will resonate for generations to come, 这是他不朽的功绩的见证, compassion, 以及对正义坚定不移的奉献.”
James Sandman, 宾夕法尼亚大学凯里法学院杰出讲师和职业未来倡议高级顾问, 波拉克说:“用了一生, 直到他最后的日子, 回馈祖国, to his community, 致法律界人士, 给成百上千的人.”
“He was an important role model for me, both as a lawyer and as a human being. I aspire to be like Stephen Pollak,” added Sandman, a commissioner at the D.C. 司法公正委员会.
Lifetime of Service
Pollak received numerous awards for his distinguished service, including the D.C. Bar Frederick B. Abramson Award in 1992 and 1994, the 1992 Wiley A. Branton Award from the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, 2001年的瑟古德·马歇尔奖.C. Bar, the 2006 Justice Potter Stewart Award from the Council for Court Excellence, 以及2023年民权靠谱的滚球平台委员会颁发的劳埃德·卡特勒终身成就奖.
“你在靠谱的滚球平台行业遇到的挫折之一是，你有很多要求, 有时他们很难满足. 但我一直觉得吃得饱才是最好的. So I intend to keep on going,” Pollak said in 2000.
斯蒂芬·约翰·波拉克出生于3月22日, 1928, 寄给莫里斯·奥古斯特·波拉克, 一个房地产商人, 劳拉·克莱默·波拉克, 她活跃于妇女选民联盟并担任伊利诺伊州东北部规划委员会的成员. The family later moved to Highland Park, Illinois.
高中毕业后，波拉克在美国陆军服役.S. 杜鲁门政府时期的海军. The Navy financed Pollak’s attendance at Dartmouth College, 他在那里学习经济学, history, and government. 在1950年获得学士学位后, he returned to the military at the beginning of the Korean War. In 1953 he enrolled at Yale Law School, where he graduated in 1956 cum laude. While in law school, he was also the managing editor for the Yale Law Journal.
Pollak married Ruth Scheinfeld of Milwaukee in 1951. 他们有两个儿子和两个女儿.
