Chief Justice Ronald D. Castille of the Pennsylvania Supreme Court will join jurists from West Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania at a forum in Pittsburgh hosted by the national Legal Services Corporation (LSC) on Monday, October 21, in the Pennsylvania Supreme Court Courtroom, 801 City-County Building, 414 Grant Street.

The forum is being held in conjunction with the LSC Board’s quarterly meeting, and will address LSC Board members and an audience of more than 100 attorneys, judges and other access to justice leaders from across the region. It will begin with remarks by Chief Justice Castille and LSC Board Chairman John G. Levi.

Joining Chief Justice Castille in a panel discussion of “The Importance of Access to Justice to the Judiciary” will be Chief Justice Brent D. Benjamin of the Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia; Chief Judge Ben C. Clyburn of the District Court of Maryland; and Magistrate Judge Maureen P. Kelly of the U.S. District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania. Harvard Law School Dean Martha Minow, vice chair of the LSC Board, will moderate the panel, which will take place from 9:15-10:30 a.m.

The forum will also feature a discussion among corporate general counsel, legal aid lawyers, and others about innovative private partnerships that legal aid centers funded by LSC are using to promote pro bono service.

Panelists include:

• Dottie Alke, vice president and senior counsel, CBS Corporation;
• Lori A. Chumbler, associate general counsel, legal administration & external relations, Walmart;
• Stephen Dickinson, executive director, Central Virginia Legal Aid Society;
• John G. Finneran, Jr., general counsel and corporate secretary, Capital One;
• Barbara Griffin, pro bono coordinator, Allegheny County Bar Foundation;
• Kathryn M. Kenyon of Pietragallo Gordon Alfano Bosick & Raspanti, LLP;
• Robert V. Racunas, executive director, Neighborhood Legal Services Association (Pittsburgh); and
• Lee Richardson, executive director, Legal Aid of Arkansas.

LSC President James J. Sandman will moderate the panel, which will take place from 10:45 a.m. – noon.

University of Pittsburgh School of Law Dean William M. Carter, Jr., and  Duquesne University School of Law Dean Ken Gormley will speak at a luncheon following the panel discussions.

The LSC Board and its committees will meet October 20-22 at the Renaissance Pittsburgh Hotel, 107 Sixth St., in Pittsburgh.  Details regarding the board and committee meetings may be found in a notice published on the LSC website.  Members of the public who are unable to attend may listen to open sessions of the board and its committees by telephone, using the instructions in the notice.