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Contact: Rosanne M. Van Heertum
Director of Development, The New YorkBar Foundation
rvanh@tnybf.org
518/487-5650
February 13, 2009
NEW YORK BAR FOUNDATION RECEIVES $30,000 GIFT TO
ESTABLISH JOAN L. ELLENBOGEN MEMORIAL FELLOWSHIP
Public service organizations to receive assistance
in matters relating to matrimonial law
ALBANY – The New York Bar Foundation has received a gift of
$30,000 to establish The Joan L. Ellenbogen Memorial Fellowship. The
fellowship will be available to third-year law students or newly
graduated lawyers. Valued at $5,000 each, three fellowships are
scheduled to take place each year during fall semesters 2009 and 2010.
Public service or other nonprofit organizations with the need for a
fellow to assist with matters relating to matrimonial law are eligible
to apply. The goal of the fellowship is to encourage lawyers and
students to consider the practice of matrimonial law so that individuals
will have access to representation and a greater understanding of their
rights in matters relating to matrimonial and family law in the State of
New York.
The fellowship was established with a gift from Marcia C. Goldstein,
New York, in memory of her former law firm partner. Each fellowship will
be funded through a grant award to a qualifying organization that must
submit a grant application to The New York Bar Foundation. The
application deadline for the 2009 fellowships is April 1, 2009; the
application deadline for the 2010 fellowships is October 15, 2009. The
grantee organization will select the law student or newly graduated
lawyer for the fellowship. A grant application is accessible at www.tnybf.org.
John R. Horan, president of The Foundation said, “It is with
great pleasure that we accept this generous gift to establish The Joan
L. Ellenbogen Memorial Fellowship. The demand for lawyers who practice
in the area of matrimonial law continues to increase as the changing
nature of today’s relationships becomes much more
complex.”
Along with Marcia C. Goldstein, Joan L. Ellenbogen founded the law
firm of Ellenbogen & Goldstein, P.C., New York, in 1979 where she
practiced matrimonial and family law until her death in 2001. In 1980,
she was the founding president of the Women’s Bar Association of
the State of New York, a state-wide organization dedicated to the
advancement of women in society and in the legal profession. She was the
first woman chair of the executive committee of the Association of the
Bar of the City of New York. Additionally, Ellenbogen was a member of
the First Department Disciplinary Committee and served on the Board of
Trustees of the Legal Aid Society. She served on the executive committee
of the Family Law Section of the New York State Bar Association, and in
2001, was the recipient of the Association’s prestigious Ruth G.
Schapiro Award. A graduate of New York University School of Law,
Ellenbogen was admitted to the New York Bar in 1965.
Ellenbogen’s many other professional activities included
serving as president of the Alumni Association of New York University
School of Law; being one of the organizers of the Judges and Lawyers
Breast Cancer Alert; serving as a member of the Joint Committee on
Judicial Administration established by Governor Mario Cuomo and former
Chief Judge Sol Wachtler; and serving as a commissioner on the
Commission on Judicial Nominations to the Court of Appeals. She was a
fellow of the Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers, New York Chapter, a
Diplomate in the American College of Family Trial Lawyers, and a
frequent lecturer to the bench and bar on matrimonial law. Ellenbogen
received many awards and tributes during her distinguished professional
career. She lost her battle with pancreatic cancer in 2001 at the age of
59.
According to Horan, The Foundation is dedicated to aiding charitable
and educational projects to meet the law-related needs of the public and
the legal profession. It provides financial support in the form of grant
awards to assist in facilitating the delivery of legal services to those
in need; promoting improvements in the justice system and law; enhancing
professional competence and ethics; and increasing public understanding
of the law and legal system. The Foundation’s grant making program
is made possible through generous contributions from lawyers, law firms,
corporations and others.
Go to www.tnybf.org for complete fellowship
eligibility details or for more information, contact The New York Bar
Foundation, One Elk Street, Albany NY 12207, 518/487-5651 or foundation@tnybf.org.
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