L. Joseph Genereux, Board President of LegalCORPS, To Receive 2005 American Bar Association Section of Business Law Committee on Pro Bono National Public Service Award

L. Joseph Genereux, president of the LegalCORPS Board of Directors and a partner at Dorsey & Whitney LLP in Minneapolis, has been named the recipient of the 2005 American Bar Association Section of Business Law Committee on Pro Bono National Public Service Award. Genereux will be honored with the award at the Section’s Spring Meeting during a luncheon on Friday, April 1, 2005 at 12:30 p.m. at the Renaissance Hotel Center Ballroom in Nashville, Tennessee.

LegalCORPS assists eligible nonprofit corporations and microbusinesses in Minnesota to obtain free legal assistance on business-related, transactional matters. Its mission is to strengthen the nonprofits and microenterprises that serve and support Minnesota’s low-income communities by providing them with the legal advice that they could not otherwise afford to purchase. The goal is to provide an ever-increasing quantity and quality of pro bono legal services to client organizations throughout the state of Minnesota, so that they can better focus their efforts on serving their clients. Volunteer Lawyers Network assists LegalCORPS with case placement. During Genereux’s tenure some 100 attorneys have been recruited and the caseload is growing, and he continues to travel giving presentations about LegalCORPS services.

LegalCORPS, which was launched in spring 2004, grew out of the Minnesota State Bar Association (MSBA) Task Force on Business Law Pro Bono. Genereux served as co-chair of this task force, with James L. Baillie, past president of the MSBA. The Task Force consisted of attorneys, members of the Minnesota nonprofit community, and representatives from microenterprise technical assistance organizations. MSBA’s objective in forming the task force was to find new ways to dramatically improve access to pro bono legal services to organizations, specifically nonprofits and microbusinesses, which play a critical role in improving the lives of low-income individuals and communities.

Genereux is the chair of the Commercial and Banking practice group at Dorsey & Whitney LLP, and a member of the firm’s Policy Committee. He is a graduate of the University of Michigan Law School, and holds a masters degree from the London School of Economics and a bachelor of arts degree from Grinnell College. In addition to his service with LegalCORPS, Genereux is president of the Minneapolis Legal Aid Society Board of Directors and a member of the national Advisory Committee of the Law Firm Pro Bono Project of the Pro Bono Institute at Georgetown University Law Center.