This month Philadelphia VIP recognizes Amy Tarr and PECO/Exelon for her outstanding volunteer assistance to VIP clients.

Amy Tarr, Assistant General Counsel and the East Pro Bono Coordinator at PECO/Exelon, is not only a model volunteer in-house counsel, but she has also taken on the added responsibility of recruiting her colleagues at PECO to take the pro bono plunge.

The LawWorks project at Philadelphia VIP, which provides pro bono legal services to nonprofits, small businesses and homeowners, provides occasional legal clinics to microentrepreneurs. Amy has served at several of the clinics, assisting new ventures with their pressing legal needs so their limited capital may be used to grow their businesses. In addition, she has persuaded many other in-house counsel at PECO to join in serving at these clinics.

Last year, Amy embraced the idea of helping beyond the clinic setting by providing representation through VIP’s Mortgage Foreclosure Rescue Effort, a part of the City of Philadelphia’s Residential Mortgage Foreclosure Diversion Program which brings lenders and borrowers together to attempt a negotiated settlement of the foreclosure.

Amy recently arranged for PECO to host 40 volunteer attorneys at VIP’s April mortgage foreclosure training; her leadership was crucial to ensuring that VIP was able to effectively train these 40 new volunteers to participate.  Four of Amy’s colleagues participated in that training and are headed to court to help homeowners remain in their homes.

There are many obstacles to serving pro bono clients outside the typical private law firm structure, but Amy has overcome them and done so with exceptional generosity and good humor.

For her commitment and dedication to its clients and fellow volunteers, Philadelphia VIP offers ours its heartfelt appreciation to Amy Tarr.

VIP Profile [PDF]