Volunteers of Legal Service is pleased to announce the appointment of three new members to our Board of Directors:
Boris Bershteyn | Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Boris Bershteyn is a litigation partner at Skadden, focusing on antitrust/competition, constitutional, appellate, and administrative-law matters. Mr. Bershteyn has a deep commitment to public service, demonstrated through pro bono work, and community and government leadership. He serves as the chair of the advisory board of the Institute for Policy Integrity at New York University Law School, as a board member of PeerForward, and as a member of The American Law Institute. In 2019, he was named as a senior fellow of the Administrative Conference of the United States. From 2009 to 2013, Mr. Bershteyn held several senior government positions, including Associate White House, General Counsel of the Office of Management and Budget, and Acting Administrator of the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs. He had also served as a law clerk to Justice David H. Souter on the U.S. Supreme Court and Judge Jose A. Cabranes on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Mr. Bershteyn serves on Skadden’s Ethics, Hiring, and Pro Bono committees. He has been named to Chambers USA, The Legal 500 U.S. and was named as a “2015 Rising Star” by the New York Law Journal.
Claire E. James | Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Claire James is a partner in Willkie Farr & Gallagher’s Corporate & Financial Services Department, where she focuses on public and private mergers and acquisitions, restructurings and general corporate matters.
In addition to her corporate work, Ms. James works on a wide range of pro bono matters. She participates in the VOLS Incarcerated Mothers Law Project, as well as the City Bar Justice Center’s Legal Clinic for the Homeless. She provides nonprofits with governance advice and assists a number of clients with immigration-related matters. Ms. James also serves on the board of the Center for Family Representation and the 92Y Parenting Center Advisory Board, and she is an adjunct professor at Cardozo. Ms. James lives in Manhattan with her husband and two children.
Jason M. Halper | Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
Jason Halper is Chair of the Global Litigation Group at Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP. He is a recognized leader in the fields of financial services and securities law and corporate governance/M&A. Mr. Halper is an adjunct professor in corporate and securities law at the University of Pennsylvania Law School, a member of the Advisory Board of Harvard Law School’s Program on Corporate Governance, and a frequent speaker and author.
Mr. Halper’s commitment to community service work includes serving on the Executive Committee, and as a past Chair, of the New York/New Jersey Regional Board of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). In 2019, he received the ADL’s Edward Brodsky Founder’s Award. He also is on the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society and the Executive Board of the GlamourGals Foundation, and he chairs Cadwalader’s Pro Bono Advisory Committee. In addition, Mr. Halper is partner sponsor of the Cadwalader Black and Latin Association Immigration Clinic, which handles pro bono immigration and asylum matters. He also oversees dozens of Cadwalader associates on a wide array of pro bono matters.
About VOLS
Now for 35 years, Volunteers of Legal Service (VOLS) harnesses the capacity of New York City’s legal community and neighborhood-based groups to provide free, civil legal services when and where they are needed most.
Our five legal projects empower our clients to attain dignity, security, and opportunity, including the VOLS Children’s Project, Elderly Project and Veterans Initiative, Immigration Project, Incarcerated Mothers Law Project, and Microenterprise Project.
VOLS’ expert legal team works alongside a network of 1,000+ pro bono attorneys at over 60 law firms and corporate law departments to help anchor the social and economic safety net in New York City. We collaborate with 210 community-based groups – such as schools or senior centers – to ensure that New Yorkers can learn about and access our services in a trusted setting.