Mei Lin Kwan-Gett to Chair City Bar Fund; New Board Members Announced

Mei Lin Kwan-Gett, a partner at Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, has been elected Chair of the City Bar Fund, which oversees the City Bar Justice Center, the pro bono affiliate of the New York City Bar Association.

In addition, the following officers were elected for the 2013-2014 term: Edward S. Kornreich, Partner, Proskauer, as Vice President; Heidi Levine, Partner, DLA Piper, as Vice President; Bret I. Parker, Executive Director, New York City Bar Association, as Vice President; William Viets, Managing Director, JPMorgan Chase, as Secretary and Carol S. Rosenbaum, CFO, New York City Bar Association, as Assistant Treasurer.

Carey R. Dunne, Partner, Davis Polk, and President, New York City Bar Association, and Hon. Allan L. Gropper, United States Bankruptcy Judge, SDNY, who serves as City Bar Treasurer, serve ex-officio as President and Treasurer, respectively, of the City Bar Fund.

Four new members were elected to the board: Hazel-Ann Mayers, Senior Vice President, Assistant General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, CBS; Pedro A. Medrano, Senior Counsel, BNY Mellon; Ellen J. Rosenthal, Vice President and Chief Counsel for Pfizer Legal Alliance, Pfizer; and Jordan A. Thomas, Partner, Labaton Sucharow.

Kwan-Gett is a partner in Willkie’s Litigation Department and co-head of the firm’s White Collar Criminal Defense Practice Group. She specializes in white collar criminal defense, regulatory enforcement matters, internal investigations, and complex commercial litigation. Prior to joining Willkie, Kwan-Gett was a Deputy Chief in the Criminal Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York. From 2001 to 2003, Kwan-Gett served as Special Investigative Counsel for the U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General. While in private practice, Kwan-Gett has worked on numerous pro bono matters, including representing political refugees, battered women, and criminal defendants. Kwan-Gett was previously a Vice President of the New York City Bar Association and a member of the City Bar Fund Board. As Chair of the Justice Center, Kwan-Gett succeeds Jay Holtmeier of WilmerHale.

“The City Bar Justice Center’s dedicated and expert attorneys successfully mobilize the resources of the New York legal community to assist more than 20,000 indigent and low-income clients annually,” said Kwan-Gett. “I’m excited by the opportunity to help them further their mission.”

City Bar Justice Center Executive Director Lynn Kelly said, “The City Bar Justice Center is delighted to welcome our new board chair and board members. The City Bar Fund Board has an important role to play in encouraging pro bono, particularly as the New York courts institute new admission and reporting requirements for pro bono. This is an incredibly important time for the CBF Board to help facilitate the expansion of quality pro bono opportunities that are well supported by mentors with poverty law expertise.”