(Mineola, NY) Since 2011, attorney Joseph Harbeson has volunteered more than 150 hours to help a victim of domestic abuse in a very difficult and contentious divorce through The Safe Center LI’s Pro Bono Project. Even though the commercial law attorney hadn’t handled a matrimonial case in more than 20 years, he rose to the challenge, attending educational seminars and working with an experienced mentor provided by the Project. When it became necessary for the client to file for bankruptcy, Harbeson recruited one of the partners in his firm’s Bankruptcy Group, who also handled the bankruptcy case pro bono.
As Harbeson’s serious commitment and inspiration to other attorneys to give back to the community truly fulfills the letter and spirit of pro bono service, NCBA President Peter J. Mancuso has named him Pro Bono Attorney of the Month for April 2014.
Attorney Joseph Harbeson has been named the Nassau Bar Association’s April 2014 Pro Bono Attorney of the Month. Photo Credit: NCBA.
Joseph Harbeson is a partner at Ruskin Moscou Faltischek, where he chairs the firm’s Construction Practice Group and Pro Bono Committee and is a member of the Litigation Department and the Employment Law Practice Group. He is also an active member of the Nassau County Bar Association, serving on the Commercial Litigation, Construction Law and Ethics Committees, and is a member of the Westchester County Bar Association and the New York State Bar Association. He earned his law degree from Rutgers School of Law.
Harbeson is active in the U.S. Green Building Council – Long Island Chapter, where he currently serves as the Co-Chair of the chapter’s Advocacy Committee. As a member of St. John’s Episcopal Church in his hometown of Yonkers, he serves as counsel to the Vestry, as a Warden and member of the Vestry, chairs the Stewardship and Cemetery Committees and sings in the choir.
Founded in 1899, the Nassau County Bar Association consists of private and public attorneys, judges, legal educators and law students who demonstrate their commitment to the community by offering a variety of services for the public, including lawyer referral services, mortgage foreclosure, Sandy Recovery and senior citizen legal clinics, judicial screening, public education programs, and support for the Volunteer Lawyers Project, which provides much-needed free legal services for the indigent of Nassau County. The WE CARE Fund, a part of the NCBA’s charitable arm, assists children, the elderly and others in need, through countless projects and donations. For more information, call (516) 747-4070 (language translation available), email info@nassaubar.org, or visit nassaubar.org.
