Ruth Silver Taube Receives State Bar of California Pro Bono Award

San Jose Lawyer Honored for her Pro Bono Contributions to Low-Wage Workers through the Legal Aid Society - Employment Law Center

Ruth Silver Taube, of the law firm of Silver & Taube in San Jose received the 2005 State Bar President's Pro Bono Service Award in the Small Law Firm category. This prestigious honor was established in 1983 by the State Bar Board of Governors to recognize California attorneys "who have provided or enabled the direct provision of legal services to poor persons or to organizations whose primary purpose is to provide legal services to the poor, free-of-charge, without expectation of compensation from the client." State Bar of California President and former CA Attorney General, John Van de Kamp, presented the award at the President's Reception during the Annual Meeting of the State Bar on Friday evening, September 9, 2005 in San Diego, CA.

In 2004, Ms. Taube, volunteered almost 500 hours of her time in the delivery of free legal services to over 400 low-wage workers as the volunteer Supervising Attorney of the LAS-ELC's South Bay Workers' Rights Clinic. The Clinic, held at Santa Clara University's Katharine & George Alexander Community Law Center, is staffed by law students in the Clinic Interviewing and Advising class, which Ms. Taube also teaches. She trains and mentors the students and additional volunteer attorneys to work with low-wage clients, many of whom are immigrants, on a range of employment law issues, including conducting intakes, relaying the facts of a case, providing counsel and advice, and making targeted referrals.

Mike Gaitley, Senior Staff Attorney and Director of LAS-ELC's Community Legal Services program, says "Ruth's contribution to our clinic is not only her outstanding legal acumen, but also her innate and empathetic sense of the needs of low-income workers. She displays equal sensitivity to the needs of the students who are assisting an extremely diverse clientele."

Ms. Taube received her J.D. summa cum laude from Santa Clara University, School of Law, and her B.A from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Prior to practicing law, Ms. Taube was a Journeyman Machinist and labor organizer, facing discrimination and harassment in order to advance as a woman in a non-traditional job. Working a lathe on the shop floor at ITT Jennings, Ms. Taube was elected shop steward, and later was the first female President of the International Association of Machinists' and Aerospace Workers, Local 547. She then worked as a Business Representative at the Service Employees International Union Local 535.



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