Remarks for the Deputy Attorney General
                        D.C. Bar Luncheon
                  Announcement of Assistance to 
                      Corporation Counsel
               Wednesday, March 6, 1996  12:30 p.m.



     Thank you.  It is always an honor to rejoin the D.C. Bar for
occasions like this one.
     The Attorney General means every word of her endorsement of
community service.  She demonstrates her commitment by devoting
several hours a month of her own very precious time:  she has
adopted a public elementary school in the District and schedules
regular visits with the students there.  She reads to the
children, and has taught them science and history classes. 
During her most recent visit, she conducted a class on the
importance of black history month.  Her service is a model for
all of us to follow.  As Newt Gingrich stated last year:
     "Real leadership starts by setting the agenda and by
     being a symbol of what matters.  For example, Attorney
     General Reno going to visit the schools is a very good
     thing to do.  It's symbolically powerful."



Thanks to the Attorney General's example, we have broad
bipartisan support for our pro bono efforts.
     As part of the Department's contribution to the District, I
am pleased to announce a plan to provide assistance to the
District of Columbia Office of Corporation Counsel.  Corporation
Counsel Chuck Ruff is performing a marvelous service to the
District of Columbia by making the most of his many connections
to private law firms and federal officials to bring new resources
and support to Corporation Counsel.  
     Chuck approached me several months ago with a plea for
assistance.  After hearing about the inadequate resources and
tremendous infrastructure needs of his office, I agreed to
explore ways in which the Department could share its resources
and expertise to assist Corporation Counsel, consistent with our
ethical guidelines and resource limitations.  We have identified
several means of assistance that I believe will go a long way
toward improving Corporation Counsel's ability to provide quality
legal services to the District.
     First, we will help improve Corporation Counsel's office
infrastructure.  The Department is sending technical experts to
review Corporation Counsel's computer systems and provide
guidance on the costs and feasibility of installing appropriate
software, electronic and voice mail systems, and network servers
for personal computers.  We are prepared to share the
Department's case management systems and related software to
enable Corporation Counsel to record and track caseload
information more effectively.  We are also providing twenty
surplus standalone personal computers and a dozen laptop
computers to the office.  These resources will make all
Corporation Counsel attorneys more efficient, and the
improvements in the office's computer and communications networks
will be particularly valuable management tools.
     Second, the Department will help improve training for
Corporation Counsel attorneys.  Our training experts will help
design basic and advanced level training courses for Corporation
Counsel attorneys.  In addition, Corporation Counsel attorneys
will be able to enroll in Justice Department training classes and
share our extensive training videotape collection.
     Third, we will encourage Justice Department attorneys to
provide time and expertise to Corporation Counsel.  In an effort
similar to the pro bono program that Mr. Ruff has developed with
the law firms -- which he explained to some of you in yesterday's
presentation -- we will encourage Justice Department attorneys to
take certain cases on a pro bono basis for Corporation Counsel. 
We will also recruit a small number of attorneys who are
interested in gaining litigation experience to take on individual
civil litigation matters for the Office, which has a far greater
caseload than it can handle.  Finally, we can offer guidance in
particular cases or areas of need where Justice Department's
expertise is strong.
     These steps will build a partnership between the Justice
Department and the Office of Corporation Counsel that will be
tremendously beneficial to both partners and to the city. 
Corporation Counsel will receive badly needed assistance in
critical areas, and the federal government will benefit from
having a Corporation Counsel that functions well and supports the
legal needs of the D.C. government and its citizens.  I applaud
Chuck for taking the initiative to ask the Department for this
assistance and look forward to working with him in establishing
this unique partnership.
     I now want to introduce a person with a long and
distinguished career of service to the D. C. government and to
this Bar:  Corporation Counsel Charles Ruff.

NOTE:     The Deputy Attorney General may have departed from the
          prepared text.  However, she stands by the text as
          printed.