Community Involvement

Mansfield, Tanick & Cohen, P.A.

Committed to Being Part of the Solution

The attorneys at Mansfield, Tanick & Cohen are deeply committed to enhancing the quality of life in their community. We are engaged in a wide variety of public service activities, including the sponsoring of many legal education seminars and workshops for businesses and individuals, administering and funding scholarship programs; and substantial involvement in pro bono public legal cases in areas such as preservation of the environment, equal employment opportunity, immigration and political asylum work for the Minnesota Advocates for Human Rights, police-community relations, freedom of speech, press and religion, and consumer rights.

Cy Pres Awards

Cy Pres is a Latin term meaning "as near as possible." Historically, cy pres was a rule for the construction of instruments in equity, by which a party's intention was carried out "as near as possible" when it would be impossible or illegal to give it literal effect. In class actions, the term is applied to the distribution of settlement monies for which no claimant can be located. Establishment of cy pres funds is often a hotly contested issue, with class action defendants fighting for a reversion of money to their companies, rather than being directed to charities.

The law firm of Mansfield, Tanick & Cohen has consistently taken the position that money should not revert to the defendant wrongdoer in these circumstances, but should go to related charitable causes. Over the years, we have achieved substantial secondary benefits in class action lawsuits by providing millions of dollars to worthwhile charitable and public service organizations, particularly those devoted to consumer protection, legal services to the poor, education and health care advocacy.

Most recently, in 2001, in two of our lawsuits against the rent-to-own industry, cy pres funds enabled donations to the Minneapolis Legal Aid Society of more than $600,000 and to the National Consumer Law Center in Boston of more than $110,000.

In addition to those contributions, we have used cy pres funds to support many other worthy endeavors. For example, in a prior class action litigation against ITT Financial Services, we established a $500,000 endowment for a Consumer Law Chair at the Minneapolis Legal Aid Society and distributed over $1.5 million in scholarships through the Minneapolis Foundation to families of low-income class members. In another case, the cy pres funds provided over $100,000 of support to the Inner City Youth Summer Internship Program, which places inner city high school students in summer jobs at Twin City professional organizations to encourage them to consider higher education in pursuit of such careers. In three other class actions, we generated over $500,000 to support various health advocacy groups, such as The Minnesota Lupus Foundation, the Scleroderma Foundation, Fraser Community Services, the Minnesota Health Fund, Joseph Selvaggio Initiative, Loaves & Fishes, Powderhorn/Phillips Cultural Wellness Center, the Children's Defense Fund of Minnesota, the Green Institute, and Minnesota Health Care Advocacy Program.

"These cy pres funds have become a model which legal aid programs and other charitable organizations throughout Minnesota and the country have encouraged other private class action firms to replicate." according to Seymour Mansfield, who heads the firm's class action practice. In sum, the cy pres program is a unique way our firm has been able to significantly expand our support for worthwhile organizations.

Charitable Leadership

Members of our firm serve in leadership positions and on the governing boards of a number of charitable, religious, and non-profit organizations, and are involved in other community and civic activities that improve the quality of life in our community.

As examples, Earl Cohen serves on the Board of the local Boys and Girls Club, Seymour Mansfield serves on the Board of the Fund for the Legal Aid Society, which he helped found, Marshall Tanick serves on several boards of directors of non-profit organizations, including the American Dog Owner's Association and the Canine Defense Fund.

Marshall Tanick was re-appointed to the Connections committee, which oversees implementation of the Envision community action program in his home town of Golden Valley. The group oversees activities to broaden community activity following a year-long study of ways to enhance the experiences of Golden Valley residents. Mr. Tanick was also appointed as secretary of the Civil Service Commission of the City of Golden Valley. Mr. Tanick, who is serving his second three-year term on the Commission, had previously served as a chair of the committee, which oversees police practices in the community.

Seymour Mansfield and his wife, Susan, were honored by Larry and Bonnie O'Shaughnessy at the World Premiere of the Basilica Holocaust Memorial Oratorio, for their leadership in the Catholic - Jewish interfaith activities. The Oratorio, titled To Be Certain of the Dawn, was commissioned by the Basilica of Saint Mary, and features a score by Stephen Paulus and libretto by Michael Dennis Browne. The Oratorio is rooted in themes and subjects of common interests in the interfaith community, written in commemoration of the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the Nazi death camps and the 40th anniversary of Nostra Aetate (In Our Times), a landmark Vatican II document that condemns blaming the Jews for the death of Christ. For more information on the Oratorio, go to www.certaindawn.org.

Lawyers in the Firm are very involved in professional bar activities as well. Phil Trobaugh serves on the editorial board of the HCBA's monthly publication, the Hennepin Lawyer as well as on the Bar Foundation's charitable giving committee. Marshall H. Tanick serves in a Supreme Court-appointed position on the Minnesota Board of Continuing Education, as well as Editorial Boards for Bench & Bar Magazine and the Minnesota Lawyer. The Firm has represented or performed legal work for a number of non-profit organizations as well, including the American Dog Association Minnesota News Council, Minnesota Financial Planners Association, the Sirolli Institute, the Minnesota Youth Soccer Association, and the Minnesota Daily.

Scholarships, Programs & Awards

Mansfield, Tanick & Cohen sponsors a number of unique scholarships for children, family members, and employees of our clients and other worthy organizations, including programs to aid single parents and children of law enforcement and fire fighter families. The Firm maintains a First Amendment Fund for scholarships to journalism and communications students. Our firm's scholarship program has been honored both locally and nationally, including recognition as "Hidden Heroes" by the Sun Newspapers, "Unsung Heroes" by the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and the national Points of Light program sponsored by former President George H. W. Bush.

Most recently, the Firm sponsored, through The Amerherst H. Wilder Foundation, a young girl whose aspirations are to be an attorney, by donating the computer equipment and software necessary to help achieve those goals. Mansfield, Tanick & Cohen supports and mentors youth who may otherwise not have an opportunity to succeed in school.

The Firm also bestows the Michael J. Smith Disability Award annually on a deserving individual who has contributed to advancing the rights of the disabled. It also awards a Constitutional Law award to individuals and organizations advancing First Amendment and other Constitutional Rights, as well as the Women's Entrepreneurship Award. The Firm is also a founding member of the Inner City Youth Summer Internship Program and has hosted a paid intern every year since its inception.