2006 Pro Bono Awards Selected
Article Date: Tuesday, April 18, 2006
Written By: Russell Rawlings
The North Carolina Bar Association, in conjunction with the N.C. Pro Bono Project of the NCBA Foundation, will present the 2006 Pro Bono Service Awards during the 108th NCBA Annual Meeting in Atlantic Beach.
The awards will be presented Friday, June 16, at the President’s Luncheon hosted by outgoing NCBA President Mike Colombo of Greenville.
The luncheon begins at 12:30 preceded by a noon reception at the Sheraton Atlantic Beach Oceanfront Hotel, headquarters for the 2006 NCBA Annual Meeting.
In addition to presentation of the 2006 Pro Bono Awards, the luncheon will also include initial presentation of the H. Brent McKnight Renaissance Lawyer Award and the Willis Smith and Willis Smith Jr. Professionalism and Ethics Speech.
Chief Judge Deanell Reece Tacha of the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals is this year’s professionalism speaker. Appointed to the Denver-based court in 1985, Tacha also serves as president of the American Inns of Court.
Raleigh attorney Theodore C. “Ted” Edwards II, recent chair of the NCBA Young Lawyers Division, will receive the 2006 William L. Thorp Award, presented annually since 1984 by the NCBA.
The award recognizes the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year and was named in memory of Bill Thorp, a founder of Legal Services of North Carolina, in 2002.
The 2006 recipient of the Deborah Greenblatt Outstanding Legal Services Attorney Award will be Attracta Kelly of the N.C. Justice and Community Development Center in Raleigh.
This is the first time the Outstanding Legal Services Attorney Award has been presented in memory of Greenblatt, longtime executive director of Carolina Legal Assistance who died last year.
Alston & Bird, LLP, with North Carolina offices in Charlotte and the Research Triangle Park, has been selected to receive the Large Law Firm Award. The Outstanding Pro Bono Services Award for Smaller Law Firms will be presented to Stone & Christy, PA, of Asheville.
The University of North Carolina School of Law’s Pro Bono Program will receive the Law Students Pro Bono Project Award.
The Chief Justice Award will be presented to the NCBA’s Health Law Section, chaired by Dean McCord, and the Elder Law Section, chaired by Walt Sheffield. The sections are being honored for collaborating with Legal Aid of North Carolina and the N.C. Division of Aging and Adult Services to establish the Medicare Part D Network.