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Public: Recent News

The North Carolina Bar Association, in conjunction with the N.C. Pro Bono Project of the NCBA Foundation, presented its 2005 Pro Bono Service Awards during the 107^th NCBA Annual Meeting at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.

The awards were presented on Friday, June 24, at the President’s Luncheon hosted by outgoing NCBA President G. Gray Wilson of Winston-Salem. David Daggett, who chairs the Public Service Advisory Committee, joined Wilson in presenting the awards.

Steve Mikita, assistant attorney general for the State of Utah in the Division of Children’s Justice, was the featured speaker

Christine Mumma, executive director of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Actual Innocence, received the William L. Thorp Award, presented annually to the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year.

Lisa Gordon accepts award from Kearns Davis.

The recipient of the Outstanding Legal Services Attorney Award was Hazel Mack-Hilliard.

Lisa Gordon was recognized as the recipient of the Younger Lawyer Pro Bono Award, presented by the NCBA Young Lawyers Division. The award was presented to Gordon on Saturday morning at the YLD Annual Meeting by Chair Kearns Davis.

Kennedy Covington Lobdell & Hickman, LLP, captured the Large Law Firm Award. The Outstanding Pro Bono Services Award for Smaller Law Firms went to Block Crouch & Keeter, LLP, of Wilmington.

The Duke University School of Law’s Guardian ad Litem Program claimed the Law Students Pro Bono Project Award.

Christine Mumma accepts award from David Daggett, left, and Gray Wilson.

Christine Mumma, a 1998 graduate of the University of North Carolina School of Law, clerked for three years with the N.C. Court of Appeals and Chief Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr. of the state Supreme Court before taking on dual roles with the N.C. Center on Actual Innocence and the Chief Justice’s Commission on Actual Innocence.

Since its inception in 2002, Mumma has served without compensation as the sole staff member of the Chief Justice’s Commission on Actual Innocence.

Mumma also accepts no compensation for helping coordinate the N.C. Center on Actual Innocence, established in 2000 to “heighten communication and efficiency between innocence projects” at the Duke and UNC law schools.

Hazel Mack-Hilliard accepts award from David Daggett, left, and Gray Wilson.

The center now encompasses innocence initiatives involving North Carolina Central University and Campbell University law students and students from the UNC School of Journalism and Mass Communication as well.

Hazel Mack-Hilliard currently serves as senior managing attorney for Legal Aid of North Carolina-Winston-Salem. She is a graduate of the Temple University School of Law in Philadelphia, and has served as staff attorney and managing attorney for the Legal Aid Society of Northwest N.C., and as program director for Eastern Carolina Legal Services (now Legal Aid of North Carolina-Wilson).

Lisa Gordon is an associate in the Raleigh office of Nelson, Mullins, Riley & Scarborough LLP.

Gordon was honored last year by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as the recipient of an Award of Merit.

From left: David Daggett, Kennedy Covington's Ray Owens, Chris Lam and Kiran Mehta, and Gray Wilson.

A graduate of the University of Minnesota School of Law, Gordon has logged more than 300 pro bono hours on international abduction cases since 2001.

In keeping with the firm’s longstanding commitment to pro bono service over the past year, Kennedy Covington attorneys have provided more than 3,000 pro bono hours on behalf of the Navy landing field opponents who have been fighting plans to build a practice landing field on 30,000 acres straddling Washington and Beaufort counties.

Accepting on behalf of the firm were its team counsel of Kiran Mehta, Chris Lam and Raymond Owens who have provided the bulk of Kennedy Covington’s pro bono service in representation of Beaufort County and Washington County.

From left: David Daggett, honorees Chris Behm, Linda Sayed and Lee Crouch, and Gray Wilson.

“We are very honored to win this award on behalf of the outstanding people who live in Washington and Beaufort counties,” Owens said.

Block Crouch & Keeter attorneys devoted more than 40 hours of pro bono representation last year in support of the firm’s commitment to providing access to equal justice.

The firm participated in a family law clinic and assisted in incorporating Helping Our Latin Americans (HOLA), a non-profit group that provides outreach to the Hispanic population in southeastern North Carolina.

Chris Behm, Linda Sayed and Lee Crouch accepted the award on behalf of the firm.

From left: David Daggett, Duke Law School students Chris Richardson and Matthew Leerberg, and Gray Wilson.

Twenty-two Duke Law School students have volunteered to serve during 2004-05 in the Guardian ad Litem pro bono group. The students make two- and three-year commitments to the pro bono program, thereby enabling children whose lives are frequently disrupted to experience long-term contact with the volunteers.

The program also allows first-year Duke law students to have a meaningful pro bono experience. The students have contributed some 1,300 hours in service to approximately 100 children.

Chris Richardson and Matthew Leerberg accepted the award on behalf of the Duke Law School Guardian ad Litem Program.