2026 NCBA Pro Bono Awards
Greenblatt Outstanding Legal Services Attorney Award, Larger Law Firm Pro Bono Award, Smaller Law Firm Pro Bono Award, Law School Pro Bono Service Award, Outstanding Paralegal Pro Bono Service Award, Thorp Pro Bono Service Award, Younger Lawyer Pro Bono Service Award, The Filling the Justice Gap Award, Outstanding Collaborative/Group Pro Bono Service Award
Outstanding Paralegal Award
Stephanie C. Crosby
Stephanie C. Crosby’s legal career reflects extensive experience in complex business matters, including entity formation and dissolution, mergers and acquisitions, housing redevelopment, and sophisticated lending transactions. Beyond her technical skill, she is distinguished by her commitment to serving others.
A longtime leader within the North Carolina Bar Association, Stephanie served as Chair of the Paralegal Division (2007–2008) and continues to contribute through roles such as Co-Chair of the Paralegal Division Membership Committee and service on the NCBA Membership Committee. She has also been involved with NC Lawyers on Call (4ALL) for over 19 years, including as Co-Chair (2022–2023) and serves on the board of BarCARES of North Carolina, supporting the well-being of legal professionals. She actively supports the North Carolina Bar Foundation through both financial contributions and service.
Outside the legal community, Stephanie is deeply engaged in civic leadership, including service with Civitan Clubs at multiple levels and fundraising leadership for Special Olympics Craven County. Her work reflects a sustained and meaningful commitment to community impact.
The “Filling the Justice Gap” Award
NCBA Bankruptcy Section
The NCBA Bankruptcy Section’s Pro Bono and Low Bono Referral Project exemplifies sustained and thoughtful leadership in building a meaningful pro bono initiative. Since fall 2023, under the leadership of the Section Pro Bono Chairs Jamey M. Lowdermilk and Diana Santos Johnson, the Section has led efforts to create a bankruptcy referral system designed not for short-term visibility, but for long-term community impact.
Jamey and Diana focused on developing a sustainable, reliable system to support low-income individuals facing consumer debt and bankruptcy issues. The Section recruits volunteers from among its membership and has built a network of attorneys willing to accept pro bono cases on referral from Legal Aid of North Carolina, everything from brief advice and counsel matters to a Chapter 7 case. This work has laid the foundation for an evolving statewide collaboration.
Over the past two and a half years, the Section Pro Bono Chairs have demonstrated exceptional persistence and leadership – holding regular check-ins with Legal Aid NC, refining the referral process, and adapting to challenges such as leadership transitions and budget constraints. Throughout, they have remained committed to building a system that effectively serves both volunteers and clients.
Greenblatt Outstanding Legal Services Attorney Award
Lesley Wiseman Albritton
Lesley Wiseman Albritton serves as Chief Operations Officer of Legal Aid of North Carolina, where she ensures the organization’s statewide delivery of civil legal services remains strong, coordinated, and responsive. Previously, she led the Disaster Relief Project, managing a multidisciplinary team supporting North Carolinians recovering from disaster events – including Hurricane Matthew, Hurricane Florence, and Tropical Storm Fred – transforming disaster legal response into a coordinated, statewide recovery model.
Lesley’s leadership extends beyond disaster response. Currently, Lesley serves on the board of the North Carolina Housing Coalition and has helped shape housing and recovery policy. She is also a contributing author to the American Bar Association’s “Meeting the Legal Needs of Disaster Survivors: Third Responders” and co-author of “Disasters Do Discriminate, highlighting how disasters disproportionately impact Black landowners and marginalized communities.”
Lesley’s work has earned statewide recognition, including being named a 2019 Leader in the Law and a 2024 recipient of the 50 Most Influential Women Award. These honors reflect her strategic leadership, operational excellence, and deep commitment to justice. Through challenges and change, Lesley has helped strengthened LANC and helped ensure vulnerable communities are able to secure access to justice.
Larger Law Firm Pro Bono Award
Moore & Van Allen
Moore & Van Allen has been committed to driving positive community change since its founding in 1950. Each of the firm’s service efforts is built on the founding principle that, as a leading regional organization and North Carolina’s largest law firm, there is a responsibility to give to the community.
MVA’s rich history of life-changing community impact across the Carolinas is made possible by alliances with nonprofit partners, civil organizations, regional clients, and the generosity of the firm’s 700+ attorneys and business professionals. In 2025, MVA donated 6,259 hours to pro bono work and 3,027 hours to public service efforts, and the firm was named the Women in Business Law Awards North America Pro Bono Firm of the Year.
MVA’s Public Service Committee, led by Sarah Byrne and Edward O’Keefe, identifies and facilitates pro bono opportunities for the firm. The committee has established numerous signature pro bono projects, each of which is managed by a volunteer project leader.
MVA takes a strategic approach to ensure maximum impact, leveraging resources, relationships, and talents to aid the most vulnerable populations. Further, MVA rewards these commitments by recognizing time spent on pro bono as time worked, driving stronger participation across the firm.
Smaller Law Firm Pro Bono Award
Brooks Peterson, PLLC
Brooks Peterson, PLLC exemplifies the spirit of pro bono service through steady commitment, exceptional client care, and a willingness to take on challenging matters.
After Hurricane Helene, Legal Aid of North Carolina saw an outpouring of volunteer interest, but as legal needs emerged over time, many attorneys were no longer available. Brooks – newly licensed in September 2024 – remained committed to serving disaster-affected North Carolinians and provided consistent representation to clients in western North Carolina over many months. Notably, Brooks took on complex insurance and consumer matters requiring a commitment to clients and cases through sustained advocacy, extending far beyond brief advice and counsel.
As disaster related cases concluded, Brooks continued his pro bono service by assisting with another critical need: working with seniors to draft wills and advance directives. In his first 17 months of being a licensed attorney, Brooks accepted 14 pro bono case referrals, demonstrating remarkable dedication and follow-through.
Brooks is a dependable, responsive volunteer whose work reflects the very best of the legal profession – driven by service rather than recognition.
Law School Pro Bono Service Award
Elon University School of Law
Elon University School of Law launched a Power of Attorney pro bono workshop in 2025, serving Triad-area immigrants. The workshop was created in partnership with FaithAction International in Greensboro, serves immigrant families facing the risk of sudden detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). For many parents, the greatest fear is not detention itself, but what will happen to their children.
Through properly drafted powers of attorney, parents can designate a trusted adult to care for their children, providing critical stability in times of uncertainty; these documents offer profound protection and peace of mind.
What makes this project especially notable is that it was entirely student-initiated and organized. Students identified the need, partnered with a local nonprofit, and conducted client meetings under attorney supervision. The student volunteers approached sensitive conversations with care and cultural humility, ensuring families understood the legal implications of their decisions.
This work required both technical precision and emotional intelligence. More importantly, it addressed a critical access-to-justice gap by providing critical legal services to families who might otherwise go without them. Participation in the Power of Attorney workshops also gave students meaningful, hands-on experience that will shape their future practice.
Elon’s Power of Attorney pro bono project exemplifies the best of law school pro bono service: responsiveness to community need, strong collaboration, student leadership, and tangible impact.
Younger Lawyer Pro Bono Service Award
Andrew M. Simpson, Gaskins Hancock Tuttle Hash LLP
Over the past year, Gaskins Hancock Tuttle Hash LLP attorney Andrew Simpson has represented more than 25 low-income, elderly homeowners in the historically Black neighborhoods of Northside, Tin Top, and Pine Knolls in Chapel Hill and Carrboro, challenging their 2025 Orange County property tax assessments. At the request of community partners, Andrew undertook this representation pro bono, devoting more than 70 hours – nearly $20,000 in billable time value – to the effort. He personally managed client intake, conducted individual consultations, prepared tailored appeals, and represented clients in multiple Board of Equalization and Review hearings. He continues to pursue additional relief before the North Carolina Property Tax Commission where warranted.
The issue was both urgent and systemic. After Orange County’s 2025 revaluation, property assessments in these neighborhoods often doubled or tripled, placing an unsustainable burden on long-term residents—many elderly and on fixed incomes. These homeowners, some of whom have lived in their homes for 50 to 80 years, were taxed not on the condition of their aging properties but on speculative development pressures driven by investor activity. Without legal representation, these homeowners had little practical ability to challenge the assessments.
Andrew carried this work alongside a full caseload, treating it with the same priority and care as his paying matters. His commitment to service extends beyond this case: he is the founder and attorney director of the McIntyre-Whichard Legal Fellows Mentorship Program, which has connected more than 200 law students from UNC, NCCU, and Campbell with practicing attorney mentors over the past decade.
Outstanding Collaborative/Group Pro Bono Service Award
Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP
UNC School of Law, Institute for Innovation
UNC School of Law, Pro Bono Program
Southwestern Community College, Small Business Center
NC Growth
Last spring, nine small business owners in rural western North Carolina received critical legal support through an initiative connecting local entrepreneurs with accessible legal expertise, from business formation to contract review. During the four-hour clinic, students—under attorney supervision—addressed a range of legal needs, including business formation and employment issues. Each client received a personalized advice letter outlining key guidance, and several also benefited from detailed contract reviews.
This clinic was made possible through a collaborative effort among Wyrick Robbins attorney volunteers and students from Southwestern Community College, UNC School of Law’s Institute for Innovation, and UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School’s NC Growth program.
Wyrick Robbins attorney volunteers played a key role in training and preparing students for real client interactions, including an overview of the region’s economic landscape and practical guidance on legal issues facing small businesses. Beyond the clinic, students connected with the local community, strengthening their understanding of the region they served.
Thorp Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award
D. Blaine Sanders, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A
Blaine’s litigation practice of nearly 40 years included commercial, real estate, intellectual property, employment, and sports and entertainment law, along with asbestos products liability. He frequently resolved disputes concerning complex commercial and real estate contracts, either by avoiding or through litigation. Currently, Blaine’s practice focuses on serving nonprofit organizations and foundations.
For more than a decade, Blaine has provided extensive pro bono legal support to the Alexander Youth Network, which treats children with serious emotional and behavioral problems. Blaine has served as the organization’s general counsel, helping to reduce organizational risk, strengthen operations, and enable more resources to be directed toward care. Blaine has advised the organization’s leadership on key initiatives including the creation of the Alexander Children’s Foundation and the acquisition of a facility that will expand services to nearly 250 additional children annually.
Blaine’s many years of pro bono service has had an incredibly meaningful impact on the children and families served through the Alexander Youth Network.