Pro Bono Awards Presented at Annual Meeting
The 123rd Annual Meeting of the North Carolina Bar Association was held on Thursday and Friday, June 17-18, utilizing a virtual format.
During the awards ceremony on Thursday afternoon, President Mark Holt and President-elect Jon Heyl presented the 2021 Pro Bono Awards. Their background and introductory remarks are included below along with comments solicited afterward from this year’s honorees.
William Thorp Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Service Award:
Sean (“seen”) Lew – Sean Lew, PLLC Attorney at Law (Winston-Salem)
The William Thorp Award is presented to an NCBA member attorney who practices in North Carolina and has provided substantial legal services, in excess of the aspirational goals of Rule 6.1, with no expectation of receiving a fee, to a client or client group that could not otherwise afford legal counsel. Since 2006, Sean Lew has dedicated more than 732 hours of pro bono legal services to the Hmong of northwest North Carolina, a Southeast Asian ethnic community. His 14-plus years of involvement have increased civil access to justice to an overlooked and underserved ethnic group in the state consisting of many who are unable to speak English, many who are without financial means to hire an attorney, and many who have an inherent mistrust and misunderstanding of the American legal system.
For many years, Lew has provided free legal assistance in the areas of immigration and naturalization law to those without financial means to hire an attorney. In addition, he has recruited attorneys and law students to provide the Hmong community with free annual “Ask a Lawyer” workshops covering consumer, family, and immigration law. During the pandemic, he provided free remote advice for Naturalization applications and developed a remote presentation for the Hmong community. Lew has served as a legal mentor to Hmong students and is proud to share that there are now Hmong lawyers serving the northwest North Carolina community. A member of the North Carolina Pro Bono Honor Society, Lew was among the recipients of the inaugural NCBA Citizen Lawyer Awards in 2007.
When asked to provide comments regarding his commitment to pro bono service, why it means so much to him, and how it enriches his experience as a lawyer, Lew responded:
“I became a lawyer to help people and my pro bono commitment has allowed me to make a difference in vibrant immigrant communities that have been overlooked and marginalized.
“My pro bono work has given me practical skills, experience and has been a door to meet wonderful professionals from across the state. I am a better attorney, advocate, colleague and person for this work.”
Deborah Greenblatt Outstanding Legal Services Attorney Award: Dr. Johnnie C. Larrie – Legal Aid of North Carolina (Raleigh)
The Deborah Greenblatt Outstanding Legal Services Attorney Award is presented to a lawyer who is employed full time by a legal services program in North Carolina and who has made an exemplary contribution to the provision of legal assistance to help meet the needs of the poverty population in North Carolina. The award is named in memory of Deborah Greenblatt, the longtime executive director of Carolina Legal Assistance.
Dr. Johnnie C. Larrie is an experienced consumer defense attorney with over 25 years of legal experience, who also holds a Ph.D. in Public Administration. She was hired by Legal Aid in 1998 to tackle the consumer issues that arose after Hurricane Floyd, and she currently serves as the Legal Aid Consumer Practice Group Manager and its Senior Managing Attorney for the Economic Justice Initiative, as well as managing Legal Aid’s statewide consumer work.
Larrie has been instrumental in the development of a statewide legal strategy to maximize representation of low-income homeowners facing foreclosure. Incorporating Johnnie’s impassioned approach to consumer representation, Legal Aid attorneys have pursued untested legal theories and broken new ground in the application of N.C. foreclosure law. Through her skillful leadership, training, and supervision of Legal Aid attorneys, she has worked tirelessly to save literally thousands of homes and millions of dollars in equity for lower income North Carolinians. During the pandemic, her advocacy work has enabled many Legal Aid clients to utilize federal protections to help them maintain homeownership and economic stability.
When asked to provide comments regarding her commitment to pro bono service, why it means so much to her, and how it enriches her experience as a lawyer, Larrie responded:
In 2017, when our former President Obama accepted the Centennial John F. Kennedy Profile in Courage Award, he remarked on the great courage it takes to champion the causes of the ”vulnerable, sick and infirmed,” and he defined this courage as “doing what, deep in our hearts, we know is right.”
This type of courage defines the work of legal services agencies that toil with great and consistent effort to improve the lives of North Carolinians living in poverty; but it defines also the work of so many in our private legal profession who take that extra case and spend that extra time advocating on behalf of those without means to pay for their services.
Legal Aid of North Carolina recognizes the invaluable contributions made by those engaged in pro bono services on behalf of our clients and in the words of former President Obama, appreciates and supports their “willingness to joyfully embrace our responsibility as citizens, to stay true to our allegiance, to our highest and best ideals” in service to those living in poverty.
Outstanding Collaborative Pro Bono Award:
Charles W. Williamson Bar Foundation (Henderson)
The Outstanding Collaborative Pro Bono Service Award is presented to a law firm, local, district, or statewide bar organization whose members have engaged in significant and notable legal services or have contributed outstanding support and assistance to the maintenance of pro bono legal services for low-income individuals.
The Charles W. Williamson Bar Association is named after Charles W. Williamson, who was the first African American attorney to practice in the 11th prosecutorial district when he opened an office in Vance County in 1933. Despite its small size of only 30 attorneys, the Charles W. Williamson Bar Association made a huge impact on its district in 2020 by creating a free Driver’s License Restoration Project. In this rural district comprised of Vance, Person, Warren, Granville and Franklin counties, residents without a valid driver’s license are unable to secure jobs and affordable housing due to the absence of a sizeable public transportation system.
Determined to help the members of their community restore their opportunities, this bar association collaborated with the District Attorney’s Office, the Vance County Clerk of Superior Court, the North Carolina Justice Center, Legal Aid of North Carolina, and local law enforcement agencies, to lead the effort for mass debt relief for over 150 low-income clients including 450 pending charges dismissed and 450 motions to remit unpaid costs and fines which totaled more than $130,000. The impact of these services reaches far beyond the individuals served, providing needed relief for families and the whole community.
Speaking on behalf of the Charles W. Williamson Bar Association regarding the award, Oxford attorney Ajulo E. Othow commented:
Members of this bar association who live and work in a mostly rural or small-town context rely on the strength of our relationships and spirit of collaboration to get work done well. We are stronger working together, and this achievement is just one example of that.
As members of the Charles W. Williamson Bar Foundation we look forward to doing more of this work with the district attorney’s office, our judges, law enforcement and our bar colleagues for the benefit of the communities we love and serve.
Law School Pro Bono Award:
Elon University School of Law – People Not Property Project (Greensboro)
The Law School Pro Bono Award recognizes an outstanding law student group whose pro bono project advanced access to justice in North Carolina. Elon University School of Law’s pro bono People Not Property (PNP) Project started in 2019 as part of a larger, statewide project to transcribe so-called “slave deeds” – handwritten bills of sale evidencing the transfer of enslaved people during the pre-Civil War era – into electronic, searchable form. Elon Law’s PNP Project, working with the Guilford County Register of Deeds Office, has transcribed and catalogued all 263 “slave deeds” recorded in Guilford County, North Carolina. The process of obtaining, transcribing, proofing, and cataloging information from the slave deeds takes several hours for each document. Consequently, Elon Law students have spent hundreds of hours working to make these documents available in searchable electronic form.
As a result of the PNP Project’s work, Guilford County is the first county in North Carolina to have digital, searchable slave deeds. Slavery often separated enslaved persons from their families, and the work of the Elon PNP Project and the Guilford County Register of Deeds Office will allow individuals whose ancestors experienced slavery to research their family members in a way that was previously inaccessible.
Congratulations to Elon University School of Law’s People Not Property Project as this year’s Law School Pro Bono Award recipient.
On behalf of Elon University School of Law and its People Not Property Project, Dean Luke Bierman responded:
At Elon Law, we embrace a philosophy of “learning by doing,” and that takes many forms, including pro bono service projects where students often gain a deeper understanding and appreciation for the challenges and opportunities confronting the community.
The People Not Property Project is a powerful example of our approach.
Over the past few years, Elon Law students involved in this important work have helped open the door for many of our neighbors of color to be able to trace their family histories.
I can think of no better legacy to leave as law students than information and resources that give names and voices to those who were dehumanized during the darkest moments of our nation’s own history. To say we’re proud of our students’ work is an understatement.
Law Firm Pro Bono Award:
Robinson Bradshaw (Charlotte)
The Law Firm Pro Bono Award recognizes law firms for their commitment to pro bono service through the contribution of pro bono hours, the percentage of billable hours devoted to pro bono work, the number and percentage of firm attorneys providing pro bono legal service, the firm’s creative approach to pro bono engagement, the consistency and sincerity of its pro bono program, and the presence of a law firm culture that is grounded in the observance of Rule 6.1 (Voluntary Pro Bono Publico Service) of the Rules of Professional Conduct.
This year Robinson Bradshaw attorneys, led by Julian Wright, along with the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy and the North Carolina Justice Center, contributed 510 hours of service to file a class-action lawsuit on behalf of Lake Arbor Apartments tenants that resulted in significant settlement funds. Tenants in this affordable housing complex had been forced to pay rent for sub-standard housing – apartments with exposed wiring, rat and insect infestations, and broken furnaces. Robinson Bradshaw’s attorneys obtained an attachment order against the apartment complex, which effectively forced a mediation and settlement discussions that resulted in an award of $547,500 for 105 class members – nearly two times the rent they paid for apartments with dangerous defects.
Under the leadership of firm attorney Jane Ratteree, the firm also provided 250 hours of pro bono service to represent the Charlotte Center for Legal Advocacy in the purchase of its new building. Successful navigation and completion of this complex transaction ensures the staff’s use of a modern office space for its programs, and that demonstrates respect and esteem for its clients.
Additionally, Robinson Bradshaw attorney Adam Doerr led a successful litigation effort on behalf of low-income families against the North Carolina Department of Revenue to ensure eligible families received COVID-19 relief. Adam noted, however, that low-income families had to apply online through the Department of Revenue, whereas some middle- and high-income families automatically received the payment. Low-income families entitled to this relief had less time to learn about and apply for the program, and the applications were low as a result. A team of firm attorneys successfully pursued a claim against the Department of Revenue for injunctive relief and negotiated a settlement that extended the application deadline and provided $650,000 for a third party to promote the program and collect information about new applicants. Providing 581 pro bono service hours to this project, the firm’s work resulted in nearly 25,000 low-income North Carolinians applying for aid in the second window, and more than $5 million in relief aid was distributed to North Carolina families that needed it the most.
Managing Partner Allen Robertson provided the following comment on behalf of the firm:
Robinson Bradshaw’s founders and senior partners taught us that we have a professional, civic and moral responsibility to address the unmet legal needs of our disadvantaged neighbors and the organizations that assist them.
Over the decades, we have been committed to doing our part to address these needs as they evolve, and we intend to continue this important work and service to our community in the years to come. Through their various efforts, Julian, Adam and Jane answered the call to make justice equally accessible to all people, and we are proud that the time spent by them and others in our firm has been recognized by the NCBA with this award.
Young Lawyers Division Pro Bono Service Award:
John Noor – Roberts & Stevens (Asheville)
The NCBA Young Lawyers Division Pro Bono Service Award is presented to a YLD member who has made extraordinary contributions by providing exemplary legal services without a fee and increased access to justice on behalf of persons of limited means and/or charitable groups or organizations.
John Noor of Roberts & Stevens in Asheville has provided pro bono services to low-income people in western North Carolina since 2013. In the eight years since, he has handled 60 pro bono cases through Pisgah Legal Services’ Mountain Area Volunteer Lawyer Program, including housing, domestic violence, consumer protection and debt, and immigration matters. In addition to handling cases himself, Noor also recruits, trains and mentors new volunteer attorneys. He has served as chair of Pisgah Legal Services Young Professionals Board, and since 2018 on the Board of Directors. In these roles, he has actively sought community support for civil legal aid. In addition, Noor has chaired the Buncombe County Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee for two years.
In 2019, he donated 85 hours of legal services to three non-profit organizations serving some of Asheville’s most vulnerable residents, including individuals experiencing homelessness, substance abuse, and marginalization. Noor’s work enabled two of these organizations to keep open a syringe exchange for which the City of Asheville had issued Notices of Violation. As a result of his work, the city withdrew the citation and agreed to keep the exchange open permanently. Last year the exchange provided more than 200,000 syringes, thousands of safe injection supply kits, the prevention of 265 overdose deaths.
Noor’s commitment to pro bono leadership and service in western North Carolina inspires others to serve, as well. In 2020, he coordinated the Buncombe County Bar Association, Pisgah Legal Services and the North Carolina Bar Foundation to offer the state’s first COVID-19 Legal Hotline, which engaged over 100 attorney volunteers and served 551 callers. He also served as this year’s Asheville chair of the 4ALL Statewide Service Day.
When asked to provide comments regarding his commitment to pro bono service, why it means so much to him, and how it enriches his experience as a lawyer, Noor responded:
My passion for pro bono comes from my family. Growing up, I’d regularly go and see my dad and grandfather at the family business that was started in 1908. Next to the entrance of the factory was a plaque that said, “Our greatest asset is the philosophy that there is no privilege that is not inseparably bound to a duty.”
That statement has become fundamental to how I practice law and the obligations we have as a profession. The people of North Carolina extended to each of us the extreme privilege of being able to practice law and I believe it is our duty to honor that special right through pro bono work that seeks to secure justice for all, not just those who can afford an attorney.
Russell Rawlings is director of external affairs and communications for the North Carolina Bar Association.