2026 Pro Bono Awards Recipients Announced
The recipients of the NCBA Pro Bono Awards have been announced and will be honored at the 2026 NCBA Annual Meeting Awards Dinner. The event will be held on Friday, June 26 in Charlotte.
This year’s honorees are listed below:
- The Outstanding Paralegal Award: Stephanie C. Crosby
- The “Filling the Justice Gap” Award: NCBA Bankruptcy Section
- Greenblatt Outstanding Legal Services Attorney Award: Lesley Wiseman Albritton
- Larger Law Firm Pro Bono Award: Moore & Van Allen
- Smaller Law Firm Pro Bono Award: Brooks Peterson, PLLC
- Law School Pro Bono Service Award: Elon University School of Law
- Younger Lawyer Pro Bono Service Award: Andrew M. Simpson, Gaskins Hancock Tuttle Hash LLP
- Outstanding Collaborative/Group Pro Bono Service Award: Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, UNC School of Law Institute for Innovation, Southwestern Community College Small Business Center, and NC Growth
- Thorp Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award: D. Blaine Sanders, Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.
The Outstanding Paralegal Award: Stephanie C. Crosby
Stephanie C. Crosby is a business paralegal at Ward and Smith. She has extensive experience in complex business matters, including entity formation and dissolution, mergers and acquisitions, housing redevelopment and sophisticated lending transactions. She holds a bachelor’s degree from the University of the South.
Crosby has held leadership roles in the North Carolina Bar Association for many years. She served as Chair of the Paralegal Division from 2007 to 2008. She currently serves as Co-Chair of the Paralegal Division Membership Committee and on the NCBA Membership Committee. She has also been involved with NC Lawyers on Call (4ALL) for over 19 years and was the Co-Chair from 2022 to 2023. She is on the board of BarCARES of North Carolina, a program that supports the well-being of legal professionals.
Beyond her work within the legal community, Stephanie volunteers with Civitan Clubs at multiple levels, and she is a member of the Fundraising Organizing Committee for Special Olympics Craven County.
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. The program, which began in fall 2023, is led by the Section Pro Bono Chairs Jamey M. Lowdermilk and Diana Santos Johnson. Through the program, the section has worked to establish a bankruptcy referral system designed for long-term community impact.
Lowdermilk and Santos Johnson developed 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 who accept pro bono cases on referral from Legal Aid of North Carolina. These cases have included everything from brief advice and counsel matters to a Chapter 7 case. This work has laid the foundation for an evolving statewide collaboration.
Since 2023, Pro Bono Co-Chairs have demonstrated exceptional persistence and leadership. They held regular check-ins with Legal Aid of North Carolina, refined the referral process and adapted to challenges such as leadership transitions and budget constraints. 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 is the Chief Operations Officer of Legal Aid of North Carolina. Previously, she led the Disaster Relief Project and managed a multidisciplinary team that supported North Carolinians recovering from disasters, including Hurricane Matthew, Hurricane Florence and Tropical Storm Fred. Albritton transformed disaster legal response into a coordinated, statewide recovery model.
She serves on the board of the North Carolina Housing Coalition and has helped shape housing and recovery policy. She is 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.”
The state has recognized Albritton for her work. She was named a 2019 Leader in the Law and a 2024 recipient of the 50 Most Influential Women Award. She has helped to strengthen LANC and to 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 has made a life-changing impact across communities in the Carolinas through alliances with nonprofit partners, civil organizations, regional clients and the generosity of the firm’s more than 700 attorneys and business professionals. In 2025, the firm donated 6,259 hours to pro bono work and 3,027 hours to public service efforts. That same year, the firm was selected by the Women in Business Law Awards as the 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 by leveraging resources, relationships and talents to aid the most vulnerable populations.
Smaller Law Firm Pro Bono Award: Brooks Peterson, PLLC
After becoming a licensed attorney in September 2024, Brooks Peterson served disaster-affected North Carolinians and provided consistent representation to clients in western North Carolina for many months. He took on complex insurance and consumer matters, which reflected his commitment to clients and dedicated advocacy. Following this assistance with disaster relief cases, he assisted seniors in drafting wills and advance directives. In his first 17 months of being a licensed attorney, Peterson accepted 14 pro bono case referrals. He received his law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from Appalachian State University.
Law School Pro Bono Service Award: Elon University School of Law
In 2025, Elon University School of Law launched a Power of Attorney pro bono workshop to serve Triad-area immigrants. Created in partnership with FaithAction International in Greensboro, the workshop serves immigrant families facing the risk of sudden detention by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Through properly drafted powers of attorney, parents can designate a trusted adult to care for their children.
This project was established and organized by students who identified the need, partnered with a local nonprofit and conducted client meetings under attorney supervision. The workshop addressed a critical access-to-justice gap by providing legal services to families. Elon’s Power of Attorney pro bono project demonstrates 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. Simpson assisted his clients in challenging their 2025 Orange County property tax assessments.
At the request of community partners, Simpson undertook this representation pro bono and volunteered over 70 hours to these efforts. He managed this project from start to finish, including gathering intake, conducting consultations, preparing appeals and representing clients in multiple Board of Equalization and Review hearings. Simpson provided these services while working a full caseload. He continues to pursue additional relief before the North Carolina Property Tax Commission where warranted.
After Orange County’s 2025 revaluation, property assessments in these neighborhoods often doubled or tripled, which impacted homeowners, many of whom were elderly and on fixed incomes. These homeowners were taxed on speculative development pressures driven by investor activity. Without legal representation, these homeowners had little practical ability to challenge the assessments.
Simpson 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. He received his law degree from the University of North Carolina School of Law and his bachelor’s degree from UNC.
Outstanding Collaborative/Group Pro Bono Service Award: Wyrick Robbins Yates & Ponton LLP, UNC School of Law Institute for Innovation, Southwestern Community College Small Business Center and 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 between 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 North Carolina Growth program.
Wyrick Robbins attorney volunteers played a key role in training and preparing students for real client interactions. 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 Sanders has practiced litigation for close to 40 years. Sanders has experience in 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. Sanders focuses his practice on serving nonprofit organizations and foundations.
For over ten years, Sanders has provided extensive pro bono legal support to the Alexander Youth Network, which treats children with serious emotional and behavioral problems. He has served as the organization’s general counsel and helped to reduce organizational risk, strengthen operations and enable more resources to be directed toward care. Sanders 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 each year. Sanders has made a meaningful impact on the children and families served through the Alexander Youth Network.