Virginia Lawyers Weekly

FAIRFAX— The Fairfax Bar Association (FBA) announced the winners of this year’s Pro Bono Awards and the James Keith Public Service Award on Dec. 2.

These awards honor those who gave their time and talents to the community through the FBA’s pro bono program. Arlene Beckerman, Director of Pro Bono Services said, “During these difficult times, more people need our help and our services become even more important. These awards are a testament to those who are committed to making justice accessible and our community better.”

The winners for outstanding pro bono work are:

• Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year: McGuire Woods and the Legal Department of AOL

Lawyers from both McGuire Woods LLP and AOL LLC spent substantial amounts of time and energy working on their joint pro bono efforts in the Southgate community in Reston – a diverse low-income area.

Their continuing volunteer work began earlier this year. Lawyers from both organizations have attended sessions of Southgate seven times within the past year, serving approximately 73 clients, and spending about 120 attorney hours on intake alone. Moreover, they have taken on a number of legal matters for further representation. They have assisted with all types of civil legal matters from family issues to immigration questions.

• Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year: Penny Welke

Welke has a long history of service to the community. In 2001, she began volunteering to work at different sites throughout the community, helping clients with a wide variety of legal problems. She has continued to serve, where needed, throughout the years.

Welke has also been a steadfast supporter and participant of Wills-on-Wheels, a program serving low-income seniors. There, she uses her expertise in elder law to draft end-of-life documents.

All of her work has been marked by compassion and commitment. She recently attended a session at a homeless shelter and took the time and energy to unravel the difficult situation of a foreign family being faced with eviction. Without her, the family would have been in dire straits.

• Pro Bono Paralegal of the Year: Monica Maldonado

Maldonado was a lawyer in her home country and wanted to use her legal and Spanish language skills to server her community.

She eagerly began volunteering at the Herndon Neighborhood Resource Center. She assisted with communicating with clients, helping to put them at ease during a stressful time. She also supported lawyers by working with them on legal analysis and referrals.

• James Keith Public Service Award: Robert Walker

Since 1997, Walker has provided assistance to 97 clients of Legal Services of Northern Virginia in the areas of domestic violence, uncontested divorces, wills and the family law hotline. Since January 2001, he has assisted 47 LSNV clients, contributing a total of 148.5 hours through his work alone. In addition, Walker has undertaken extensive and timely contested family law matters.

He has worked directly with clients in an individual capacity to help parents with contested custody issues, protect clients from abusive family members, terminate destructive relationships, prepare seniors for end of life decisions, and provide legal representation to many others in distress. He has helped to educate and entertain children through court tours and law-related educational plays.

Close this Window Bookmark and Share This Page

Save to Browser Favorites / Bookmarks

Print RSS Feed Ask backflip blinklist BlogBookmark Bloglines BlogMarks Blogsvine BuddyMarks BUMPzee! CiteULike co.mments

Connotea del.icio.us Digg diigo DotNetKicks DropJack dzone Facebook Fark Faves Feed Me Links Friendsite folkd.com

Furl Google Hugg Jeqq Kaboodle kirtsy linkaGoGo linkedin LinksMarker Ma.gnolia Mister Wong Mixx MySpace

MyWeb Netvouz Newsvine oneview OnlyWire PlugIM Propeller Reddit Rojo Segnalo Shoutwire Simpy Slashdot

Sphere Sphinn Spurl Squidoo StumbleUpon Technorati ThisNext Twitter Webride Windows Live Yahoo!

Email This to a Friend

Copy HTML: 

 If you like this then please subscribe to the RSS Feed.

More »