Three receive VSB honors at Beach

By Virginia Lawyers Weekly
Published: June 29, 2009

Holton recognized by Family Law Section

Virginia First Lady Anne B. Holton has received the 2009 Family Law Service Award presented by the Virginia State Bar’s Family Law Section.

The award recognizes people and organizations that have improved family, domestic relations or juvenile law in the state. Holton, a former juvenile and domestic relations district judge in Richmond, accepted the award June 19 at the VSB Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach.

Holton worked as a legal aid lawyer for 10 years before she was appointed to the bench in 1998. She resigned to devote her full attention to her duties as First Lady after her husband, Timothy M. Kaine, was elected governor.

In a letter supporting Holton’s nomination for the award, Angela Edwards Roberts, chief judge of Richmond J&DR Court, noted that Holton had co-founded and chaired the court’s Millennium Team, a multi-agency task force established to improve the processing of abuse, neglect and foster care cases.

She continued her interest in those issues by establishing the For Keeps initiative as First Lady. The program strengthens permanent family connections for youth who are in foster care or at risk of entering the child welfare system.

“Whether serving as a gifted legal aid lawyer, respected jurist or a First Lady providing a platform for foster care youth whose issues may not otherwise be heard, she is thorough, technically adept and compassionate in all that she does,” Roberts wrote.

Holton is the daughter of former Virginia Gov. Linwood Holton and holds degrees from Princeton University and Harvard Law School.

The family law section earlier had announced University of Richmond law professor Peter N. Swisher as the recipient of 2009 Lifetime Achievement Award. He received the award at the section’s annual family law seminar in April.

Goode earns Legal Aid Award

Freddie L. Goode, senior managing attorney at Central Virginia Legal Aid Society, received the 2009 Legal Aid Award from the Virginia State Bar’s Access to Legal Services Committee at the VSB’s Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach.

The award recognizes lawyers employed by legal aid societies licensed by the VSB. Recipients are chosen for their advocacy, quality of service and impact beyond their service area.

Goode joined CVLAS as a paralegal and law clerk in 1988 and has become especially adept at challenging denials of Social Security and Supplemental Security Income, according to the nomination letter from Henry W. McLaughlin III, CVLAS executive director.

Through his work with older adults and the disabled, “A large number of clients have been able to escape lives of quiet desperation to enter lives of dignity with a steady income and Medicare because of success in appeals to administrative law judges,” McLaughlin wrote.

As part of his managerial duties at offices in Richmond, Petersburg and Charlottesville, Goode has an “extraordinary record of innovation in recruitment and supervision of volunteers” who help with disability cases and staff a pro bono hotline sponsored by the Virginia Bar Association.

A native of West Palm Beach, Fla., Goode has a bachelor’s degree from Golden Gate University and a law degree from the University of Florida.

Shah is Local Bar Leader of the Year

The Virginia State Bar’s Conference of Local Bar Associations has named Rupen R. Shah, immediate past president of the Augusta County Bar Association, as its local bar leader of the year.

Shah, an assistant commonwealth’s attorney in Staunton, was recognized at the VSB’s Annual Meeting in Virginia Beach for several projects he has been involved with.

They include establishment of the Valley Children’s Advocacy Center, a nonprofit agency that helps law enforcement and child protective service workers interview abused and neglected children, a procedure for considering judicial nominations, and a seminar on improving juvenile court dockets that led to the elimination of all-day waits.

He also organized “So You’re 18” presentations for 2,000 high school seniors in Staunton, Waynesboro and Augusta County and arranged seminars to give lawyers in rural sections of the Shenandoah Valley easier access to continuing legal education, including courses required to qualify as court-appointed counsel to indigent defendants.

A native of India, Shah has a law degree from Syracuse University.

Virginia Lawyers Weekly

Three receive VSB honors at Beach

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