Baker Donelson's outstanding pro bono work has earned the attention of many pro bono agencies and organizations over the past years.
2009-2010
Edmund S. Muskie Pro Bono Award: The Tort and Insurance Practice Section of the American Bar Association presented the Edmund S. Muskie Pro Bono award to Atlanta shareholder Linda Klein in recognition of her career-long dedication to access to justice.
Alabama State Bar Pro Bono Award: The Alabama State Bar presented its 2009 Pro Bono Award to the Birmingham HELP program, which was established and continues to be coordinated by our Birmingham office. The award was accepted by Lisa Borden at the Alabama State Bar meeting in July 2009.
Nashville Bar Association Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year: Baker Donelson was named the NBA's Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year for 2009. The award was won largely, but not entirely, due to the Firm's establishment and coordination of the Nashville HELP clinic at Room In The Inn.
Pro Bono Project of New Orleans Law Firm of the Year: The Pro Bono Project of New Orleans honored Baker Donelson as its 2009 Law Firm of the Year. During 2009, 15 of our attorneys handled 40 cases for the organization, donating more than 1000 hours of pro bono time. In addition, our Firm partnered with the organization to organize its fundraising event, the Justice For All Ball, and to present a program on pro bono and professionalism during Pro Bono Celebration Week.
Pro Bono Project of New Orleans Distinguished Service Award: Sherry Dolan was individually honored for her distinguished service to the Pro Bono Project of New Orleans. Whether she was working on the Justice for All Ball, or taking a family law case, or mentoring other pro bono attorneys, or working on a continuing legal education program for the organization and its volunteers, Sherry volunteered well over 100 hours during 2009, and was a driving force in making Baker Donelson the 2009 Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year.
Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta Volunteer of the Year: Atlanta associate Valerie Woodrick King was named Volunteer of the Year by the Pro Bono Partnership of Atlanta for her outstanding service, both to the organization and to its non-profit clients. Valerie serves on the board of directors, and has assisted numerous non-profit organizations with a wide variety of corporate legal concerns.
Louisiana Appleseed Good Apple Award: Presented to the Louisiana Bar Foundation Fellows Class of 2008 Class Project Participants, including Phyllis Cancienne, for their pro bono assistance to ensure equitable allocation of funding for special needs students in Louisiana public schools.
Nominations for the ABA Pro Bono Publico Award: Two nominations for this prestigious award have come from distinguished sources:
- Hon. Jay C. Zainey, United States District Judge for the Eastern District of Louisiana, nominated the Firm for its outstanding commitment to the HELP program, and to pro bono service in general. Judge Zainey writes that hundreds of homeless individuals have received legal assistance because of the Firm's efforts, not only through direct provision of services but also through our establishment of new programs and our efforts to recruit other firms to join us in serving the homeless population.
- The Tennessee Bar Association nominated Memphis shareholder Buck Lewis for his outstanding dedication to access to justice during his tenure as the TBA's president, and his service on two access to justice committees since that time. The TBA writes that Buck's work on the Justice 4All initiative, together with his push for ethics rule changes and his collaboration with other organizations throughout the state have resulted in unprecedented progress toward access for all Tennesseans in need.
The Firm can be very proud of these two nominations, which recognize a high level of dedication to the cause of access to justice and an outstanding record of achievement toward that end.
2008-2009
Tennessee Bar Association Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Award, 2008-09: Awarded to Nashville Shareholder Charles Grant, in recognition of his tireless work toward the restoration of voting rights for former felons. The Gilbert Award is for attorneys who contribute a significant amount of pro bono work and who demonstrate dedication to the delivery of legal services to the poor.
Charles exemplifies public service. His main cause is the restoration of voting rights, and he has done admirable work in this area. In 2005, Charles helped begin a project to restore voting rights to former felons who had fully served their sentences. Charles and his group were able to restore rights to those who were eligible.
During the legislative session of 2005-06, Charles worked tirelessly to secure new legislation that would streamline the voting restoration process. Under this law, rights would be restored automatically upon pardon, completion of sentence or parole. A weaker version of the law was enacted. This was not good enough for Charles. In an attempt to fix some of the problems associated with the new law and in conjunction with the ACLU voting project, he initiated a pro bono suit on behalf of three plaintiffs who completed their sentences but were denied voting rights because they owed child support or restitution. He argues that voting rights are not denied to others who have the same financial obligations, and that this stipulation of the law is similar to a poll tax.
Tennessee Bar Association Corporate Pro Bono Initiative Law Firm of the Year: Presented to the Nashville office of Baker, Donelson in recognition of its establishment and operation, in partnership with CAT Financial, of a recurring legal clinic for senior citizens. When the Tennessee Bar Association kicked off its Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Initiative in 2007, it pledged to recognize the most outstanding pro bono programs around the State, both those in-house corporations and others based in law firms. When the criteria was established for the most outstanding law firm pro bono program, Baker Donelson was nominated, due in part to its initiation of a partnership with client Caterpillar Financial to conduct pro bono clinics in senior citizen centers around Nashville. At the Corporate Counsel Pro Bono Gala held in Nashville in June 2008, Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Mickey Barker recognized Baker Donelson’s pro bono program as the first winner, designating Baker Donelson as the best law firm pro bono program in the State with the inaugural Corporate Counsel Award. This recognition highlighted Baker Donelson’s leadership role in the pro bono community, its creation of a pro bono policy, programs to encourage pro bono work, and the Firm's initiative in working with others to foster even more pro bono work.
Memphis Bar Association W.J. Michael Cody Pro Bono Award, 2008: Presented to Buck Lewis, shareholder in our Memphis office. Harrison McIver of Memphis Area Legal Services calls Buck a "leader with a huge heart, boundless energy and compassion for the less fortunate." Buck has donated hours of his time at Saturday Legal Clinics, the Attorney for the Day program at General Sessions and has accepted tenant and consumer cases from MALS.
Buck's commitment to justice is remarkable. As president of the TBA, he is spearheading a statewide program called "4ALL," designed to encourage greater involvement by all attorneys in increasing access to justice for the poor. In his recent keynote address to Tennessee lawyers, Buck described 4ALL as an aggressive campaign to "attack a problem that is growing worse by the day despite our constant efforts. That problem is the denial of access to justice caused by poverty, domestic violence, our deteriorating economy, and the ever increasing cost of legal services." Buck's mission is to inform people of their legal rights and to assist them no matter their financial situation.
Pro Bono Program Firm of the Year, Northern Region 2008: Awarded by Legal Aid of East Tennessee at its annual Pro Bono Awards Banquets in Chattanooga and Johnson City.
Fulton Daily Report Pro Bono Award: Steven Hall of the Atlanta office was one of the inaugural recipients of the Fulton Daily Pro Bono Awards. Steve was recognized for his work in helping an elderly person who was being taken advantage of by unscrupulous relatives.
Good Apple Award: Presented by Louisiana Appleseed and the national Appleseed organization to New Orleans Associate Kathlyn Perez. Kathlyn was honored for her extensive work with Louisiana Appleseed on a project designed to reform local, state and federal laws to improve future disaster response, as well as for her leadership of a number of young attorneys in addressing current, local disaster recovery issues.
In addition to her work for Appleseed, Kathlyn has handled several pro bono child custody cases.
Nashville Emerging Leader Award – Legal Services: Awarded by the Nashville Area Chamber of Commerce and Young Professionals of Nashville to Jonathan Cole, recognizing his commitment and leadership in pro bono and public service.