George T. "Buck" Lewis of Baker Donelson has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) Section of Labor and Employment Law as the 2020 recipient of the Frances Perkins Public Service Award.
The Frances Perkins Public Service Award recognizes individuals or organizations that demonstrate a significant commitment to providing pro bono legal services, primarily in the areas of labor and employment law, to people of limited means or to the nonprofit, governmental, civic, community or religious organizations that are engaged in addressing the needs of individuals with limited means. Mr. Lewis, who was recognized during the 14th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference on November 12, was honored for his vision, help and support in creating the ABA Free Legal Answers program, the country's first interactive pro bono website.
A shareholder in the Memphis office of Baker Donelson and leader of the Firm's Appellate Practice Group, Mr. Lewis was instrumental in the development and implementation of the ABA Free Legal Answers website, which has been licensed as a free service for low-income clients in 43 states. More than 130,000 pro bono legal questions have been answered through the site, which has more than 8,300 volunteer lawyers. Similar software has been licensed to pro bono agencies in Australia, England and Wales.
Mr. Lewis has served as president of the Tennessee Bar Association and the Memphis Bar Foundation, and he has chaired the ABA Pro Bono and Public Service Committee and the Tennessee Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission. He has twice received ABA Presidential Citations, most recently in 2019 for his work on access to justice issues. Mr. Lewis is also a recipient of the William Reece Smith Jr. Pro Bono Award from the National Association of Pro Bono Professionals and the Justice Janice Holder Award for Access to Justice from the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services.