MIAMI LAW FIRM TO RECEIVE COMMENDATION FOR PRO BONO WORK

The Florida Bar

www.floridabar.org

MIAMI LAW FIRM TO RECEIVE COMMENDATION FOR PRO BONO WORK

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 19, 2010
CONTACT: Dorohn A. Frazier,
The Florida Bar
TELEPHONE: (850) 561-5764; dfrazier@flabar.org

The law firm of Hunton & Williams LLP, of Miami, has been selected as a co-recipient of the 2010 Law Firm Commendation, an award honoring significant contributions in the delivery of legal services to individuals or groups on a pro bono basis. The commendation will be presented by Chief Justice Peggy A. Quince at a Jan. 28 ceremony at the Florida Supreme Court.

Among its pro bono service, Hunton & Williams has: dedicated more than 2,000 hours to the national Veterans Consortium Pro Bono Program; provided representation for international child-abduction litigation and asylum cases; worked for children's and victims' rights; assisted nonprofits across the country; created three neighborhood-based pro bono offices in Atlanta, Ga., Richmond, Va., and Charlottesville, Va.; and established two full-time pro bono fellowships for lawyers whose time is entirely committed to pro bono work.

According to the Thomas R. Julin, chair of the pro bono committee of the company's Miami office: "For the first time, we are delighted to announce that our office has accomplished a very challenging, yet especially rewarding task: 100 percent of the 53 lawyers in our Miami office and 99 percent of the 950 lawyers in all of the firm's 14 U.S. offices provided pro bono legal representation to individuals and non-profit organizations that are devoted primarily to helping those in need."

Lawyers in Hunton & Williams' Miami office dedicated a total of 4,285 hours to pro bono service -- approximately 80 hours per lawyer, including 2,577 hours to low-income individuals in need -- approximately 50 hours per lawyer.

The firm accomplished this goal in accordance with an April 8, 2008, directive that gave all firm lawyers a clear message regarding the importance of pro bono as a core value of the firm: "Our firm is committed to providing pro bono legal services to low-income individuals and charitable organizations. Each year, time devoted to these services must exceed 3 percent of the time we devote to fee-paying clients. In addition, the Executive Committee expects that every lawyer practicing in the United States will represent pro bono clients each year. This is a personal and professional responsibility, a fundamental expression of our firm's core values."

The Miami office's leadership role in a citywide effort to raise $1 million for Legal Services of Greater Miami and a duplication of these efforts in other offices led to the firm being given the national 2009 Pro Bono Institute's John H. Pickering Award. A nonprofit organization at Georgetown University Law Center, PBI explores and identifies new approaches to secure legal assistance to address critical problems of the poor and disadvantaged.

The other co-recipient of the 2010 Law Firm Commendation is Icard, Merrill, Cullis, Timm, Furen & Ginsburg, P.A., of Sarasota.

This year's awards ceremony, which also honors individual, circuit, voluntary bar, young lawyers and judicial pro bono efforts, is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 28, 2010, at 3:30 p.m. at the Florida Supreme Court. In addition, the ceremony will be broadcast live, unless pre-empted, on the Florida Channel (check local cable listings for the channel number) and on the Internet at http://wfsu.org/gavel2gavel.

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[Revised: 01-27-2010]