State Bar of Georgia
search
State Bar of Georgia
State Bar of Georgia Interior Page Banner

Pro Bono Awards, Honor Roll and ICLE Voucher Rewards


On an annual basis, the State Bar of Georgia Access to Justice Committee and the State Bar of Georgia Pro Bono Resource Center solicit nominations for the State Bar's Pro Bono Awards in March of each year.
The annual Pro Bono Honor Roll is published in the June edition of the State Bar of Georgia Bar Journal, and each annual list of honorees beginning in 2022 will be maintained online on the State Bar of Georgia website.

New! The State Bar of Georgia Online Honor Roll!

The Pro Bono Honor Roll has been expanded to recognize three levels of pro bono service. A special Honor Roll Web Page will be rolled out to allow lawyers across the state to participate in our new civil Pro Bono Honor Roll.

  • Silver:  Attorneys who have accepted at least one civil pro bono case through a structured, coordinated civil pro bono program in Georgia in the preceding calendar year. For those who have accepted at least three civil pro bono cases from such a program, the State Bar Pro Bono Resource Center, in cooperation with the Commission on Continuing Lawyer Competency (CCLC), distributes $150 vouchers  that can be applied toward the cost of any CLE program offered by ICLE in Georgia.
  • Gold:  Attorneys who have fulfilled the 50-hour pro bono service aspirational goal set forth in Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1(a) in the preceding calendar year.
  • Platinum:  Attorneys who have exceeded the Rule 6.1(a) goal by providing at least 100 hours of pro bono service in the preceding calendar year.    

The names of attorneys who have provided service at the Silver level are submitted to the State Bar of Georgia each year by the structured, coordinated civil pro bono programs registered with the Pro Bono Resource Center.  

Attorneys who have provided service at the Gold and Platinum level, including but not limited to service with registered programs, are requested to share with us their pro bono service hours during each annual reporting period. Volunteer Lawyers may click HERE to participate in the Honor Roll or use/copy and paste into your browser this link: https://forms.gle/hJJb3Bf7DNx43MJZ7.

Lawyers can share their pro bono service hours beginning in December of a calendar year through March of the following year to appear in the online Honor Roll page.

The Honor Roll participation link will ask for the following information:
1.    Pro bono attorney name
2.    Georgia Bar number
3.    Certification that, in the preceding calendar year, the attorney provided at least 50 hours/at least 100 hours of pro bono legal services under the definition set forth in Georgia Rule of Professional Conduct 6.1(a).
4.    Total number of pro bono hours served in the preceding calendar year.


State Bar of Georgia Pro Bono Award Descriptions
 

The H. Sol Clark Award is named for former Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Clark of Savannah, who is known as the "father of legal aid in Georgia." The prestigious Clark Award honors an individual lawyer who has excelled in one or more of a variety of activities that extend civil legal services to the poor.

The William B. Spann Jr. Award is given each year to a local bar association, law firm, or community organization in Georgia that has developed a civil pro bono program that has satisfied previously unmet legal needs or extended services to underserved segments of the population. The award is named for a former president of the American Bar Association and former executive director of the State Bar of Georgia.

The Dan Bradley Award honors the memory of Georgia native and Mercer Law graduate Dan J. Bradley, who was president of the federal Legal Services Corporation from 1979 to 1982.He is credited by many with having been instrumental in saving the Legal Services Corporation, which funds programs like Georgia Legal Services Program and the Atlanta Legal Aid Society, from elimination in the early 1980s. The Dan Bradley Legal Services Award recognizes the work of an Atlanta Legal Aid or Georgia Legal Services Program attorney who has excelled in the commitment to the delivery of quality legal services to the poor and to providing equal access to justice.

The A Business Commitment Award is presented by the State Bar of Georgia Pro Bono Resource Center to honor the business law pro bono contributions of an individual lawyer, corporate legal department or law firm to the nonprofit community and community economic development sector in Georgia.

The Law School Excellence in Access to Justice Award was created by the State Bar of Georgia Access to Justice Committee and the State Bar of Georgia Young Lawyers Division (YLD). The Law School Excellence in Access to Justice Award is open to all law students currently enrolled in or graduating from an accredited Georgia law school.

The Law School Excellence in Access to Justice Award will recognize an individual law student or law student group or group activity.The award specifically recognizes a law student who has excelled in participation in support of a civil pro bono or legal aid program or who has developed or has been instrumental in the development of a civil pro bono program satisfying previously unmet civil legal needs or extended services to underserved segments of the population.The Award may also specifically recognize a law student-led group or activity that has demonstrated an effective mechanism in addressing the civil legal needs of the community or that has demonstrated a high level of participation and commitment of its members to provision of civil legal services to the poor in the community.

All law-related activities for which the nominee is credited must be within the realm of those permitted for law students or under the direction of a lawyer or law school program.

 

2020 State Bar of Georgia Pro Bono Award Recipients

H. Sol Clark Award
Hon Dexter Wimbish
Martin Ellin

The William B. Spann Jr. Award
Corey Martin & The Law Offices of Martin & Associates

The Dan Bradley Award
Anne Carder, Atlanta Legal Aid Society

The A Business Commitment Award
Business Law Clinic, University of Georgia School of Law
Willow Tracy, Director

Law School Excellence in Access to Justice
Peyton Stuart, University of Georgia School of Law
Paige Finley, University of Georgia School of Law