News Article

Womble Carlyle's pro bono efforts were recently honored by the North Carolina Bar Association, with Womble Carlyle attorneys Cal Adams and Sean Perrin also receiving individual awards.

The N.C. Bar Association presented its 2007 Pro Bono Service Awards at the association's 109th Annual Meeting. The firm received the Large Law Firm Pro Bono Award for its major project aiding New Orleans homeowners affected by Hurricane Katrina, as well as its traditional pro bono efforts in areas such as Guardian ad Litem appeals and domestic violence victims advocacy.

Under the leadership of firm Pro Bono Director Tripp Greason and attorneys Cris Windham and Georgi Yonuschot, teams of Womble Carlyle lawyers and paralegals spent the summer of 2006 in New Orleans working with low-income residents who lost their homes in the hurricane and subsequent flood. In all, more than 30 attorneys and staff members traveled to New Orleans, while many others provided support from Womble Carlyle's offices.

Following the 2005 disaster, thousands of New Orleans homeowners were left in legal limbo. These homeowners had lived in family homes that had been passed down from generation to generation without performing the legal operation ("succession" or probate) necessary to convey title to the surviving occupants. Because these homeowners lacked clear title to the property, they were not able to access the available federal, state and insurance assistance necessary to rebuild their hurricane-damaged homes.

The Womble Carlyle teams accepted nearly 200 New Orleanians as clients or potential clients during the summer of 2006. Womble Carlyle teams then began to gather information and draft the succession pleadings necessary to secure proper titles for their clients. To date, the firm has provided more than 4,000 hours of pro bono assistance to these Katrina clients.

In addition, the firm spent approximately 8,000 hours on North Carolina pro bono projects such as 

• Representing abused and neglected children on behalf of the state’s Guardian ad Litem program; 
• Advocating for victims of domestic violence; 
• Resolving landlord-tenant disputes on behalf of low-income residents.

This is the latest in a series of recent pro bono awards Womble Carlyle has received, as the firm also has been honored by both the Louisiana State Bar Association and Southeast Louisiana Legal Services for the Katrina project.

"We are flattered to have been singled out of the group of other firms and attorneys who have provided pro bono assistance during the past year," Greason said. "It is an honor to be recognized by our peers and a real privilege to have provided service to some of the people in real need.”"

Cal Adams received the William L. Thorp Award, the Association’s top pro bono honor for individual attorneys. Presented annually since 1984, the award recognizes the Pro Bono Attorney of the Year in North Carolina.

"I've always felt pro bono work is part of the job," Adams said. "As attorneys, we enjoy a position of respect in society, but with that position comes the responsibility to help those in need."

Adams, the chair of the firm's Pro Bono Committee, has a wide-ranging pro bono practice. He has worked extensively on the Katrina project and has represented Sept. 11 victims before the federal Victim Compensation Fund. His pro bono work also includes post-conviction death penalty defense representation and domestic violence victims advocacy.

Adams is serving his sixth two-year term as President of the Board of Directors of the Legal Aid Society of Northwest North Carolina. He is a founding director of Legal Aid of North Carolina and just completed his second year as President of the Board of Directors of Legal Aid of North Carolina. He previously served as a member of the Board of Legal Services of N.C. He also serves as a member of the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Project Advisory Committee.

In 1996, Adams was honored by Womble Carlyle with the firm’s first Irving Carlyle Pro Bono Publico Award.

Sean Perrin won the Young Lawyer Pro Bono Award, given by the N.C. Bar Association’s Young Lawyers Division.

Perrin frequently handles landlord-tenant disputes for low-income Charlotte residents through Legal Services of Southern Piedmont. Additionally, he worked with nearly 30 pro bono clients in the past year alone, including: helping low-income domestic violence victims through Legal Services, aiding abused and neglected children through the state's Guardian ad Litem program, and representing misdemeanor and criminal defendants through the Mecklenburg County Public Defender's office.

"I'm fortunate to be able to work with some great agencies on these projects," Perrin said. "There is a tremendous need for pro bono work in Charlotte, but there are organizations working hard to meet those needs and I'm glad I can help."

Perrin also recently received the 2007 Pro Bono Attorney of the Year award from Legal Aid of North Carolina.

The 2007 Pro Bono Service Awards were presented June 22nd at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville.