News Article

 

Womble Carlyle attorneys Ran Bell, Jim Cooley, Don Donadio, Steve Dunlevie, Marilyn Forbes, Gov. Jim Hunt, Bill Ragland, Betty Temple and Cris Windham have been honored as winners of the 2011 Womble Carlyle Service Awards. The awards were presented during the firm’s 2011 Member’s Retreat, held at the Greenbrier Resort.

 

Ran Bell received the Irving Carlyle Pro Bono Publico Award. As an attorney, Bell focuses her practice on tax exempt organizations and the tax aspects of charitable giving. She puts these skills to work on a pro bono basis as well. Some of the organizations she has worked with include the Hospice Foundation of Winston-Salem/Forsyth County Inc., the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, the Junior League of Winston-Salem, the Forsyth County Juvenile Justice Council and the North Carolina Nature Conservancy.
 

Jim Cooley received the W.P. Sandridge Award for Service to the Firm. Those leadership efforts included over 10 years as an elected member of the FMC, almost 8 years as PGL of Business Litigation, 4 years as Chairman of the Board of Directors of FirmLogic and work as a member of the 1992 Strategic Planning Committee and a move of his family to Charlotte at the firm’s request. 
 

Don Donadio received the W.P. Sandridge Award for Service to the Firm. Don has been a Womble Carlyle attorney since 1972 and was one of two Winston members who established the firm’s second office (in Raleigh) in 1982. Donadio served as Managing Member of the Raleigh office for more that 25 years, and helped that office grow to 60 attorneys today. He served several terms on the Firm Management Committee, and also served on a myriad of firm committees, including the Recruiting Committee, Long Range Planning Committee, and Budget Committee.  Donadio served as head of the Real Estate Section of his practice group and as Chair of the Economic Development Group and the Global Business Group. 
 

Steve Dunlevie received the W.P. Sandridge Award for Service to the Firm. Dunlevie served as Managing Member of the firm’s Atlanta office from its formation in 1996 until 2008. He also served a lengthy term on the Firm Management Committee, all while maintaining a thriving practice as a corporate finance, banking, and commercial real estate attorney.
 

Marilyn Forbes received the H. Grady Barnhill Jr. Award for Service to Clients. Forbes manages the firm’s relationship with Reynolds American., Inc., one of the firm’s largest client relationships. Her approach is well organized, pleasant and focused entirely on making sure that the client is both well-served and understanding of the value and appreciation that Womble Carlyle places on this important client relationship. 
 

Gov. Jim Hunt received the Leon L. Rice Jr. Award for Service to the Community. Gov. Hunt is the only four-term Governor in North Carolina history. Among numerous other activities, he is the Founder and Chair of both the Institute for Emerging Issues at N.C. State University and the Hunt Institute for Educational Leadership and Policy.  He has also in recent years chaired the National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, the National Board for Teaching Standards, and the National Commission on Teaching and America's Future.  For these and other reasons, Gov. Hunt was the first recipient of the Committee for Economic Development's Excellence in Public Policy Award and a recipient of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's Excellence in Leadership Award.
 

Bill Ragland received the William F. Womble Award for Service to the Bar. Ragland served a term as President of the Atlanta Bar Association, the largest bar association in the southeastern US, with more than 6,200 members. He currently serves as President of the Atlanta Bar Foundation, the charitable arm of the Atlanta Bar Association. His service to the bar also includes serving on the Board of Governors of the State Bar of Georgia. Ragland was selected by the judges of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia to serve as a Board Director for the US District Court Federal Defender Program and its Court Relations Committee, as a Member of the US District Court for the Northern District of Georgia Bar Council and as a Member of that Court’s Disciplinary Committee. 

Betty Temple received the H. Grady Barnhill Jr. Award for Service to Clients. Temple was named to both the 2006 and 2009 BTI Client Service All-Star Team. She was one of fewer than 200 attorneys across the globe to make the list. Each year, she was the only attorney in South Carolina to be named a Client Service All-Star. Temple is known throughout the profession for providing her clients with trusted advice and skilled counsel at any hour of any day.
 

Cris Windham received the Irving Carlyle Pro Bono Publico Award. Windham was presented this award in recognition of his exceptional efforts and leadership of the Firm’s efforts to help Hurricane Katrina victims receive government aid and insurance proceeds in order to rebuild their homes. Windham leads Womble Carlyle’s FirmLogic team.

 

 

Womble Carlyle is a full-service business law firm with a focus on innovative solutions to client needs. The firm supports the Association of Corporate Counsel in the ACC Value Challenge, which seeks to better align legal services with the needs of corporate clients.

The firm is located in the Southeast and mid-Atlantic regions, and serves clients nationally and globally, with more than 550 attorneys in twelve offices: Atlanta; Charleston and Greenville, S.C.; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, N.C.; Washington, D.C.; Tysons Corner, Va.; Baltimore; and Wilmington, Del.

In the community, the firm is the first law firm to receive the Thurgood Marshall College Fund Corporate Leadership Award as well as the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve Freedom Award.