Press Release

 

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C.—Womble Carlyle has been named Firm of the Year by Legal Aid of North Carolina—Winston-Salem Office. The firm was honored for its pro bono support of Safe on Seven, Forsyth County’s domestic violence center.

 

Located on the Seventh Floor of the Forsyth County Hall of Justice, Safe on Seven brings all together the key resources needed by domestic violence victims, including court system officials, law enforcement, victims and  legal advocates, and social services representatives, in one location. Previously, domestic violence victims had to seek help at multiple locations, creating unnecessary stress during an already difficult time in their lives.

 

Legal Aid leaders praised the innovative nature of the pro bono project, which uses paralegals to deliver most of the services. Womble Carlyle paralegals gave 952 pro bono hours to Safe on Seven in 2009. Paralegals who have given their time to this cause are Julie Hardison, Deborah Roberts, Amy Barneycastle, Dianna Killmeyer, Kim Kuhel, Ashley Mathis, Barbara Norman, Chrissy Johnson, India Messick, Stanley Ziobro, Caitlin Bryant, Brenda Brown, Tonya Lanier, Judy Harmon, and Michelle Barlow. In addition, attorney Jennifer Lyday has helped Safe on Seven with 50B protective order hearings.

 

Attorney Chris Douglas, a leader of the firm’s Case Management Facility Practice Team, and Leslie Gough, a paralegal manager at the CMF, have spearheaded the firm’s pro bono efforts to support Safe on Seven.

 

“This makes me proud to be associated with our firm. These paralegals took ownership of this project and made equal justice under law real for these victims in a way we lawyers would do well to follow,” said Tripp Greason, Womble Carlyle’s Pro Bono Director.

 

Douglas and Gough received the Firm of the Year Award at a March 25^th ceremony. Legal Aid also honored Womble Carlyle attorneys Cal Adams, Tripp Greason, and Hada Haulsee for their pro bono activities at the same event.

 

The Winston-Salem office of Legal Aid assists clients in Davie, Forsyth, Iredell, Stokes, Surry, and Yadkin Counties.  

 

 

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 500 attorneys in eleven offices: Atlanta, GA; Greenville, SC; Charlotte, Greensboro, Raleigh, Research Triangle Park, and Winston-Salem, NC; Washington, DC; Tysons Corner, VA; Baltimore, MD; and Wilmington, DE. American Lawyer magazine lists Womble Carlyle as one of its 100 leading firms in the country.