Pro Bono Attorney of the Year: Ogonna Brown
Law Firm of the Year: Lewis Roca Rothgerber, LLP
Lied Award for Most Hours for Law Firm: Lewis Roca Rothgerber, LLP
Lied Award for Most Cases for Law Firm: Kunin & Carman
Lied Award for Most Hours for Attorney: Airene Williamson
Lied Award for Most Cases for Attorney: Ishi Kunin
William S. Boyd Award of Excellence: Christina Hixson and the Lied Foundation Trust
Justice Nancy Becker Pro Bono Award of Judicial Excellence: Judge Frank P. Sullivan
Vince A. Consul Memorial Pro Bono Award: Benjamin Reitz
Louis Wiener Service Award: Shannon Wilson
Myrna Williams Children’s Pro Bono Award: The Lawyers of Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara LLP
Award of Excellence: Travis Barrick
Public Interest Law Student of Distinction: Samantha Rice
Ask-A-Lawyer Community Commitment Award: Mitch Cobeaga
Volunteer Surrogate Award: Daniel Maul
Volunteer Attorney of the Month
Marc Fox - February 2015
Terry Johnson - March 2015
Beth Rosenblum - April 2015
Timothy Kuhls - May 2015
The Attorneys of Bremer Whyte - July 2015
Racheal Mastel - August 2015
Homa Woodrum and Adam Woodrum - October 2015
Peter Goatz - November 2015
100 Hour Club Members
West Allen
Paola Armeni
Shea Backus
Travis Barrick
Sarah Bassett
Eunice Beattie
Matthew Carter
Robert Cerceo
Andrea Champion
Mark Connot
William Curran
Laura Deeter
Michael DeLee
Bob Dickerson
Sabrina Dolson
Deborah Elsasser
Holly Fic
Marc Fox
Mark Gardberg
Puneet Garg
John George
Jacqueline Gilbert
Melissa Hagen
Carol Harris
Nancy Heimerle
Nathan Henderson
Marla Hudgens
Greg Ivie
Christopher Jorgensen
Samira Knight
Malani Kotchka
Malani Kotchka-Alanes
Timothy Kuhls
Ishi Kunin
Patricia Lee
Jonathan Lee
Daniel Licciardi
Michele LoBello
Dawn Lozano
Racheal Mastel
Colleen McCarty
Michael McKelleb
Monique McNeill
Michael Muehle
Tracy O’Steen
Dan Polsenberg
Corinne Price
Carrie Primas
Benjamin Reitz
Randal Shimon
Jordan Smith
Abraham Smith
Kelly Stout
Mario Valencia
Airene Williamson
Shannon Wilson
Karen Wong
Homa Woodrum
Shane Young
Meng Zhong
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS
Robyn & Aldo Manzini
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Culinary Workers Union, Local 226
Dickinson Wright
Lewis Roca Rothgerber
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THANK YOU TO OUR TABLE PURCHASERS
Reid Rubinstein & Bogatz
The Dickerson Law Group
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Nevada Justice Association
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John J. Cahill, Clark County Public Administrator
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Caesars Entertainment
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Nevada Legal News
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Bank of Nevada
Willick Law Group
Las Vegas Defense Lawyers
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Holland & Hart
Republic Services
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McDonald Carano Wilson
Lee, Hernandez, Landrum & Garofalo
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Nevada Legal Services
Ballard Spahr
Clark County
State Bar of Nevada
Bailey Kennedy
UNLV William S. Boyd School of Law
Fennemore Craig
Kolesar & Leatham
Children’s Attorneys Project
Senate Democratic Leader Aaron Ford
Haines & Krieger
Fox Rothschild
City National Bank
Gentile Cristalli Miller Armeni Savarese
McFarling Law Group
Duane Morris
Boies, Schiller & Flexner
Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara
Gordon Rees
Cobeaga Law Firm
Pisanelli Bice
Dawn M. Lozano
Durham Jones & Pinegar
Pro Bono Attorney of the Year
Ogonna Brown
Holley Driggs Walch Fine Wray Puzey & Thompson
Since we first began presenting pro bono awards, our most prestigious award has always been our Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award. This year, one attorney truly stood out head and shoulders above all others.
View Ogonna’s tribute video to learn more about her contributions.
Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year
This firm has a longstanding tradition of making pro bono a top firm priority. Under the leadership of Dan Waite, the managing partner for the Las Vegas office, the lawyers at this firm, have once again gone above and beyond. In this past year, the firm accepted 36 new pro bono cases (in addition to the many cases they already had opened in prior years), and together performed an astounding 1,229 hours of pro bono services. Nearly all of their lawyers – partners and associates alike — contributed time to serving Legal Aid Center’s clients, including numerous child victims of abuse and neglect, homeowners and homebuyers victimized by real estate scams and other less fortunate individuals who had no place else to turn.
Also, in this past year, the firm’s appellate team, led by Dan Polsenberg, not only accepted a number appeals on behalf of Legal Aid Center’s clients, particularly in the areas child welfare and domestic violence, but also served as an invaluable resource, mentoring and training so many of our legal aid attorneys and pro bono attorneys– many of whom are drafting and arguing their first appellate case before the Nevada Supreme Court.
We salute this firm for exemplifying a strong culture of pro bono and for ensuring access to justice on behalf of so many of our clients.
Lied Awards
Lied Awards are given in recognition of the Lied Foundation Trust, a foundation which has significantly contributed to our organization for more than a decade.
Most Pro Bono Hours by a Law Firm
This firm contributed 1,229 hours representing low-income clients in a range of practice areas, including abuse and neglect matters, consumer fraud, and appellate litigation.
Most Pro Bono Cases by a Law Firm
This firm accepted 40 new pro bono cases this year primarily in the areas of guardianship, adoption, and family law.
Most Pro Bono Hours by an Attorney
Airene Williamson
Williamson Law Office
This attorney makes pro bono an integral part of her practice. In the past year, this attorney contributed 392 hours on several cases, including a complex securities fraud suit, successfully settled after two years in litigation, and an unpaid wages case on behalf of several undocumented workers.
Most Pro Bono Cases by an Attorney
Ishi Kunin
Kunin & Carman
For the fifth consecutive year, this attorney has accepted more pro bono cases than any other lawyer in Southern Nevada. This year, she accepted 38 new pro bono cases in the areas of adoption and guardianship.
William S. Boyd Award of Excellence
This award is given in honor of William Boyd, to commemorate his extraordinary service to our organization. Each year it honors a business or community leader who has been an outstanding supporter of legal aid and pro bono services.
Christina Hixson and the Lied Foundation Trust
It seemed very clear to us who should receive this award for the first time since presenting it to Bill Boyd. Our award winner has been a friend to Legal Aid for many years. We would not have our Center without her – in 2000, she issued a challenge grant – she would give us money if we matched it with volunteer hours – and to meet the challenge, the number of our volunteers skyrocketed. When we outgrew our building, again, she issued another challenge – this one again was met, and gave us a center to hold classes, train pro bono attorneys, and house our staff. For being a catalyst and for increasing access to justice, we gratefully honor her with the William S. Boyd Award of Excellence.
Justice Nancy Becker Pro Bono Award of Judicial Excellence
This award is given in honor of Nancy Becker, one of the founders of the Pro Bono Project and a strong advocate for access to justice. Each year it recognizes a member of the judiciary who has given his or her time, energy, and influence to encourage pro bono work and support access to justice.
Judge Frank P. Sullivan
This year, we honor a juvenile court judge who has been serving the needs of children and families for over twelve years. He is a member of the Supreme Court Access to Justice Commission and the Clark County Blue Ribbon Panel created to make improvements to the county’s child welfare system. He is extraordinarily committed to ensuring representation and permanency in a timely manner for every child in Nevada’s foster care system.
Over the years, he has trained hundreds of pro bono attorneys to represent child victims of abuse and neglect. This year, he not only did that, but he organized and trained pro bono attorneys on how domestic violence affects their clients and cases, recruiting new volunteers to perform this important work. He is incredibly well-respected and admired for his work by everyone he comes in contact with. He always makes pro bono attorneys feel appreciated in his courtroom and never stops thanking them for their service. He is an inspiration to all of us.
Vince Consul Memorial Pro Bono Award
This award is given in memory of Vince Consul, a long-time advocate for access to justice. Each year it recognizes an attorney who made a substantial commitment to a client with a civil matter.
Benjamin Reitz
Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck
This attorney has shown long-term dedication and determination to obtain justice for many pro bono clients in their civil law matters this year.
View Ben’s tribute video to learn more about his contributions.
Louis Wiener Service Award
This award is given in memory of Louis Wiener for his dedication in helping victims of domestic violence. Each year it honors someone who has made substantial contributions in representing victims.
Shannon Wilson
Hutchison & Steffen
Over the past year, this attorney has advocated on behalf of many victims and is a valued member of our Pro Bono Advisory Council.
View Shannon’s tribute video to learn more about her contributions.
Myrna Williams Children’s Pro Bono Award
This award is given in honor of Myrna Williams, who was an instrumental force in obtaining legal representation for abused children in foster care. Each year it recognizes an attorney who made an extraordinary difference in the life of a child.
The Lawyers of Bremer Whyte Brown & O’Meara
Beginning in May of this year, this law firm performed the extraordinary. After hearing of the immense need for legal assistance for abused children, this firm committed that each one of its 22 attorneys would accept a case on behalf of a child victim of abuse or neglect. It trained all of its attorneys and accepted 22 new cases. One of their partners, Peter Brown, was so moved by his client and his involvement in the case – you could hear the passion in his voice when he described the experience.
And if this wasn’t enough, the partners later rallied their colleagues in the defense bar to get involved in this work. And, before we knew it, we received a call from Loren Young, President of the Las Vegas Defense Bar, who was eager to set up a CLE training for their members which we gladly arranged soon after.
The lawyers at this firm continue to accept additional cases and plans to increase their existing requirement to two pro bono abuse and neglect cases per attorney, at all times. What a difference one firm can make!
Award of Excellence
Travis Barrick
Gallian, Welker & Beckstrom
This award honors an individual for overall excellence and leadership in pro bono service. When we launched our Veterans Ask-A-Lawyer program in April 2014, we called upon this attorney to help due to his extensive experience in handling veteran’s benefit claims. He was eager to participate and continues to be an asset to the program’s success, always lending a helping hand to new volunteers and never hesitating to assist a veteran regardless of the legal question presented.
This volunteer is also actively involved in the U.S. District Court’s new Federal Pro Bono Pilot Program established by Chief Judge Gloria Navarro approximately a year ago. He has accepted six of these cases, devoting over 200 hours, and with the assistance of several Boyd law students, won a 6-day jury trial for one of the clients.
Public Interest Law Student of Distinction
This award recognizes a law student who has made a substantial commitment to the community by doing public interest work and promoting access to justice.
Samantha Rice
We are so lucky to have one of the best law schools in the nation right here in our community – the William S. Boyd School of Law. Through the leadership of its Deans and faculty, the law school has been committed to public interest, pro bono, and our organization since its inception.
This year’s recipient is passionate about public interest law, and child advocacy is her forte. She serves as President of her Law School’s Child Advocacy Law Association and is Coordinator for the Kids Court School with the Thomas and Mack Legal Clinic. She also participated in the Partners in Pro Bono program in which she was able to work on an appellate and divorce case. Outside of the Law School, she also volunteers with Legal Aid Center’s Educational Surrogate Parent program where she advocates on behalf of children special education needs.
Ask-A-Lawyer Community Commitment Award
This award is given to a volunteer whose tremendous commitment week after week makes the Ask-A-Lawyer Program possible.
Mitch Cobeaga
The Cobeaga Law Firm
A few years ago, Justice Douglas asked what we could do to expand legal aid and pro bono assistance to our veterans. Shortly thereafter, we asked the veteran community what was needed, and they recommended a veteran’s Ask-A-Lawyer program – and asked us to start that week. So we did. And, in this past year alone, 333 veterans were provided free legal counsel and advice.
This year’s award winner attended our first veteran’s roundtable and played a pivotal role in starting the program. Since its inception in April 2014, this volunteer has participated in nearly every session and continues to do so today. In addition to volunteering his own time and expertise by providing counsel and advice to veterans each month, he has also recruited numerous other attorneys to also volunteer. Together with the Office of Military Legal Assistance, founded by Attorney General Laxalt, and Project Salute, operated by Nevada Legal Services, we aim to honor those who sacrifice to serve our country.
You may know this volunteer as a former Air Force fighter pilot, a 40-year practicing attorney, or a legend in the Las Vegas legal community. We recognize him this year for his amazing work with veterans through the Ask-A-Lawyer program.
Volunteer Surrogate Award
This award recognizes a non-attorney volunteer who has made a difference in the life of a child with special education needs.
Daniel Maul
Durham Jones & Pinegar
This year’s award winner is an exceptional volunteer. He volunteered to help a child in foster care who was adopted and then abused by his adoptive parents. When the child came back into care at the age of 14, he was traumatized and was acting out in school. When the school was frustrated with the child and seemed close to giving up on him, our volunteer went to work. He spent countless hours working with this student’s team at school and ensured that the school recognized the barriers that were hindering him from achieving his educational goals. He insisted that the school develop specifically-tailored accommodations to address this student’s unique situation. As a result of his work, this child is about to graduate, and our volunteer was recently invited to the party to celebrate.
