2016 Pro Bono Award Winners

Pro Bono Attorney of the Year: Corinne Price
Law Firm of the Year: Wolf Rifkin Shapiro Schulman & Rabkin, LLP
Lied Award for Most Hours for Law Firm: Kemp Jones & Coulthard, LLP
Lied Award for Most Cases for Law Firm: Kunin Law Group
Lied Award for Most Hours for Attorney: Matthew Carter
Lied Award for Most Cases for Attorney: Ishi Kunin
Justice Nancy Becker Pro Bono Award of Judicial Excellence: Judge Joanna S. Kishner
Vince A. Consul Memorial Pro Bono Award: Brandon Smith
Louis Wiener Service Award: James Jimmerson
Myrna Williams Children’s Pro Bono Award: Bob Dickerson
Public Interest Law Student of Distinction: Jonathan Chung
Ask-A-Lawyer Community Commitment Award: Bill Hammer
Volunteer Surrogate Award: Daniel Maul

100 Hour Club Members
Michelle Alarie
Shea Backus
Jeanette “Jae” Barrick
Travis Barrick
Brian Blackham
Brian Blakley
Elizabeth Brickfield
Janice Brown
Ogonna Brown
Kaitlyn Burke
Lauren Calvert
Christopher Cannon
Matthew Carter
Trevor Creel
William Curran
Shirley Derke
Bob Dickerson
Tracy DiFillippo
Sabrina Dolson
Emily Ellis
Frances-Ann Fine
Michael Flaxman
Christian Gabroy
Andrea Gandara
John George
Peter Goatz
James Greene
Robert Hempen
Nathan Henderson
Crystal Herrera
John Howard
James Jimmerson
Justin Jones
Edward Kainen
Natalie Karacsonyi
Malani Kotchka
Ishi Kunin
Andrew Kynaston
Jeffrey Lavigne
Moonee Lee
Patricia Lee
Dan Lovell
Dawn Lozano
Martin Melendrez
Michael Muehle
Jason Naimi
Tracy O’Steen
Eric Pepperman
Dan Polsenberg
Corinne Price
Carrie Primas
Benjamin Reitz
Arturo Sanchez
Matthew Schneider
Olesya Sidorkina
Abraham Smith
Brandon Smith
Jamie Thalgott
Dawn Hathaway Thoman
Eric Walther
Shannon Wilson
Adam Woodrum
Homa Woodrum
Madison Zornes-Vela

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Pro Bono Attorney of the Year

Corinne Price
Fine Carman Price

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, we recognized a truly remarkable volunteer.

View Corinne’s tribute video to learn more about her contributions.

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Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year

Wolf Rifkin Shapiro Schulman & Rabkin, LLP

This year’s recipient of the Law Firm of the Year Award goes to a firm who joined the 100% club this year by committing each of their attorneys to take at least ONE pro bono case. Their attorneys adopted the Children’s Attorneys Project and provided representation to several abused and neglected children. They stepped in at a time when our waiting list was overwhelmed with children in need of a voice and we are so grateful for their commitment to this program.

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Lied Awards

Lied Awards are given in recognition of the Lied Foundation Trust, a foundation that has significantly contributed to our organization for more than a decade.

Most Pro Bono Hours by a Law Firm

Kemp, Jones & Coulthard, LLP

This firm contributed 1,038 hours of pro bono time in 2016.  For a 15-person firm, that means that this firm averaged 69 hours per attorney, making it stand-out as a pro bono leader this year. They assisted clients in many different areas of law including cases involving children who were abused and neglected, two appellate pro bono cases, a gaming card denial, a case involving a senior who was ripped off by a plumbing company that didn’t complete the work, an illegal repossession case, and other consumer fraud cases.

Most Pro Bono Cases by a Law Firm

Kunin Law Group

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

Matthew Carter
Kemp, Jones & Coulthard, LLP

This attorney makes pro bono an integral part of his practice.  In the past year, he has taken on two cases with the Children’s Attorneys Project. He also obtained a reversal on an appellate matter and agreed to help the client in the District Court case on remand. His dedication is evident by the fact that has worked over 150 hours on this one case alone. Despite the fact that his time is in constant demand from colleagues and clients alike, this attorney nonetheless made time to contribute an unbelievable 500 hours of his valuable, professional effort to pro bono service.

Most Pro Bono Cases by an Attorney

Ishi Kunin
Kunin Law Group

For the sixth consecutive year, this attorney has accepted more pro bono cases than any other lawyer in Southern Nevada. This year, she accepted 34 new pro bono cases in the areas of adoption and guardianship.

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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 Joanna S. Kishner

This year, we honored a judge who has been a pro bono supporter for many years. She is a member of the Pro Bono Advisory Council and has visited law firm after law firm, urging them to handle pro bono cases.  She has led numerous pro bono initiatives in the judiciary, including a new program in which pro bono attorneys’ cases were called first on the docket.  It was dubbed the “Excuse me, I have a line pass because I’m a pro bono superstar” campaign.  She has also helped to develop other fantastic initiatives such as the summer associate lunch, the pro bono mixer, and many others. Her valued insight and support has been an indispensable ingredient to the continued success of Legal Aid Center’s mission. Further, her commitment to pro bono as a jurist is not a new development; prior to her ascent to the bench she made time to represent children as a CAP attorney even while maintaining a busy practice as the managing partner of the Las Vegas office of one of the largest law firms in the world.

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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.

Brandon Smith
Olson Cannon Gormley Angulo & Stoberski

This year’s winner received this award after taking his first pro bono case with us. The case involved a widow who was in danger of losing his home due to fraud. This attorney spent several hours in district court litigation until the right outcome was achieved and his client got his home back.

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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.

James Jimmerson
Jimmerson Law Firm

This year’s recipient has been volunteering with Legal Aid Center for over 10 years. However, within the past year, he and his firm have really stepped up. He pledged to take more pro bono cases, not only for himself, but for every attorney at this firm. He undertook representation of multiple clients, including two domestic violence victims who needed assistance with custody matters. He worked nearly 150 pro bono hours on these two cases alone over the past year. Not only did this attorney accept cases, he and his lawyers also gave free legal advice at the Celebrating Pro Bono Week Ask-A-Lawyer event to give one-on-one consultations to individuals who could not afford an attorney. This attorney is recognized as being one of the best family law attorneys in the community, and this year, we thank him for being one of the best family law attorneys for our desperate clients.

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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.

Bob Dickerson
The Dickerson Law Group

 

This attorney has shown a remarkable commitment to pro bono and tireless advocacy on behalf of abused and neglected children.

View Bob’s tribute video to learn more about his contributions.

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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. 

Jonathan Chung

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 a third-year student who has a long history of serving others.   Prior to law school, he was a paralegal at Nevada Legal Services and continued volunteering with them during law school at the Tenants’ Rights Clinics.  He volunteered with Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada as an educational surrogate for multiple students with disabilities who needed help with the Clark County School District. He is also a volunteer at the Las Vegas Rescue Mission. He is a Public Interest Fellow at the William S. Boyd School of Law, a staff member on the Gaming Law Journal; secretary of the Federal Bar Association; and a member of the Public Interest Law Association.

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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.

Bill Hammer
Hammer & Associates

This volunteer is truly one of a kind.  He is kind and thoughtful as well as being recognized as an exemplary attorney, and has made it a priority to give back to the profession. Among his many other volunteer service pursuits, over the last year he has worked 15 shifts – 35 hours – at the Landlord Tenant Ask-A-Lawyer held at the Regional Justice Center Civil Law Self Help Center, where we operate a legal “emergency room,” which has helped nearly 50,000 people, so far this year. This volunteer provided a lifeline to some of our most desperate clients.  He’s always willing to step in at the last minute when we need a volunteer, and he often stays beyond his allotted time period to help as many people as he can. He is frequently complimented for his generous listening ear and compassion.

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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.  For over a decade now, he has been responsible for managing hundreds of litigation files as a full time paralegal; yet, he has made the time to advocate on the behalf of nine foster children just in the last year. Not only has he taken the most cases out of any educational surrogate parent volunteer, but he has consistently offered to take some of the most challenging foster care cases.  He treats these students with the same zeal, passion and dedication that he provides to his firm’s clients.