The Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program (DVAP), a joint program of the Dallas Bar Association and Legal Aid of NorthWest Texas, will celebrate the 6th annual National Pro Bono Week October 24-28, 2016.
The Celebration is a coordinated national effort to meet the ever-growing needs of this country’s most vulnerable citizens by encouraging and supporting local efforts to expand the delivery of pro bono legal services, and by showcasing the great difference that pro bono lawyers make to the nation, its system of justice, its communities and, most of all, to the clients they serve.
The week-long celebration will include several pro bono activities and Continuing Legal Education classes on topics such as kinship legal custody and wills drafting, as well a free DVAP legal clinic. The events are co-sponsored by numerous community organizations, including the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program, J.L. Turner Legal Association, and W.W. Caruth, Jr. Child Advocacy Clinic at SMU.
DVAP will complete the celebration by hosting the Pro Bono Awards Reception, which celebrates 34 years of pro bono services, honoring judges, attorneys, court reporters and legal staff who provide free legal services to indigent residents of Dallas County. An awards reception to salute these selfless volunteers will be held Tuesday, October 25, 2016 from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the Pavilion at the Belo Mansion, the headquarters of the Dallas Bar Association.
In a 12-month period, DVAP attorneys donated 13,446 hours of free legal aid to the less fortunate of Dallas, and an additional 35,878 hours were donated through numerous other pro bono organizations. Among the many accolades that will be presented on October 25, awards will be given for “Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year” and “Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year.” (A complete list of award recipients will be available after the event.) Volunteers are encouraged to bring their families to the celebration.
The Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program has consistently been recognized as one of the country’s most successful programs of its kind. Each year, an awards program is held to recognize the volunteers who provide legal aid to those who are unable to afford them.
Pro Bono Week is sponsored by the Dallas Bar Association Pro Bono Activities Committee and the Dallas Volunteer Attorney Program in conjunction with the American Bar Association National Pro-Bono Celebration.
There is no cost for members of the media to attend the awards reception. RSVP to Dominick Vallejo (214-243-2259 or vallejod@lanwt.org). Parking will be available in the Pavilion garage; enter from Olive Street.
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The Dallas Bar Association is a professional, voluntary organization of more than 11,000 Dallas-area attorneys. Find out more at www.dallasbar.org.