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The Adams and Reese Baton Rouge office will receive the “Pro Bono Publico” award from the Louisiana State Bar Association, honoring the office’s attorneys for their contribution to the enhancement and promotion of pro bono services within the Baton Rouge community. The firm’s New Orleans office is also receiving a “Pro Bono Publico” award for its pro bono work in the New Orleans community. Adams and Reese will receive both awards at the LSBA Pro Bono Publico and Children’s Law Awards Ceremony on Tuesday, May 29th, at 5 p.m. in the Louisiana Supreme Court building on 400 Royal Street.
The Baton Rouge office of Adams and Reese is actively involved in the Baton Rouge Bar Foundation Pro Bono Project as attorneys volunteer with the Baton Rouge Bar Foundation’s free, walk-in legal clinics, including Thirst for Justice, Ask-A-Lawyer and the East Baton Rouge Family Court Self Help Resource Center by steering the pilot program and after the official launch, providing valuable feedback to the development of policies and scheduling. Attorneys are members of the Baton Rouge Bar Foundation Pro Bono Panel and regularly accept pro bono case work, while they also volunteer with the Baton Rouge Area Chamber of Commerce, Louisiana Appleseed, Boys Hope Girls Hope, and other pro bono and charitable organizations within the community.
“We are very thankful to the Louisiana State Bar for recognizing the pro bono work of our attorneys,” said Tom Clark, Partner in Charge of the Adams and Reese Baton Rouge office. “We are fortunate to have lawyers who are willing, ready and eager to continuously perform pro bono service and help those in need throughout the Baton Rouge community.”
Adams and Reese Partner and Real Estate Team Leader Patty McMurray, a former recipient of the LSBA’s Leah Hipple McKay Memorial Award for Outstanding Volunteerism in 2010, works with other Adams and Reese attorneys and attorneys from other law firms to make an impact at several charter schools throughout the Baton Rouge area. Adams and Reese Special Counsel Alex Pucheu serves on the Board of Directors of Manners of the Heart, which is a nonprofit organization that provides a program and curriculum to schools about strengthening morals, improving social and emotional skills, and increasing respectfulness among children.
“There is a special feeling you get when you see the pro bono and charitable work of attorneys from other firms and your firm coming together to make the community a better place to work and live through meaningful projects,” McMurray said.
In 2011, Adams and Reese attorneys, throughout the firm’s 13 offices in six states, performed a total of more than 5,600 pro bono hours for more than 100 different pro bono project organizations and causes throughout the nation. Adams and Reese is ranked among the top 100 law firms in the nation in terms of its pro bono work by the American Lawyer Magazine Pro Bono Report, ranking No. 86 on the 2011 list.
Adams and Reese attorneys tackle a diverse scope of pro bono matters, including writing wills for first responders and helping people with estate planning matters; setting up 501(c)(3) organizations and nonprofit applications; volunteering for bar association and pro bono project legal workshops; resolving heirship property titles and land issues; easing banking concerns among foreign citizens working after Katrina; handling indigent capital appeals; dealing with divorce and custody matters, also across International borders; setting up a fund service and retrieving pensions for war veterans; and partnering with organizations to help victims gain access to justice in domestic violence disputes.
Adams and Reese is a multidisciplinary law firm with offices strategically located throughout the southern United States and Washington, DC. American Lawyer includes Adams and Reese on its distinguished list of the nation's top law firms - "The Am Law 200.” The National Law Journal also includes the firm on the "NLJ 250" list of the nation's largest law firms.