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Hart gains Roanoke-area pro bono award

Ross C. Hart, an attorney in Salem, received the 23rd Circuit’s pro bono award for 2007 earlier this month at the annual meeting of the Salem/Roanoke County Bar Association.

Hart was nominated for the award by John E. Whitfield, executive director and general counsel of Blue Ridge Legal Services, Inc., who noted that Hart had accepted 22 referrals of pro bono cases from the agency over the past eight years.

In many of the cases, Hart represented persons suffering from mental disabilities who were unable to get access to medical care because no one had been appointed as a guardian to be responsible for making medical and financial decisions. In one instance, when no other suitable person could be found, Hart agreed to serve as the guardian for one of Blue Ridge Legal Services’ clients.

Whitfield described those cases as extremely challenging and noted that volunteer attorneys frequently decline such representation.

In accepting the award, Hart said his commitment to serving the public through pro bono presentation had its origin in the example set by his father. Also an attorney in the Roanoke Valley, Hart’s father was one of the founders of the organization that grew to be the Roanoke Valley office of Blue Ridge Legal Services.

The Pro Bono Circuit Awards were established by the Virginia State Bar’s Special Committee on Access to Legal Services to recognize outstanding efforts by attorneys in Virginia who provide legal services to the public at no or greatly reduced cost.

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