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Bar groups lauded for outstanding projects

VIRGINIA BEACH—The Virginia State Bar’s Conference of Local Bar Associations holds an Awards of Merit competition each year to recognize outstanding public service projects conducted by local and specialty bars throughout the commonwealth.
The awards given are divided into two categories:

• An Award of Merit, the highest award given to a project, and

• A Certificate of Achievement, recognizing other programs and projects of distinction.

The 2008 recipients received their awards at the Local Bars Breakfast held June 20 as part of the VSB Annual Meeting.

Awards of Merit

Receiving Awards of Merit were:

Fredericksburg Area Bar Association. The associations was recognized for its Reviving Law Day program, which returned to the association’s past practice of observing Law Day by providing speakers at area high schools. Topics were “Choose Law” and “So You’re 18,” using resources provided by the VSB.

Local Government Attorneys Association of Virginia. The association published the Local Government Attorneys’ Guide to Pro Bono Publico Service, a reference manual to promote pro bono work. The guide was produced and distributed by members of the association with a grant from the Virginia Law Foundation.

Prince William County Bar Association. The award recognizes the group’s Middle School Court Tours Project, which organized trips to the Prince William County Judicial Center and Adult Detention Center. The students visited while court was in session, and followed their tour by participating in a mock trial of a hypothetical case involving underage drinking at a party while the parents are not at home. Judges, attorneys, and law enforcement personnel served as guides.

Virginia Beach Bar Association. The association held a Law Day Gala in observance of the 50th anniversary of Law Day. The association’s Virginia Beach Bar Foundation sponsored a performance by Clay Jenkinson, a humanities scholar, in the persona of Thomas Jefferson talking about the importance of the rule of law. The program was a fundraiser for the foundation, which works to meet legal needs of the poor, educate about law, and support the efficiency and integrity of the judicial process and administration of justice.

Loudoun Chapter, Virginia Women Attorneys Association. The association held an Adoption Day Ceremony and Fair. The event, held Nov. 17, 2007, at the courthouse in Leesburg, included an invitation-only ceremony to honor seven families who had adopted or finalized adoptions in the past year. Following the ceremony, an Adoption Day Fair took place in the courthouse library. There, the association distributed materials and dispelled misconceptions about the difficulty of adoption. Judges, the Loudoun Department of Family Services, and local businesses participated in the event.

Certificates of Achievement

Receiving Certificates of Achievement were:

Arlington County Bar Association. The association received two certificates for two of its programs. The group instituted a Green Initiative to reduce the paper documents generated by its office. Archival information has been scanned into electronic form and the original papers recycled. The bar switched to an electronic system for incoming faxes. It now e-mails its invoices where possible and purchases paper with a high recycled content. Also, the association acquired a New Membership System that consolidates billing, communication, and information-gathering needs.

Lynchburg Bar Association. The certificate recognizes the association’s Wills for Heroes Project, through which the association provided wills, powers of attorney, and medical directives for first responders from the Lynchburg police, sheriff’s, fire, and emergency medical services departments. The program provided documents to 178 individuals, and educated more than 250 first responders about estate planning issues. The services were provided by attorneys from the bar and a law professor and students from Liberty University School of Law.

The three-day event began the day of the shooting of 32 persons at Virginia Tech, and followed by two weeks the death of a Campbell County deputy sheriff while in the line of duty. “Both events impressed upon all of us the magnitude of the sacrifices our first responders make for us and our gratefulness in being able to perform this small service for them,” the association reported.

Metropolitan Richmond Women’s Bar Association. The association was recognized for its Online Membership Registration and Directory, which provides more efficient management of the members’ registration, payment, and contact data.

Norfolk & Portsmouth Bar Association. The certificate recognizes the association’s Middle School Mock Trial Project, a 10-week course on elements of a criminal trial. Students from four schools attended lectures on opening statement, direct and cross examination, and closing arguments. They then conduct a trial before two judges and juries of their middle school peers.

Roanoke Bar Association. The association organized a Trial Advocacy Program that was designed at the request of a federal magistrate judge to be a seminar for inexperienced lawyers. The seminar also included a component for seasoned attorneys and a mock trial. In addition to providing continuing legal education, the program raised money for the Roanoke Bar Association Foundation.

Virginia Women Attorneys Association. The certificate recognizes a seminar, “Votes for Women! Perspectives on Participation in Politics,” which drew on the association’s 25th anniversary celebration to focus on ways in which women attorneys can enter the political arena or support women candidates for political office.

Northern Virginia Chapter, Virginia Women Attorneys Association. The certificate recognizes the association’s Legislative Reception Program, which focused on mental health legal issues before the 2008 General Assembly. Panelists included participants in the Chief Justice’s Commission on Mental Health Law Reform and the Governor’s Independent Virginia Tech Review Panel and others who work with persons with mental illness.

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