The Pro Bono Committee presented five Pro Bono Awards to partners and associates who demonstrated extraordinary pro bono service to individuals and communities.
Nominated for recognition by their peers, these lawyers embody the best of who we are, using their skills in service of others and helping to expand access to justice.
Highlights of the nominations for each award-winner include:
- Sheila Calello is a “force multiplier”, who has served countless clients at moments of urgent need, bringing her compassion, brilliance, and tenacity to bear in helping low-income people with their immigration forms, housing and benefits issues, and pretty much every other area of practice where we have asked for help. She has led her group to do the same: every single equity partner in the bankruptcy group met or exceeded their 25 hours of pro bono service last year.
- Kim Metzger’s “leadership has been instrumental” in building a thriving pro bono project in Indy, and her “loud support” for the rights of trans people has inspired others; her colleagues “know of few people more committed to pro bono.”
- Jessica Bowman & Geoff Lynott “have demonstrated dedication above and beyond the call to representing veterans,” and they are currently at the Federal Circuit for one veteran who has been fighting for years to get benefits. “Geoff and Jessica have never turned down a request to assist with a veteran’s case. No matter how busy they might be, the answer is always ‘yes’.”
- Dean Elwell put his “exceptional capabilities” to work in representing a man who applied for citizenship and instead was put into removal proceedings – without his wife and children – to a country where he had not lived since he was six years old. His “outstanding efforts” resulted in a big win, and “had a significant impact on the … family [who] will not be separated, and [the client who] will have the privilege of being a U.S. citizen.”
Each award winner had the opportunity to donate $5,000 to a 501(c)(3) of their choosing. They selected Catholic Charities of the Archdiocese of Newark, Indiana Legal Services, the Connecticut Veterans Legal Center, and Sojourner House.