Nominations for the 2013 Pennsylvania Bar Association Pro Bono Awards, presented by the PBA Legal Service to the Public Committee, are due to the Pro Bono Office by April 12, 2013.

PBA President Thomas G. Wilkinson Jr. calls on all Pennsylvania lawyers to celebrate pro bono service.  This year marks the 26th year the committee has sought nominees for individual Pro Bono Awards.

It is the ninth year for both the Judges Award and the Civil Legal Aid Attorney of the Year Award, given, respectively, to a judge and a legal services attorney selected by the committee in recognition of exceptional contributions to improving civil legal aid in the commonwealth. It is the third year for the Pro Bono Partner Award, given to a nonattorney who supports legal services to the needy.

The awards nominations deadline is April 12, 2013 and the awardees will be announced on Law Day in May. The award winners will be acknowledged and recognized at pro bono events around the state throughout the remainder of the year.

The Pro Bono Award is your chance to recognize and thank those who have used their talents to help the needy in your county. While the obstacles to equal access to justice continue to mount, the willingness of attorneys to help meet the legal needs of the indigent in their communities is important and inspiring, as well as a hallmark of our great profession. These nominees provide critical services that allow the doors ofjustice to remain open to all citizens.

As you select your nominees for the awards, please keep in mind the following criteria:

• The lawyer or judge practices in Pennsylvania; the partner nominee works in Pennsylvania.
   
• The lawyer, other than the Civil Legal Aid Attorney of the Year nominees, is not employed by an organization that has as its primary purpose the provision of free legal services to the poor. The partner may work for such an organization.
   
• The lawyer or judge has provided direct delivery of legal services or assisted in facilitating the delivery of such service in civil matters, with no expectation of receiving a fee, to a client or client group that does not have the resources to employ compensated counselor has worked to facilitate such effort by other attorneys.
   
• The lawyer or judge has made an outstanding contribution to the provision of legal services to the indigent without charge.
   
• The lawyer, judge and partner nominee has made such contributions primarily through organized pro bono programs, lawyer referral service no-fee panels and legal services programs or has worked with such organizations to improve the delivery of legal services to the poor.
   
• The lawyer's, judge's and partner' s efforts have resulted in the increased access to legal services for low-income people.

This year's nomination form is located on the PBA website and can be completed electronically. You will receive instant confirmation that we have received your nomination after you submit it.

If there are any questions regarding the Pro Bono Awards, please contact Pro Bono Coordinator David Keller Trevaskis at 800-932-0311 , Ext. 2236, or 717- 571-7414 (cell); or by email to david.trevaskis@pabar.org.

More Information
​Nomination Form