Verrill Again Honored for Commitment to Pro Bono Service
(February 19, 2020) – Verrill is honored to receive the 2020 Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project (VLP) Firm Pro Bono Achievement Award, presented by VLP during the Maine State Bar Association Annual Business Meeting & Awards Luncheon on January 30.
“The Honorable Howard H. Dana Jr. was still practicing at Verrill when he helped found the VLP in 1983, manifesting his vision of a project that would help to organize and administer pro bono service in Maine with funding from the then infant IOLTA program. In the years since 1983, Verrill attorneys have taken hundreds of civil cases for Maine people with low incomes who would otherwise have no access to legal representation and no chance of accessing justice… We are so pleased to recognize Verrill with the 2020 Firm Pro Bono Achievement Award as a way to acknowledge their past and present support,” the VLP program read.
“Providing pro bono service has always been one of our core values. We don’t just talk the talk, we walk the walk” said Nora Healy, attorney and Maine Pro Bono Coordinator at Verrill. “We are proud to help ensure equal access to justice in the communities in which we choose to practice, through organizations like the Maine Volunteer Lawyers Project.”
More than 60% of the firm’s attorneys provided pro bono legal services in 2019, donating 3,985 hours last year alone to people in need of pro bono legal aid.
Verrill continues to serve as a leader in the provision of pro bono legal services and has received various honors over the years for its efforts, including recognition of numerous Verrill attorneys by the Maine Supreme Judicial Court as Katahdin Counsel. Verrill was also recognized with the VLP Pro Bono Award in 2016 for donating the most hours on VLP cases of any law firm in Maine through 2015/2016 and the VLP Pro Bono Publico Award in 2015 for donating he most Lawyer of the Day hours of any Maine law firm. A core value of the firm for more than 150 years, participation in pro bono causes is encouraged and supported for all of its attorneys.
