The North Carolina Bar Association has honored McGuireWoods’ Charlotte office with its 2016 Large Law Firm Pro Bono Award in recognition of the firm’s pro bono work over the past year. The award recognizes the firm’s pro bono efforts in the areas of child advocacy, domestic violence protection, consumer relief, veterans’ affairs, tax relief and estate planning.
McGuireWoods was nominated in the large law firm category by Legal Aid of North Carolina and Legal Services of Southern Piedmont (LSSP), with support by Safe Alliance and the Council for Children’s Rights. The organizations worked closely with the firm to assist elderly individuals, low-income families and children in North Carolina. For example, McGuireWoods’ Charlotte office worked with LSSP’s Safe Child Immigrant Project to help children who fled violence in Central America obtain Special Immigrant Juvenile Status to become permanent U.S. residents. The firm has taken on over 20 cases, more than any other local law firm, according to Legal Aid.
“We are proud and grateful to partner with organizations like Legal Aid and LSSP, which create important opportunities to give back to communities across North Carolina,” said Angela Zimmern, who coordinates McGuireWoods’ pro bono initiatives in Charlotte jointly with colleague Carter Arey.
McGuireWoods received the award from the bar association on June 24 at its annual meeting in Charlotte, at which Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx was the keynote speaker.