Jun., 2010 - Mecklenburg County Bar

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Do you remember Show & Tell Day? Do you remember the excitement you felt as a child on the special day when it was your turn to bring in your prized possession and share it with your friends and classmates? For the Mecklenburg Bar Foundation, Show & Tell Day is today. We asked some of your colleagues whose agencies receive financial support from the MBF to share with us, in their own words, what the Foundation’s support means to them. We are excited to share with you just a few of the ways your gifts to the Foundation have made a difference in the lives of others over the years. Anne L. Crotty— International House “Grants from the MBF have been invaluable to our immigration law clinic at International House.” So begins the email from Anne L. Crotty, immigration attorney for International House (IH). Ms. Crotty goes on to outline some of the projects your gifts have funded, including: training in Program Management and advanced training in family immigration; purchase of a web-based case management system, which enables IH to track cases and enhance client services; and obtain Bureau of Indian Affairs accreditation for the IH senior paralegal. International House has also been awarded a McMillan Fellowship each year for the past three years. “The BFF has played a major part in helping our clinic grow from its ‘start-up’ roots in 2002 into a major provider of family and naturalization immigration services for lowincome clients. I frankly don’t know what we would have done without the BFF funding. Perhaps we could have somehow financed the continuing education, the case management system and the prerequisites for BIA recognition and accreditation, but I don’t know how. I have to say that our clients are able to obtain high-quality services due in large measure to the funding from the Foundation. We are deeply grateful.” Show & Tell with Your BFF Spencer B. Merriweather III — Former McMillan Fellow Former McMillan Fellow Spencer B. Merriweather III writes: “When I applied for a McMillan Fellowship in the summer of 2003, I couldn’t possibly have imagined how significantly it would impact my career as an attorney. In that summer after my first year of law school, I was fortunate to have secured an internship in the Mecklenburg County District Attorney’s Office, but I worried how I would survive a summer in Charlotte since the internship did not offer a stipend. The McMillan Fellowship I received helped me meet my living expenses in Charlotte, while I engaged in a noteworthy public service. That summer, I prepared court motions and legal memoranda, and I even got to assist two Assistant District Attorneys in a murder trial. By the end of that summer, I had enjoyed a fulfilling practical experience in the law, and unlike friends doing public interest work elsewhere, I didn’t have to incur substantial debt to have that experience. All that said, for me, the true benefits of the McMillan Fellowship weren’t realized at the end of summer I received the stipend. In fact, the true benefits of the Fellowship continue to be realized every day I get to go to work at a job for which I have such great passion. Without that Fellowship, I may not have found the sense of happiness and fulfillment I found when I returned to the District Attorney’s Office as a prosecutor. Without it, perhaps I may not have been as eager to learn about the shining example of integrity and courage offered by Judge McMillan. Without the Fellowship, perhaps, I may not have been introduced to a community of lawyers as spirited and collegial as the Mecklenburg County Bar. Simply said, I was honored to be a recipient of the McMillan Fellowship, I feel lucky to have been introduced to my career because of the Fellowship program, and I’m proud to be a member of a Bar that continues to support it.” Brett A. Loftis— Council for Children’s Rights The Mecklenburg Bar Foundation is vital to the Custody Advocate Program of the Council for Children’s Rights. With your support, we are able to represent children caught in the middle of high-conflict custody disputes. The program, started in 1987, has helped thousands of children through parental separation over the last 20 years. The following story highlights just one of those needs: Meet Sam. What happened to Sam’s family was not unusual. In fact, it is becoming increasingly common. But this fact did not make the whole mess any easier for a nine year-old. Your father is a bad man, his mother told him. His father had, after all, cheated on Sam’s mother – but did that mean he loved Sam any less? Your mother is crazy, don’t listen to anything she says, his father told him. She had, after all, developed an addiction to pain killers and had threatened suicide on more than one occasion – but did that mean she loved Sam any less? It seemed to Sam that the world was closing in. The family he knew was ripped in half, and he was being asked to choose. In all the fighting, someone forgot that Sam is not a bargaining chip; someone forgot that a child’s needs should come first in a custody arrangement. Recognizing the anger with which Sam’s parents were discussing their separation in court, and not knowing what would be best for Sam, the judge appointed the Council for Children’s Rights Custody Advocacy Program to his case. The staff attorney and two volunteers immediately began working with Sam and his parents. They met with each parent separately. They interviewed Sam’s grandparents, teachers, and doctors. They met with continued on page 15 2 June 2010 www.meckbar.org
2010 Bar Foundation Fund Campaign Progress The Mecklenburg Bar Foundation is pleased to announce that collectively the following firms, legal departments, corporations and individuals have pledged and/or contributed more than $104,000 toward our goal of $200,000 as of May 13, 2010. Thank you for supporting your BFF! Firm Sponsors Platinum ($7,500–$9,999) Alston & Bird LLP+ Hunton & Williams+ K & L Gates+ McGuireWoods LLP+ Moore & Van Allen PLLC+ Parker Poe Adams & Bernstein LLP+ Robinson, Bradshaw & Hinson, P.A.+ Womble Carlyle Sandridge & Rice, PLLC+ Gold ($5,000–$7,499) Johnston, Allison & Hord, P.A.+ Poyner & Spruill, LLP+ Silver ($2,500–$4,999) Foundation for Judicial Reform In Honor of Mark R. Bernstein Hamilton Moon Stephens Steele & Martin, PLLC+ Hedrick Gardner Kincheloe & Garofalo, L.L.P.+ Horack Talley PA+ King & Spalding LLP+ Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, LLP+ Nexsen Pruet, PLLC+ Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP+ Bronze ( up to $2,499) Bank of America Legal Department Baucom, Claytor, Benton, Morgan & Wood, P.A. Charlotte School of Law Consolidated Planning In Honor of Bryan Sanchez & Jessie Nelson Cranfill, Sumner & Hartzog, LLP Culp Elliott & Carpenter. P.L.L.C. Duke Energy Law Department Ferguson, Stein, Chambers, Gresham & Sumter, P.A. Wells Fargo Legal Department Wishart Norris Henninger & Pittman, PA + Multiyear Pledge to Bar History Book Project Individual Sponsors Patron ($2,500 & Up) Nancy & Peter Covington Hon. Robert P. Johnston Benefactor ($1,000-$2,499) Dianne Chipps Bailey A. Todd Brown Mark T. Calloway T. Hal Clarke Jr. William K. Diehl Jr. Robert C. Dortch Douglas R. Edwards Ray S. Farris Peter S. Gilchrist Gary S. Hemric Rebecca S. Henderson Katherine S. Holliday H. Bryan Ives III Douglas M. Jarrell Patrick E. Kelly Haynes P. Lea DeWitt F. McCarley Alice K. Moore Bradley E. Pearce Randel E. Phillips Claire J. Rauscher Nancy & David Roberson In Honor of Patrick E. Kelly Raleigh A. Shoemaker Robert C. Stephens John N. Suhr Jr. Richard M. Thigpen Christopher M. Vann David B. Whelpley Jr. Supporter ($300-$999) Hon. Paige McThenia & T. Jonathan Adams Louise & Mark Bernstein R. A. Bigger Jr. In Memory of Maurice A. Weinstein & In Honor of George J. Miller Jo Ann Brighton John H. Cobb Heather & Chris Culp George Daly Tricia M. Derr Hon. Albert Diaz Jill Elyse Dinerman Hon. Karen Eady-Williams Amy & Joey Foxhall Camille M. Davidson & Trevor M. Fuller Kodwo P. Ghartey-Tagoe Henry A. Harkey Jane V. Harper Robert E. Harrington Edward T. Hinson Jr. Robert C. Hord Jr. Carl Horn III Michael A. Hudson Meredith S. Jeffries Amy K. Johnson Cyrus M. Johnson Hannah H. Kim John W. Lassiter Hal A. Levinson Timothy Patrick Logan Patti and Steve Mayo* Daniel A. Merlin Gretchen Nelli Sally Higgins & Ray Owens Sean F. Perrin Charles H. Rabon Jr. S. Mujeeb Shah-Khan Claire & Edward Shapack Nina Shor Richard E. Thigpen Jr. John R. Wester Contributor ( up to $299) Carla N. Archie Matthew R. Arnold E. Osborne Ayscue Jr. Martha G. Barber Samuel E. Barker Aretha V. Blake In Honor of Bob King W. Leslie Boswell, III Robert C. Bowers Herbert H. Browne Jr. Jonathan E. Buchan Jr. Christian P. Cherry Dumont Clarke IV Marion A. Cowell Jr. Anne Lafferty Crotty John R. Cunningham III William Dannelly Miriam A. Dixon Catherine El-Khouri Nicole A. Epstein Margaret Errington Lex M. Erwin Jami Jackson Farris Theodore O. Fillette Hon. Linwood O. Foust Holly Gambill Marc S. Gentile Ronald L. Gibson Melissa L. Gray John W. Gresham Hon. Tyyawdi M. Hands Joseph B. Henninger Henderson Hill Hon. Donnie Hoover Hon. Robert C. Hunter Charles E. Johnson William B. Kirk Jr. Jonathan C. Krisko Bradley R. Kutrow Howard Labiner S. Luke Largess John S. Leary Association of Black Attorneys Louis L. Lesesne Jr. Rebecca & Erik Lindahl Maria G. B. Long A. Ward McKeithen Mecklenburg County Bar In Memory of Joseph J. Estwanik IV, Hon. William T. Grist, David H. Henderson, Hon. Clifton E. Johnson, Edgar Love III, Leon Olive, & Robert G. Sanders Hon. Regan A. Miller Maria Blue Minsker Eric A. Montgomery Deborah A. Nance John C. Nipp Matthew J. Osman H. William Palmer Jr. John J. Parker III Hon. Sarah E. Parker Sue Paty Kathy L. Pilkington C. Richard Rayburn Jr. Allen K. Robertson David S. Rudolf Chase B. Saunders Kenneth L. Schorr Robert C. Sink Russell F. Sizemore Jackson N. Steele Geraldine Sumter Jacob Sussman Andrew D. Taylor Jr. Anne M. Tompkins Sally & William Van Allen Lauren M. Vaughn Andrew M. Walsh Martin L. White Melanie J. Wright * Thank you to our Donors who utilize their Matching Organizations Bank of America www.meckbar.org June 2010 3
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Jun., 2010 - Mecklenburg County Bar

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