Atlanta Attorneys Receive State Bar of Georgia’s Sol Clark Award
Monday, June 11, 2012
- Organization: State Bar of Georgia
- Source: Georgia
Savannah – The State Bar of Georgia Access to Justice Committee and the State Bar of Georgia Pro Bono Project selected Debra A. Segal of Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP and William E. Hoffmann Jr. of King & Spalding LLP as recipients of the 2012 H. Sol Clark Pro Bono Award, presented June 1 during the Bar’s annual meeting.
The H. Sol Clark Award, first awarded in 1983, is named for former Georgia Court of Appeals Judge Clark of Savannah, who is known as the "father of legal aid in Georgia." The Clark award honors an individual lawyer who has excelled in one or more of a variety of activities that extend legal services to the poor.
Segal is the Pro Bono Partner at Kilpatrick Townsend where she leads attorneys in providing pro bono legal services to low-income clients, community groups and nonprofit organizations. Segal joined the firm from the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation, where, as executive director, she was responsible for the administration of the city's largest Pro Bono Program. The State Bar’s H. Sol Clark Award recognizes her for her successful pro bono management role with Kilpatrick Townsend as well as with the Atlanta Volunteer Lawyers Foundation and her service at the state and national level in developing standards and practices within the pro bono service provider community. Segal served for several years as a member and Past Chair of Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service of the American Bar Association.
Hoffmann serves as King & Spalding’s full-time pro bono partner after 29 years of litigation experience, including 22 as a partner at King & Spalding. In addition to litigating pro bono matters, he is responsible for developing and administering all the pro bono programs in the 400 lawyer Atlanta office and assisting and advising the pro bono chair in all offices. He is also responsible for coordinating pro bono matters staffed by multiple offices. Hoffmann was selected as a recipient of the State Bar’s H. Sol Clark Award for his long-time commitment and support for civil pro bono services and his contributions to improving access to justice for low-income and marginalized communities in Georgia and nationally. Hoffmann has served as an advisor or board member to several law-related and pro bono programs in Georgia and nationally.
The State Bar of Georgia, with offices in Atlanta, Savannah and Tifton, was established in 1964 by Georgia’s Supreme Court as the successor to the voluntary Georgia Bar Association, founded in 1884. All lawyers licensed to practice in Georgia belong to the State Bar. Its more than 43,000 members work together to strengthen the constitutional promise of justice for all, promote principles of duty and public service among Georgia’s lawyers, and administer a strict code of legal ethics.
