In the Community
At Brooks, Pierce, McLendon, Humphrey & Leonard, LLP, we know that our success depends upon the talent and dedication of our attorneys and professional staff.
Many of our attorneys and professional staff have held, or now hold, a variety of leadership positions, serving on boards of bar associations, boards of education, various arts organizations and numerous charitable, civic and religious organizations, and have often been recognized for their long-standing commitment to community service.
Examples of our tradition of service include:
- Brooks Pierce Litigator Kearns Davis served as the President of the North Carolina Bar Association in 2016-17. Numerous Brooks Pierce attorneys have held positions of leadership in the NCBA, and spend countless hours working on behalf of the profession.
- Our offices run pledge drives for the United Way, the United Arts Council, North Carolina Legal Aid, and other important community organizations each year. We raise thousands of dollars that are put right back into the communities where we live, work, and play.
- Brooks Pierce is a founding member of the Community Foundation of Greater Greensboro's Women to Women Endowment, a fund for high-impact grants to organizations dealing with issues facing women and their families - from health and human services to social justice and equality.
- Our attorneys are regularly recognized for their Pro Bono service by the community and the profession.
Pro bono service is not just a professional obligation.
It strengthens our communities, and it enhances the lives and legal practices of those who serve. We strongly encourage our attorneys to become involved, to be committed in and take responsibility for our communities, and to help make our communities a better, fairer place to live. We expect our lawyers to represent our pro bono clients with the same degree of excellence, integrity, skill, and motivation as with our firm's higher-paying clients.
We have a Pro Bono Committee to assist our lawyers in their pro bono endeavors. This committee acts as a liaison to Legal Aid or other legal resource organizations to match referred low-income clients with firm attorneys. The committee does not screen potential pro bono clients, however, and, except in the highly unusual case of an extraordinary time commitment, committee approval is not required for an attorney to take on a pro bono project. Recognizing that each lawyer's pro bono commitment is his or her own, our firm does not dictate the number of hours or the manner in which this commitment is to be fulfilled. Our view of pro bono service derives from the firm's basic philosophy.
Our lawyers were instrumental in creating and implementing the 50B Project, an award-winning project of the Young Lawyers Division of the North Carolina Bar Association that provides pro bono legal assistance to victims of domestic violence who are seeking protective orders from North Carolina courts. Our lawyers also have staffed legal hotlines and served on the Advisory Council of Legal Aid of North Carolina, Greensboro Office. Through Legal Aid, other legal resource organizations, or our own personal and professional associations and contacts, we have provided pro bono legal services to individuals in all kinds of cases and conflicts, including employment and housing, environmental, and consumer rights.
Brooks Pierce lawyers provide significant pro bono legal services to a number of local, regional, and state nonprofit entities, civic and educational organizations, and religious institutions. Our lawyers often participate as board members or officers of these and other charitable organizations.
Ongoing relationships representing pro bono clients
Bel Canto Company
Greensboro Center City Park
Greensboro Children’s Museum
Greensboro Opera Company
Greensboro Youth Soccer Association
Guilford County Jail Ministries
Habitat for Humanity of Greater Greensboro, Inc.
Heartstrings of Greensboro, Inc.
Hospice and Palliative Care of Greensboro
Housing Rights Center of Wake County
Jamestown Community Lacrosse Association
Kyle Petty Charity Ride, Inc.
Legal Aid of North Carolina, Inc. – Advocates for Children’s Services
North Carolina Agency for Public Telecommunications
North Carolina Friends Historical Society
North Carolina Open Government Coalition
North Carolina Youth Soccer Association
Piedmont Land Conservancy
Piedmont Triad Entrepreneurial Network
Presbyterian Counseling Center of Greensboro
Ten Thousand Villages
Triad Health Project
Triad Youth Lacrosse Association
United Arts Council of Greater Greensboro
United Arts Council of Raleigh & Wake County, Inc.
Victory Junction Gang Camp
Wake Interfaith Hospitality Network
Women’s Resource Center of Greensboro