The Lynchburg Bar Association and the Virginia Legal Aid Society have named Lynchburg attorney Laura Keohane this year’s Pro Bono Award recipient.
Keohane, an attorney with Edmunds & Williams, provides free legal services to low-income residents in Central Virginia. As in her private work, she prepares power-of-attorney documents, advanced medical directives and wills or deeds, she said.
She said she has a personal policy of always working on at least one legal aid project.
“It’s important because although there’s a constitutional right to counsel in criminal matters, there is no such right when it comes to divorce or wills,” she said.
“I think being a lawyer is a privilege and service is part of that privilege.”
She said she has seen the need for free civil legal help change as a function of the economy in the last six months to include more clients from working families of moderate means. Times like this make free legal help even more important, she said.
Keohane began practicing in the Lynchburg area in 2005 after moving to Farmville. She volunteers here, she said, because this is where her professional life is.
She also commended her firm for supporting its attorneys’ pro bono work.
Thomas Leebrick, the immediate past president of the Lynchburg Bar Association, called Keohane an “excellent choice” for the award, particularly for her legal specialty.
“If a person has a will, it can make things a lot easier for descendants rather than dying without a will and having a real mess on their hands,” Leebrick said. “She’s really provided a great service.”
Keohane was presented with the award at the bar association’s annual meeting last month. She performed more than 40 hours of pro bono work last year.
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