American Bar Association Honors Henry Callaway of Mobile, Ala., with 2011 Pro Bono Publico Award for Outstanding Service

WASHINGTON, D.C., June 27, 2011 — Henry Callaway, a lawyer with Hand Arendall LLC in Mobile, Ala., will be recognized with one of five 2011 Pro Bono Publico Awards from the American Bar Association Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service.

Since his appointment to the Mobile Bar Association’s Pro Bono Committee in 1989, Callaway has dedicated himself to making legal services available to low-income citizens on both the local and statewide level.  He will receive his award at noon on Aug. 8 at the Pro Bono Publico Awards Assembly Luncheon during the ABA Annual Meeting in Toronto.

“The difference between good and great lawyers is that great ones make a difference in society. That’s fundamentally what pro bono does. It is crucial to taking on this country’s appalling lack of access to justice, without which there is no rule of law,” said ABA President Stephen N. Zack. “These awardees represent the best of our profession. This award appropriately honors their work,” he continued.

President Zack will present the 2011 awards. The keynote speaker for the luncheon is David Jacobson, the U.S. ambassador to Canada.

The Pro Bono Publico Awards honor individuals or organizations in the legal community that enhance the human dignity of others by improving or delivering volunteer legal services to the poor or disadvantaged.

When Callaway became president of the pro bono committee of the MBA in 1996 — a post he would hold for seven of the next 12 years — he transformed the Volunteer Lawyers Program into a highly successful project with more than 60 percent participation from local attorneys.  He enlisted the strong support of the Mobile legal community and judiciary with a series of recruitment campaigns and recognitions.  Callaway persuaded his firm to become 100 percent volunteer lawyers and lobbied other firms to do the same.  He oversaw the program’s conversion to a non-profit corporation and admission to the United Way.  When a survey showed only 20 percent of Alabamians even knew of the existence of free legal services, Callaway developed a public awareness campaign that included television and radio ads, posters, billboards, brochures and a promotional DVD.

On the state level, Callaway spearheaded the development of user-friendly forms for unrepresented citizens in many areas of the law, including family law and consumer matters.  He heads a state bar committee that is working to revise Alabama’s court rules to make it easier for lawyers to represent low- or middle-income clients on a limited, low-fee basis.  He also worked with Birmingham’s bar leaders to help that city revitalize its volunteer lawyers program.

As a result of the depth and breadth of his pro bono work, Callaway was named Alabama’s 2010 Volunteer Lawyer of the Year by the state bar association.

More information on the Pro Bono Publico Awards and the 2011 recipients is available here.

With nearly 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is the largest voluntary professional membership organization in the world.  As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law.

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