The William E. McKnight Award for Pro Bono Service includes a long list of deserving honorees and for 2017 two more names join the prestigious list: Alissa Fortuna-Valentine and Derrick Spatorico.
Here’s what you need to know: Spatorico, a partner at Pheterson, Spatorico, Neilans LLP, is not new to taking VLSP cases. He’s been very generous with his time. But his dedication to a mortgage foreclosure lawsuit spanned three calendar years and involved 1,125 pro bono hours. The case culminated in a trial in January 2017 with Spatorico getting a judgment for his client to keep the home.
Fortuna-Valentine, an associate at Phillips Lytle LLP, accepted a family law matter for VLSP after another Phillips Lytle attorney helped the client obtain access to the court. Because of the urgency of the custody matter, she needed to devote more than 126 hours in a short period of time. It was a difficult and complex case – outside of her primary field, but she embraced the challenge and made a difference. Her zealous representation of a father in a custody matter put her on this year’s list of McKnight awardees.
The VLSP award is named in honor tof the first African-American partner at Nixon Peabody LLP, who was dedicated to equal justice. He was a member of the VLSP board in its formative years and a key volunteer in handing difficult and complex immigration cases for people with no means to pay.
In recent years, the following individuals have also been recognized with the McKnight award, each with their own stories of making a difference:
- 2016: Matthew Fero, Andrew Martin, and Gary Van Graafeiland
- 2015: Sandra Williams
- 2014: Sanjeev Devabhakthuni, John Garrett, and Marla Pilaoscia
- 2013: Michael Schnittman, Karen Smith Callahan, Steven Carling