COLUMBIA  – (May 7, 2008) Paralegals Lalia Taylor of Greenville, Maria Turner of Atlanta, and Trish Koester of Charleston recently received the annual 2007 E.W. Mullins Sr. Paralegal Pro Bono Awards.   

 

Ms. Taylor was nominated for her work with a child abducted from the US and unlawfully taken to Ecuador by her father, who filed a lawsuit in Ecuador to terminate the mother's parental rights. At the onset, three major issues were recognized: 1) whether an Ecuadorian court would have domesticated a US court order; 2) whether an appointed guardian and a US consular officer could have escorted the child out of Ecuador into the US; and 3) whether the US Government would have issued emergency visas for these three individuals. Therefore, Ms. Taylor was required to have continual communications with the US Department of State and the US Embassy in Quito to organize, among other things, funding for the return of the child and to secure the emergency visas. She had to work with the Ecuadorian Embassy in DC to organize the forwarding of the US pleadings and court order to the competent Ecuadorian court. She was fully involved in every step of the litigation as well as in the handling of precautionary measures necessary to protect the safety of the child until her return to her mother. The USDOS reported that this was the first case where an Ecuadorian court recognized a US court order and enforced the return of a kidnapped US citizen back to the US. This international kidnapping case was resolved in two months, where normally it would take a year or more.

 

Ms. Turner worked on the JustGeorgia project in 2007. Described as the "largest coordinated pro bono project for children in the State of Georgia," JustGeorgia's goal is to seek implementation of recommendations for changes to policies and practices within the juvenile justice system and to present to the state legislature in 2009 a proposal for a new Georgia Juvenile Code. Nelson Mullins was assigned the Third Judicial District covering counties in southwestern Georgia to conduct interviews on perceived needs in the juvenile justice system. Ms. Turner was instrumental in identifying stakeholders to be interviewed. She helped organize and train lawyers, summer clerks, and paralegals on how to conduct an interview; she organized all interviews that took place, and participated in several stakeholder interviews herself. In addition, Ms. Turner was responsible for creating a database to manage the information collected so that a report of recommended changes could be written. She continues to assist the project by reading and editing the final report submitted by the Firm. The Nelson Mullins group conducted 58 interviews and attended a number of community functions and town meetings. Of the participating firms, Nelson Mullins was recognized for conducting the most interviews and for providing the greatest leadership. A final report, combining all judicial reports, will be submitted to the Georgia legislature in 2009.

 

Ms. Koester worked on a difficult termination of parental rights case with very little notice of the trial date and had to work fast and long hours to prepare for a three-day trial. The case involved representing a mother to defend her parental rights in Charleston Family Court. In a matter of weeks, the trial team had to take depositions, line up witnesses and prepare pleadings. She prepared exhibits for testimony, a video presentation for court, arranged all the witnesses, secured records within 48 hours, and reviewed records in a two-day time frame. 

She also assisted in a prisoners' rights case during a weeklong trial in federal district court in Charleston. Ms. Koester was assigned to the case a month before trial. She organized the case file, helped the attorneys prepare for trial, and taught them courtroom details such as buying street clothes for the client. 

 

The awards are named for Ed Mullins Sr., a founding partner at Nelson Mullins, and honor paralegals who exemplify the Firm's commitment to pro bono service.

Nelson Mullins, established in 1897, has more than 400 attorneys practicing from offices in Atlanta, Boston, Charleston, Charlotte, Columbia, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Raleigh, Washington, and Winston-Salem. For more information on the Firm, go to www.nelsonmullins.com, or call 803.255.9794.