COLUMBIA, S.C.—Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP recently recognized two partners and two associates with Claude M. Scarborough Pro Bono Awards for their outstanding commitment and contributions to pro bono work in 2020 and 2021. The award is named for the late Chair Emeritus Claude Scarborough, who made pro bono an integral part of the firm culture during his years as managing partner.

The 2020 winners are

Abe Kannof, Associate, Atlanta  

Kannof provided numerous hours of corporate and Paycheck Protection Program assistance to small businesses and nonprofits in both Florida and Georgia through our COVID Small Business Remote Clinics. He has handled numerous highly sophisticated complex transactions for the City of Refuge, a nonprofit that assists individuals and families transition out of crisis. His work involved initial land acquisitions, working with developers, investment, and negotiating with the City of Atlanta and others to build affordable, market rate, and graduate housing.

Russell Love, Partner, Atlanta

Love is the go-to lawyer for nonprofit tax assistance and formation. He has assisted over 41 nonprofits to date, many of them in 2020. In that year, he provided tax help at Filing for Freedom Project, which offers volunteer tax preparation services for military personnel and first responders. He also provided internal guidance and created wills for first responders, Holocaust survivors, and metro-Atlanta nurses during COVID.

The 2021 winners are

Katie Bergeron, Associate, Boston

Bergeron participated in a 50-state survey for the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on the laws pertaining to law students appearing in court. She provided an amicus brief to the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court on the harm children suffer when separated from parents during domestic violence incidents. She represented two clients in breaking leases from rat infested, unsafe apartments and handled four cases for Kids in Need of Defense, a nongovernmental organization devoted to the protection of unaccompanied and separated children. She also successfully defended an elderly, mentally ill client in a contempt trial.

Jahmy Graham, Partner, Los Angeles

Graham represents a medical objector to part of the classwide settlement in the Flint Water Crisis class action. He has requested the removal of provisions in the settlement agreement regarding the unsafe XRF bone scan machines to be used on a vulnerable community to test for lead poisoning. He is the lead partner on the class action with ACLU representing peaceful Black Lives Matter protestors against the Louisiana Police Department as part of the ACLU Justice Lab Project.

Committed to serving the most vulnerable in our society with legal, social, and economic issues through pro bono service, Nelson Mullins engages in complex pro bono litigation, policy, and legislative advocacy and provides individual representation to a diverse group of individuals and organizations whose mission is to serve people with limited means. For more information, visit www.nelsonmullins.com.