Pro Bono Program Announces 2023 Publico Awards

The board of the UNC School of Law Pro Bono Program awarded the 2023 recipients of the Pro Bono Publico Awards at the annual Pro Bono Celebration Wednesday, April 12. Graduating students with more than 75 pro bono hours were recognized as was the Class of 2023 for reaching 100 percent participation in pro bono projects. This is the sixth year in a row that the graduating class has reached 100 percent participation. The Class of 2023 completed more than 14,048 hours of pro bono services over the past three years.

“As we celebrate the Pro Bono Program’s 25^th Anniversary this year, it is truly astounding to see our community’s level of pro bono engagement. On Wednesday, we celebrated 67 graduating students who completed over 75 hours of pro bono work and honored 10 individuals and organizations with Pro Bono Publico awards. There are so many contributions being made by our students each and every day, and it’s wonderful to pause and reflect on how much they have done for communities in North Carolina,” said Director of Pro Bono Initiatives Allison Standard Constance ’09. “The breadth and depth of the work of our award winners is vast:  from retirement benefits and tax law to impactful social justice work and discharge upgrades for veterans, our community has taken advantage of so many opportunities to use our legal skills for good.”

This year’s award recipients included:

• Sylvia K. Novinsky Award – Rich Nguyen-Le 3L and Hannah Marion 3L
• 3L Student of the Year – Kate Giduz 3L and Elijah Moffe 3L
• 2L Student of the Year – Emily Zoffer 2L
• 1L Student of the Year – Juliana Bird 1L
• Group Pro Bono Project of the Year – Black Law Students Association
• Faculty Member of the Year – Beth Posner ’97
• Alumnus of the Year – Tod Leaven ’10
• Partner/Organization of the Year – Emancipate NC

Learn more about the awards criteria.