UNC School of Law’s Pro Bono program has been named a 2025 Pro Bono Leader by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service for the second consecutive year, making it the only law school to receive this national award twice. 

The recognition is based on Carolina Law’s response to 133 questions through the ABA’s Free Legal Answers platform. Meghan Moran ’19, director of pro bono initiatives, also received individual recognition from the ABA for her leadership. 

“Our second national-level recognition from the American Bar Association shows students that every pro bono project they do aggregates to a massive impact,” Moran said. “An individual student may only be spending a few hours doing legal research for this project, but all the volunteers collectively are able to contribute something major to the people of North Carolina.” 

The law school’s pro bono reach includes more than online legal research with six students and two alumni also receiving  Dogwood Awards from North Carolina Attorney General Jeff Jackson ’09 for their participation in a Spring Break pro bono trip to Western North Carolina, where they provided legal aid to communities still recovering from Hurricane Helene, specifically helping with FEMA appeals. 

The 2025 Dogwood Award recipients are: 

Both projects allow students to serve North Carolinians across the state. Through Free Legal Answers, students can assist clients from counties many hours away while working from the law school, while the Western North Carolina trip gave students the chance to meet face-to-face with clients from another community. 

The Dogwood Awards were created in 2017 to honor North Carolinians dedicated to keeping their communities safe, healthy, and happy. Jackson presented the awards at a ceremony on Friday in Raleigh.