WACO -

Lone Star Legal Aid, a nonprofit law firm focused on advocacy on behalf of low-income and underserved populations in Texas, has awarded Baylor Law their 2020 Pro Bono Excellence Award, in appreciation of “extraordinary efforts to ensure access to the legal system for low-income residents in multiple Texas Counties.” This is Baylor Law’s 14th Award for Access to Justice and Pro Bono Services since 2010.

“At Baylor Law, we strive to develop in our students a deep and abiding sense of commitment to service. We know how desperately so many low- and moderate-income Texans need assistance with meaningful access to our system of justice," said Baylor Law Dean Brad Toben. “It is an honor to be recognized by Lone Star Legal Aid for our commitment to service,” he added.

The week of October 26-30 has been designated as the “National Pro Bono Celebration” by the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service. The goal is to showcase the remarkable difference that pro bono lawyers, and law students, make to our nation, to our system of justice, to our communities and, most of all, to the clients they serve. For more information, visit www.celebrateprobono.org.

From the first student volunteer project during orientation, through the concluding remarks at graduation ceremonies, Baylor Law encourages its students to engage in pro bono service. Service to the community, to the profession, and to each other is a persistent, recurring theme not only in the classroom, but as a required component of our mandatory Professional Development Program.

Students who participate in Baylor Law’s Pro Bono and Public Service Program are given a structured series of opportunities to accumulate volunteer hours while connecting with local pro bono and community-service organizations like Lone Star Legal Aid. Since 2010, students have reported over 19,000 hours of pro bono service through this program during the school year and while enrolled as full-time students. Baylor Law School also donates substantial financial support for students who wish to pursue pro bono service, including the Baylor Law Public Interest Summer Fellowship and the Equal Justice Scholarship.

Baylor Law is truly honored to receive the Lone Star Legal Aid Award in recognition of its dedication to pro bono service, adding to an array of such recognitions received in past years from the TX Access to Justice Foundation, the State Bar of Texas, the American Bar Association, and others.

Baylor Law's Pro Bono and Public Service Awards

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ABOUT BAYLOR LAW
Established in 1857, Baylor University School of Law was one of the first law schools in Texas and one of the first west of the Mississippi River. Accredited by the American Bar Association and a member of the Association of American Law Schools, Baylor Law is one of the leading smaller law schools in the nation, known for its rigorous, results-oriented legal training. With more than 7,600 living alumni and a record of producing outstanding lawyers, many of whom decide upon a career in public service, the Law School boasts among its notable alumni two governors, members or former members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, two former directors of the FBI, U.S. ambassadors, federal judges, justices of the Texas Supreme Court and members of the Texas Legislature. In its law specialties rankings, U.S. News & World Report ranks Baylor Law’s trial advocacy program as among the best in the nation at No. 2, while the Law School is ranked in the Top 50 of the 2021 edition of “Best Graduate Schools.” The National Jurist ranks Baylor Law as one of the “Best Schools for Practical Training,” and in the top 15 “Best Law School Facilities” in the country. The Business Insider places Baylor Law among the top 50 law schools in the nation. Baylor Law received the 2015 American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award, making it only the third law school in the nation to be honored with the award since the award’s inception in 1984. Learn more at baylor.edu/law

ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITY
Baylor University is a private Christian University and a nationally ranked research institution. The University provides a vibrant campus community for more than 19,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating University in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 90 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 12 nationally recognized academic divisions. Learn more at baylor.edu