Nominations are now open for candidates for VBA’s Annual Pro Bono Service Award. The Award is given each year to one or more attorneys who have devoted themselves in a noteworthy way to provide pro bono legal services.
Standards for the award reflect Rule 6.1 of the Vermont Rules of Professional Conduct which exhorts lawyers to provide at least 50 hours of pro bono publico legal services per year. The majority of this time should be given without fee or expectation of fee to persons of limited means or to the organizations which serve them.
Nominations for the pro bono award may be made by attorneys, judges, court staff, clients or law office staff. The VBA Pro Bono Committee reviews the nominations and selects one or more for recommendation to the full VBA Board.
The deadline to nominate an attorney for the 2026 pro bono award is Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, by noon. The nomination should include a brief description of the attorney’s pro bono legal activities, and should be addressed to VBA’s Legal Access Coordinator, Mary Ashcroft, Esq.: [email protected].
The Pro Bono Service Award will be presented at the VBA’s Mid-Year meeting on March 27 at the Hotel Champlain in Burlington.
