Legal Aid of East Tennessee recognized four attorneys, law firms and community partners for their contributions to equal access to justice during its annual Chattanooga Pro Bono Night celebration Oct. 29 at Chattanooga Whiskey Event Hall.
The event, which included an appearance by Tennessee Supreme Court Justice Dwight Tarwater, honored individuals and organizations whose volunteer work and financial support have helped provide civil legal services to low-income East Tennesseans.
The evening’s honorees were the late Judge John Harvey Cameron Jr., who received the Chief Justice William M. Barker Equal Access to Justice Award; Chase Smith, recipient of the Bruce C. Bailey Volunteer Attorney Award; the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga, recipient of the Alexander Hamilton Award; and Wilson & Wilson, which was named Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year.
A legacy of service
Mary Frances DeVoe, director of Legal Aid’s Pro Bono Project, said this year’s recipients shared a common theme of building legacies of service that extend across years and generations.
“A legal legacy doesn’t have to be something with your name on it,” DeVoe said. “Most of the time, it’s built much more quietly.”
She pointed to clients who have received help navigating divorces, protecting their families and clearing criminal records that have prevented them from moving forward with their lives.
According to DeVoe, Chattanooga-area attorneys and volunteers donated more than $335,000 in legal services to Legal Aid clients in 2025. So far in 2026, the organization’s volunteer efforts have affected 762 people, including 308 children.
“Those are families who are a little more stable and a little safer because someone was willing to step up and help,” she said.
DeVoe identified family law and expungement as two of the greatest areas of need addressed by the Pro Bono Project. She also announced that Legal Aid recently received grant funding to expand its expungement services through its Clearing the Path initiative.
The funding will support two new full-time positions – an attorney and a paralegal – dedicated to expungement work.
“That means more people get a second chance,” DeVoe said.
Honoring contributions to equal justice
During the awards presentation, Legal Aid recognized the Community Foundation of Greater Chattanooga with the Alexander Hamilton Award for its long-standing partnership with the organization, particularly its support of the Eviction Prevention Initiative.
Emily O’Donnell, managing attorney of the initiative, said the foundation played a central role in establishing the public-private partnership in 2020. She praised the foundation for seeking to understand the challenges facing tenants rather than simply providing financial support.
O’Donnell said foundation representatives met directly with tenants and began having new employees observe General Sessions Court proceedings to better understand the difficulties people face when navigating the legal system without an attorney.
“They don’t just fund solutions, they seek to understand the problem,” she said.
Wilson & Wilson received the Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year Award for its contributions to Legal Aid’s expungement efforts.
DeVoe recognized attorney Seth Wilson and his colleague Melody Shahari for helping develop and sustain that work, noting that they have continued adapting their efforts as expungement laws have changed.
She also paid tribute to Wilson’s father, the late Judge Kevin Wilson, a longtime Legal Aid supporter who received the organization’s volunteer attorney award in 2003.
Accepting the award, Seth Wilson said his father taught him that attorneys have an obligation to serve people regardless of their ability to pay.
“When we get our law license, we have a duty not just to those who can pay us, but those who can’t,” Wilson said.
Smith received the Bruce C. Bailey Volunteer Attorney Award for his consistent service to Legal Aid clients.
DeVoe said Smith regularly accepts cases from the organization and went further during the past year by volunteering every Thursday for two months while continuing to maintain his own practice.
Smith thanked Legal Aid for providing opportunities to develop professional skills and relationships, noting that the benefits of volunteer service extend beyond financial compensation.
The evening’s final recognition, the Chief Justice William M. Barker Equal Access to Justice Award, was presented posthumously to Cameron, who served on Legal Aid’s board and supported its work throughout his legal career.
Cameron practiced law with his father, Harvey Cameron Sr., in Jasper before being elected to the Circuit Court of Tennessee’s 12th Judicial District in 2022.
Russell Fowler, Legal Aid’s director of litigation, remembered Cameron as someone who consistently answered the organization’s requests for assistance and demonstrated patience and respect toward people representing themselves in court.
Cameron’s father and wife accepted the award on his behalf.
DeVoe emphasized that the organization’s accomplishments were the result of sustained cooperation among attorneys, law firms, donors and Legal Aid employees.
“The legacy we are celebrating here tonight wasn’t built by one lawyer, one law firm, one donor, or one legal aid employee,” she said. “It was built by a community.”
Legal Aid of East Tennessee provides free civil legal services to qualifying residents across 26 counties. In 2025, the organization served 5,616 individuals in households totaling 12,652 people, including 5,693 children, and reported more than $12.3 million in economic impact.
The annual celebration was presented in partnership with Chambliss, Bahner & Stophel, with additional support from Summers, Rufalo & Rodgers and the Hamilton County Herald.