Pro bono services honored

Kirsten Searer

Friday, Dec. 10, 2004 | 11:07 a.m.

Clark County attorneys donated 9,797 hours of pro bono service this year through Clark County Legal Service's Pro Bono Project, compared to the 6,193 hours donated last year.

Attorneys were honored for their volunteer work at a luncheon Thursday. They included Lawrence Smith, an attorney of Benson, Bertoldo, Baker & Carter, who helped a 77-year-old woman win back her house after her daughter made her sign over the property and then evicted her.

Smith won back the house and money the woman lost and let her live with his family for a few days, said Assemblywoman Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, the executive director of Clark County Legal Services.

Another honoree, Shann Winesett, formerly of Dickerson, Dickerson, Consul & Pocker, helped an Iranian woman who was trained as a doctor and sent to the United States in an arranged marriage. When the husband realized she might leave him, he left her at the Mexican border, Buckley said. Unable to speak English, the woman spent four months in a Mexican jail. Winesett helped get her out of jail and resolve her immigration problems.

Other honorees include Rosa Solis-Rainey of Lionel Sawyer & Collins, who donated the most pro bono hours -- 417 hours; Lionel Sawyer & Collins, the firm that donated the most total hours -- 1,093; Chris Reade with Lee & Russell, who took on the most cases with five; and Gordon & Silver, the firm that took on the most cases with 11.

There are about 3,600 practicing lawyers in Clark County, the state bar said.