Attorney Bill Waddell, a key leader in the state’s access to justice movement, was one of five national recipients of a 2017 American Bar Association Pro Bono Publico Award. The honor is given to individual lawyers and institutions in the legal profession that have demonstrated outstanding commitment to volunteer legal services for the poor and disadvantaged.
The prestigious national award was given by the ABA's Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service at the Association’s Annual Meeting on Saturday, August 12 in New York.
A video tribute was produced by the ABA and shown at the awards ceremony. Those interviewed include Harry Light, partner with Friday, Eldredge & Clark; Amy Johnson, executive director of Arkansas Access to Justice; Kevin De Liban, attorney with Legal Aid of Arkansas; Judge Raymond Abramson, Arkansas Court of Appeals; Susan Capleaner, Med-Delta Health Systems and Dr. Charles Feild, consulting physician.
Friends and family join Bill in New York as he accepted his Pro Bono Award. Standing (L to R): Kay Allen, Bill Allen, Tony Hilliard, Rev. Mary Hilliard, Carolyn Witherspoon, H.T. Moore, and Larry McGaughey; seated (L to R): Llew Pritchard, Bill Waddell, Patty Waddell, Amy Johnson.
Growing up in the Arkansas Delta taught Bill the cultural value of living justly in community with everyone, he said. It is this value that has fueled his desire to use his training as a lawyer to work for social justice.
Bill has devoted hundreds of hours of time as a volunteer for organizations like Arkansas Access to Justice, Legal Aid of Arkansas, Bethany Christian Services and Mid-South Health Systems.
In addition to his volunteer work, Bill has played an instrumental role in advancing access to justice at a state level. Amy Johnson, executive director of Arkansas Access to Justice said, "What makes Bill so special is his involvement both at the ground level in delivering pro bono legal services to the client and his involvement in higher level efforts to change policy in this state and to raise money to support Legal Aid."
She added, “Social justice is in Bill Waddell’s DNA...For him, justice is not just a professional responsibility for him as an attorney. It’s about service to others that honors their inherent dignity and worth — most especially those who have lost hope.”
Of all the pro bono volunteer efforts he has taken on, none have been more fulfilling than his work with the Mid-Delta Health Systems Medical-Legal Partnership in Clarendon — an innovative project that has taken him back to his Arkansas Delta roots. He spends at least one full day a month meeting with clients, assisting them with a wide range of legal problems that are contributing to poor health outcomes. He has personally helped more than 100 clients at the clinic, recruited other attorneys at his firm to volunteer, and has mentored fellow volunteers, as well as legal aid attorneys.
"It is the most satisfying thing to know the doctors are addressing the medical needs and we can maybe help that person's health to improve by addressing a legal need and all that together makes for a complete person; a more healthy person...and it really doesn't happen if you take any of those elements out." - Bill Waddell
Dr. Charles Feild, who is a consulting physician at Mid-Delta Health Systems, described Bill as "a people's lawyer." "There are two kinds of doctors and two kinds of lawyers. There are those people who take care of patients and cases and there are people who take care of people. Bill comes over here to take care of people."
Bill's latest project, also focused on social justice, is one that has taken him to the writer’s desk instead of the courtroom. He recently penned a self-published children’s book entitled Palindromic Pledge.
Bill Waddell is a partner at Friday, Eldredge & Clark, where he heads the firm’s Commercial Litigation and Regulation Practice Group. He recently received the Outstanding Lawyer Award at the Arkansas Bar Association’s Annual Meeting in June. The award is given in recognition of excellence in the practice of law and for outstanding contributions to the profession.
About Arkansas Access to Justice
The Arkansas Access to Justice Commission works to ensure justice for all. That means that all Arkansans get the protections of the law. We research the unmet legal problems of Arkansans, encourage attorneys to do pro bono work for families who are priced out of the legal market, and recommend evidence-based solutions to policymakers.
Our sister nonprofit organization, the Arkansas Access to Justice Foundation, funds the state’s two civil legal aid organizations: The Center for Arkansas Legal Services and Legal Aid of Arkansas. Together, their lawyers help more than 13,000 Arkansans yearly with knowing and enforcing their rights and by being their voice in court. Through these approaches, we all work together to achieve fairness and make sure nobody with a legal problem is excluded from justice. Learn more at www.arkansasjustice.org and on Twitter @ArkansasJustice.
About the ABA Pro Bono Committee
The ABA’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service works to ensure access to justice through the expansion and enhancement of the delivery of legal and other law-related services to the underserved through volunteer efforts of legal professionals nationwide. The Committee fosters the development of pro bono programs and activities by law firms, bar associations, corporate legal departments, law schools, government attorney offices and others; analyzes the scope and function of pro bono programs; and proposes and reviews policy that affects lawyers' ability to provide pro bono legal services.
About the ABA
With more than 400,000 members, the American Bar Association is one of the largest voluntary professional membership organizations in the world. As the national voice of the legal profession, the ABA works to improve the administration of justice, promotes programs that assist lawyers and judges in their work, accredits law schools, provides continuing legal education, and works to build public understanding around the world of the importance of the rule of law. View our privacy statement online. Follow the latest ABA news at www.americanbar.org/news and on Twitter @ABANews.