NASHVILLE - Chattanooga attorney Charles W. "Buz" Dooley has been named the Harris Gilbert Pro Bono Volunteer of the Year by the Tennessee Bar Association.

The award "recognizes significant pro bono work by a private attorney," according to a news release.

Dooley, of Leitner, Williams, Dooley & Napolitan, was nominated by Charles McDaniel, pro bono director for Legal Aid of East Tennessee's Southern Region.

"Buz Dooley is exponentially the most active pro bono attorney in Chattanooga, both in terms of time donated and clients served," McDaniel wrote in his nomination.

He said Dooley volunteers every Wednesday morning, meeting with clients, offering advice, and often contacting other attorneys, enlisting their expertise to further assist Legal Aid clients, the news release states. He serves almost 200 clients a year, "an unmatched level of dedication to pro bono," according to McDaniel.

A member of Legal Aid of East Tennessee's Pro Bono Attorneys Hall of Fame, Dooley has served on the Pro Bono Advisory Board, offering guidance and advice from his volunteer experience. And he has been instrumental in shaping the direction of civil law pro bono delivery in Chattanooga. "There is no other attorney with a foot so firmly planted in both worlds ... private practice and pro bono ... as Buz," McDaniel said in the release.

Dooley will formally receive the award Saturday at the bar association's 2014 Public Service Luncheon in Nashville.