Dalton office gets public service award

A Georgia legal services organization that helps low-income residents in Northwest Georgia has won a major recognition from the American Bar Association.

Georgia Legal Services Program was awarded the American Bar Association's Hodson Award for Public Service for 2014, according to a news release.

"The work ethic, accomplishments and dedication of the staff of the Georgia Legal Services Program are truly an inspiration to other public lawyers across the country," association chairman Alexander W. Purdue said in his announcement of the award.

The Georgia Legal Services Program regional office in Dalton serves Catoosa, Chattooga, Dade, Murray, Walker and Whitfield counties. A committee of prominent Georgia lawyers wrote a letter nominating the Dalton office for the award.

"For over 40 years, GLSP attorneys and paralegals have reached out to clients in rural areas, small towns and even counties in Georgia where there are no other lawyers at all," the committee's nomination letter said. "The firm is innovative, strategic and effective in addressing critical civil legal problems."

The committee said the Dalton office made significant efforts to "address the recession-driven needs of their clients, even in the face of declining resources with which to do so."

The committee includes R. William Ide III, a partner in the Atlanta-based McKenna Long & Aldridge law firm, past president of the American Bar Association and one of the founders of Georgia Legal Services Program. The committee also includes Chief Justice Hugh Thompson of the Supreme Court of Georgia.

The award will be presented at the American Bar Association's annual meeting in Boston on Aug. 8.

For information about the Dalton office, call 706-272-2258 ext. 2923.

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