Posted in: Lawyers Pro Bono Program, Awards

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At Nexsen Pruet, performing pro bono work is rooted in the firm’s foundation. Julian Nexsen, for whom the firm is named, made giving back to the community a pillar when the firm was just a four-attorney office.

Today, Nexsen Pruet offices stretch across the Carolinas and it’s home to more than 190 attorneys. Through its reinvigorated pro bono program, attorneys from Nexsen Pruet have made a meaningful difference by assisting in the delivery of health care and human services in the Lowcountry, supplying legal support to veterans and their families, representing indigent clients before the S.C. Supreme Court and so much more. For these efforts and the firm’s overall commitment to pro bono in the Carolinas Nexsen Pruet was recently named the SC Bar’s 2018 Pro Bono Law Firm of the Year.

“Through pro bono service, we can match unique legal needs in one part of the state with specialized skills located in one of our other offices,” said William Floyd, Nexsen Pruet’s pro bono coordinator.

The size Nexsen Pruet allows the firm to have a bigger, more diverse impact on the surrounding community through pro bono service.

One of the projects the firm works on is wills clinics for veterans. This is a free clinic to current or former military members and spouses to have access to an attorney to create a will without the hassle.

“When I work on these wills clinics,” Floyd said, “I have the opportunity to personally say ‘thank you’ to those who have served our country.”

The team also took on the S.C. Appellate Practice Project, assisting the South Carolina Commission on Indigent Defense in representing indigent clients before the S.C. Court of Appeals and S.C. Supreme Court.

Additionally, Nexsen Pruet attorneys provided financial consultation and restructuring advice, as well as legal advice, to Sea Island Comprehensive Health Care Corporation, non-profit organization that delivers health care and human services to the residents of the Sea Islands and surrounding communities to sustain healthy lifestyles and living conditions.

For 40 years, Sea Island has provided medical services to low income residents of Johns Island, James Island, Wadmalaw Island, Yonges Island and surrounding communities in Charleston and Colleton counties. Sea Island faced some critical financial decisions, lost its executive director and dealt with challenges that threatened its mission to provide quality medical care and related services to the residents of the communities it serves, many of whom have no other access to such services.  Attorneys from several of Nexsen Pruet's practice groups provided legal advice that enabled Sea Island to continue to honor its mission and provide much needed services to its constituents.