Volunteer Recognition Awards: Class of 2016
Congratulations to all of our 2016 award recipients. Many thanks to our CLE panel for their informative presentation, to Jones Walker for hosting this year's event, to all those who took the time to attend, and to the many individuals who captured the moments throughout the evening for our photo gallery.
Each year we pay tribute to the lawyers, judges and courts, law schools and their students, other institutions and organizations, as well as other professionals and lay persons who give of their time, talent and financial support to help The Pro Bono Project continue to fulfill its mission of providing civil legal services to those in need.
While we find ways throughout the year to recognize individual volunteers, this is where we acknowledge our volunteers as a group for the collective work they have done over the course of the year.
While we make every effort to include all the names of those who have provided pro bono services during the year - this is by no means a complete list - our acknowledgement and appreciation encompasses our pro bono champions en masse.
Thank you for helping us open the doors to access justice for thousands of people in the six-parish area we serve.
2016 Award Recipients
Pro Bono Law Firm of The Year: Gennusa, Piacun & Ruli
Since 2012, Jeff Gennusa has been accepting succession cases from The Pro Bono Project while working at the firm of Gennusa, Piacun, & Ruli – a firm which specializes in personal injury, medical malpractice, and products liability.
Far from his daily course of work, Jeff’s succession case matters had him working closely with staff attorney Chris Coty and then with Ona E. Dudonis, who recently moved to the country of Georgia.
Although our colleague Ona could not be here today, she left behind a special note for us to recognize the significant contribution Jeff made on a case this past year. She said it turned into a most challenging case, but that Jeff stayed with it until the end and would take another case without a second thought.
It is with great gratitude and appreciation that we thank the firm of Gennusa, Piacun & Ruli and Jeff Gennusa for their ongoing support and great efforts for this great cause.
Pro Bono Law Student
Michael Kasper, Loyola University College of Law
Pro Bono Paralegal
Monica E. Slayton-Clarke
100+ Hours of Pro Bono Service
Stuart Anderson
Luisa Batista
Janie Boneta
Christopher Coty
Raul de la Heria
Nathan Evans
Samantha Fox
Jonah Freedman
Michael Kasper
Carole C. Neff
Miranda Shaughnessy
Rachel Silvers
Tyler Trew
2016 Honor Roll
Jenny Abshier
Elizabeth Adams
Mary Akin
Joseph G. Albe
Nan Alessandra
Brittany Alexander
David Andrew
Phillip Antis
Halcyon Apy
Anna Arkin-Gallagher
Nadege Assale
Dara Baird
Virginia Baker
Dawn Balash
Elizabeth Bane
Armando Baralt
Jacqueline Barber
Mari Bartholomew
Harvey Bartlett
Harry Barton
Victoria Baudier
Ryan Beasley
Kristin Beckman
Henry Bennett
Jessie Benson
Melissa Berniard
Sanat Bhole
Jason Bilbe
Cristin Bordelon
Caroline Bordelon
Allen Borne
Justin Boron
Kim Boudreaux
Nancy S. Bousfield
Joseph Bowling
Joy Braun
Daniel Brauner
P. Michael Breeden
Madelyn Breerwood
Kyle Brennan
Taylor Brett
Darin Britt
Laura Broders
Maggie Broussard
Scott Brown
Stephen P. Bruno
Camille Bryant
Lauren Burk
Malvern Burnett
Michael Cangelosi
Linton Carney
Thomas Casey
John P. Cerise
Joseph Cerise
Stacey Cerrone
Michelle Charles
Lindsey Cheek
Joseph Ching
Tulio Chirinos
Lindsey Chopin
David Clay
Kendra Comiskey
Eva Conner
Christine Cousin
Keith Couture
Caroline Crosby
Guy Curry
Chelsea Cusimano
Danielle Davenport
Brandon Davis
Leonard Davis
Ava De Montagne
Erin Dearie
Katherine Dearing
Nancy Scott Degan
S. Guy deLaup
Timothy Depaula
Michael DeShazo
Hanlon deVerges
Caroline Dolan
Donald Dorenkamp
Jason Douglas
F Joseph Drolla
Vallie Dugas
Kurt Duncan
Dennis Durocher
Ann Duvic
Emily Eagan
Barbara Edin
Nicole Eichberger
John Ellis
Robert C. Evans
Rosemarie Falcone
Sarah Faris
April Farmer
Paula Ferreira
Gissel Ferriol
Charles Fife
Ezra Finkle
Betsy Fischer
Kacy Flaherty
Samuel Ford
Patrick Fraizer
Krystin Frazier
Kurt Garcia
R. Justin Garon
Wayne Garrett
Terry Gay
Jeff Gennusa
Kathryn Geoffroy
David Gernhauser
Ginger Gibbs
Pro Bono Corporate Partner: Solomon Group
The Solomon Group, and its co-founder Gary Solomon, Jr., went above and beyond for us this year by generously donating their fabulous production services to The Project’s 28th annual Justice For All Ball.
Gary served as the Ball’s honorary co-chair and helped us to raise our fundraising profile by bringing in new donors.
The Solomon Group’s brilliant production team lent their creative talents to designing our invitations, tickets, décor, patron party and signage, and in doing so, brought this year’s Ball to a whole new level.
For their support and ingenuity, we are endlessly grateful.
Distinguished Service Awardees
William Cherbonnier, Jr.
2016 Friend of The Pro Bono Project
Bruce Boulware
Pamela Gibbs
Lauren Godshall
Cecile Gordon
Holly Gottschalk
Donald Graham
Michelle Greif
Avery Griffin
Steven Griffith
Yunkai Guo
Erin Haney
Pamela Hansen
Rebecca Harris
Michal Harris
C. Peck Hayne
Ashley Heilprin
Kristin Hendricks
Wendy Hickok Robinson
Ashley Hinton
Donovan Hobdy
Andrew Holdiness
Karen Holzenthal
Greg Hopkins
Allyson Howie
Joseph Hugg
D. Conrad Hultquist
Jamie Hurley
Meagan Impastato
Khalid Iqbal
Rachael Irlbeck
Gerald D. Issokson
Jane Jackson
Andrew Jacoby
Benjamin Janke
Rachael Jeanfreau
Andrea Jeanmarie, Esq.
Jordan Jeansonne
Alaraby Johnson
Brian Johnson
Kristin Jones
Victor Jones
Howard Kaplan
Kevin Katner
Shawn Kiefer
Henry Kinney
Louise Klaila
Douglas Kleeman
Lilli Kofer
John Kramer
Douglas Kraus
Robert Kutcher
Maurine Laborde
Travis LaBranche
Louis C. Lacour
Ayanna LaGrange
Kathleen Lambert
Susan Laporte
F. Latimer
Arthur Laugand
Pat Leblanc
Kailey LeBoeuf
Bernadette Lee
Jane Lee
Iriane Lee
Andrew Legrand
Grant Lehner
Annie Lemoine
Seth A. Levine
Sidney Lewis
Sihua Li
Yun Lin
Matthew Livaccari
Nadia Madary
James Maguire
Stacey Marcel
Caroline Marfy
Robert L. Marrero
Michael Martin
John A. Marzullo
Alyssa Maurice-Anderson
Leo McAloon
Jon McGill
Katie McKay
Don Mckinney
E. Martin Mcleod
Charlotte Meade
Andy Mendez
Edil Mendoza
Elizabeth Meneray
Daniel Miller
Michael, Jr. Moore
Lyndee Moore
Michele Morel
Scott Morgan
Ebony Morris
Lisa Munyon
Catherine Napolitano
Luana Naylor
Rongrong Ni
Samantha Nordstrom
Lori Noto
Nicole Oddo
Claire Ojeh
Felice Ortiz
Brian Page
Mariana Palladino
David Parnell
Oskar Perez
Kelly Perrier
Deidre Peterson
Sarah Pfeiffer
Sarah Phillips
Darryl Phillips
Distinguished Donor: Jan Hayden & Baker Donelson
Baker Donelson has long been a pro bono supporter of The Project, and Jan Hayden is a former Project Board Chair.
But this year, both the firm and this distinguished shareholder went above and beyond in their support of our organization.
Serving as the Justice For All Ball Chair, Jan spearheaded a successful fundraising event and brought her firm’s resources to bear through financial, administrative and planning support.
The Ball had a great turnout and our live auction was the most successful one on record.
For that, and for the many months of event planning and corporate sponsorship recruitment, we are truly grateful.
Friend of Pro Bono
24th Judicial District Court Judges for their support and ongoing partnership with The Pro Bono Project
50+ Hours of Pro Bono Service
Brian Brickman
Jessica Burns
Suzanna Craig
Sandra Diggs-Miller
Stephen I. Dwyer
Phil A Franco
Christopher Freire
Meredith Grabill
Dorothie Laguerre
Randy Marse
Addy Morales
Alex Rothenberg
John Shreves
Sandra Sinclair
Charlene Smith
Lauren Pilie
Daniel Plunkett
KristiA. Post
Andrea Potter
Kyle Potts
Rhett Powers
E. Frederick Preis
Steven Prejean
Anne Provosty
Chris Ralston
Russell B. Ramsey
Madeline Rea
Patrick Reagin
Daniel Redmann
Denise Redmann
Suellen Richardson
T. Randolph Richardson, Esq.
Martijn Rigutto
Wendy Hickok Robinson
Lisa Robinson
Malcolm Robinson
JamesT. Rogers
Lauren Rogers
John Romero
Miguel Romero
Mary Frances Rosamond
Samuel Rosamond
James Scott Ruel
Maurice Ruffin
Matthew Russo
Dana Sansone
Christian Sauce
Rachel Scarafia
Claude A. Schlesinger
Ryan Schmidt
Courtney Schroeder
Hugh Seligman
Gary Sells
William Sentell
Tracy Shanks
J. Sheppard
Sidney L. Shushan
Jonathan Shushan, Esq.
David Silverstein
Victoria Simosa
Katy Sinor
Jasmine Smith
Ian Smith
Tiffany Smith
Monica Smith
Kimberly Smith
Sarah Smith-Clevenger
David Stein
Sean Steinman
Roger Stetter
Charles Stiegler
Burke Stough
A. Wendel Stout
Christopher Stow-Serge
Nate Strand
Dalisha Sturdivant
Tina Suggs
Molly Sullivan
Mark Surprenant
Margaret Swetman
Paul Tabary
Mary Taylor
Leloashia Taylor
Georgia Thomas
Brooke Thompson
Alex Tilling
Nicholas Tomlinson
Katherine Tovar
Dan Tran
Grace Triche
Charlotte Tsui
Michael Tusa
Scott Umberger
Sara Valentine
Heather Valliant
Roland Vandenweghe
Coby Venable
Paul Villalobos
Collin Wade
Ralph H. Wall
Daniel Walter
Peter J. Wanek
Yu Wang
Kolby Warren
Jazz Washington
Pascale Watson
Gerald Webre
Christopher Weema
Samantha Weidner
Rachel Wenzel
Harold Wheelahan
Billie Wheeler Wray
Carl V. Williams
Cindy Williams
Brett Willie
Christopher Wilson
Lena Wong
Zachary Wool
William Wright
Katherine Wyly
Douglass Wynne
Laurie Briggs Young
Jacob Young
Joseph Yurgil
Victoria Zamora
Yi Zhao
Marie Zisa