Vinson & Elkins, Marathon Oil Company and Exxon Mobil Corporation are among the winners of the fifth annual Harris County Bench Bar Pro Bono Awards, presented by the Harris County judiciary and the Houston Bar Association. The awards were presented in a ceremony on May 1 at the Harris County Civil Courthouse.
A committee of seven judges and six attorneys selected the following winners for pro bono service: V&E (Large Firm), Seyfarth Shaw (Mid-size Firm), Marathon Oil Company (Corporation), Chastiti N. Horne of Ebanks Horne Rota Moos LLP (Individual), and Exxon Mobil Corporation (Bench Bar President’s Award).
The President’s Award was established this year to recognize a firm or corporation with a long history of excellence in pro bono service—Exxon Mobil’s law department has received the Bench Bar Pro Bono Award two previous years and has made pro bono service a priority, even in consideration of outside firms.
The awards program was established to recognize outstanding pro bono service through local legal service providers and to encourage the provision of direct legal service to low-income Harris County residents.