Megan E. Kaufmann of Hunton & Williams LLP Honored as Pro Bono Attorney of the Year by Tahirih Justice Center

WASHINGTON — March 3, 2011 — Richmond lawyer Megan E. Kaufmann has been named "Pro Bono Attorney of the Year" by the Tahirih Justice Center, in recognition of her work in an asylum case regarding a family seeking to escape religious and other forms of persecution in Guatemala. The Tahirih Justice Center noted that Kaufmann will be given this award for "her willingness to go above and beyond the call of duty" for a woman and her family in need. This is only the second year that the Tahirih Justice Center has recognized a lawyer for this award, and Kaufmann will be recognized and honored at the center's annual benefit in May.

Richmond lawyers J. R. Smith, Rita Davis and Britt Anderson originally took the asylum case of a mother and her children fleeing Guatemala due to religious and other forms of persecution. After the mother was granted withholding against removal, Kaufmann subsequently took over the case for five of the woman's children. After hundreds of hours donated by Kaufmann on the children’s behalf and waiting sixteen months to learn the final outcome, all five children were granted asylum.

"It is so rewarding professionally and personally to help this family begin a safer life here in the United States," said Kaufmann, whose practice focuses on general corporate matters.

The Tahirih Justice Center, based in Falls Church, Virginia, is a nonprofit organization founded in 1997 to address the need for legal services of immigrant and refugee women who have fled to the United States seeking protection from human rights abuses in their home countries. Through direct litigation and public policy advocacy, the center encourages the development of laws to protect the women and girls from abuse.

Hunton & Williams, recipient of the 2010 Beacon of Justice Award from the National Legal Aid & Defender Association and the 2009 Pro Bono Institute's John H. Pickering Award, continues to lead the way in community service in the United States. 100 percent of the firm’s attorneys in the U.S. work on pro bono matters, and the firm donated nearly 70,000 hours to pro bono service in its completed fiscal year ending March 31, 2010.

About Hunton & Williams LLP

Hunton & Williams LLP provides legal services to corporations, financial institutions, governments and individuals, as well as to a broad array of other entities. Since our establishment more than a century ago, Hunton & Williams has grown to more than 900 lawyers serving clients in 100 countries from 18 offices around the world. While our practice has a strong industry focus on energy, financial services and life sciences, the depth and breadth of our experience extends to more than 100 separate practice areas, including bankruptcy and creditors rights, commercial litigation, corporate transactions and securities law, intellectual property, international and government relations, regulatory law, products liability, and privacy and information management.