Bill Shmidheiser Receives Prestigious Virginia State Bar Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Award
The Virginia State Bar has awarded Bill Shmidheiser the Lewis F. Powell, Jr. Pro Bono Award. It will be presented to Bill in Richmond on October 18, 2023. The Lewis F. Powell Jr. Pro Bono Award was established by the Virginia State Bar to honor those attorneys and attorney groups that have made outstanding pro bono contributions. The State Bar Committee annually reviews all nominations and decides upon the recipient. The award, a framed certificate bearing the honorees name and a quote from the late Justice Powell, is presented at a ceremony during the Virginia Pro Bono Conference in October. Recipients will also receive a copy of the limited-edition print of the painting Patrick Henry Arguing the Parson’s Cause.
A graduate of Duke University and the University of Iowa College of Law, Bill, who recently retired from Flora Pettit, practiced as a litigator in federal and state courts specializing in complex financial disputes, bankruptcies, and the representation of creditors, among other litigation and trial work.
In their nomination, John E. Whitfield and Molly Bell of Blue Ridge Legal Services (BRLS) in Harrisonburg said of Bill, “Through his commitment and his loyalty to his clients, his outstanding litigation skills, and his tireless, dogged determination to find a solution for his clients’ situation regardless of the legal obstacles blocking their way, Bill would almost invariably work miracles for his clients.”
Matt Von Schuch, President of Flora Pettit stated, “This was a very fitting award for Bill to receive on the eve of his retirement, after a decades of exemplary pro bono services. We are very proud of Bill’s commitment and service to pro bono clients, some to whom he was assigned by BRLS and some he took on his own because of a great empathy for those navigating what they felt to them to be overwhelming legal problems.”
The State Bar’s announcement can be found at HERE.
