Civic Involvement

Our lawyers are involved in all aspects of the communities in which we live and work.  Listed below are just a few examples of the many activities in which we take a leadership role.

Pro Bono

In Memphis, two of our lawyers, Kristen Wilson and Byron Brown, recently represented a prisoner who filed a lawsuit after he was beaten.  At the successful conclusion of the case, the Firm donated its fee, $13,525, to Memphis Area Legal Services.  Harrison McIver, executive director of the organization, said “The significance of this is that the Wyatt firm is committed to access to justice, and has been and continues to be very supportive of the work we do at Memphis Area Legal Services.”

Wyatt lawyers give freely of their time in pro bono representations and the Firm requires lawyers in the first three years with the Firm to donate 60 hours of pro bono services each year.  Wyatt lawyers have been named pro bono lawyer of the year by the Louisville Bar Association, the Fayette County Bar Association, the Kentucky Bar Association and the National Legal Aid and Public Defender Association.  The annual Pro Bono award given out by the Tennessee Bar Association is the Harris Gilbert Award, named after one of our partners in our Nashville office.  Wyatt lawyers founded and established the public defender program in Louisville and Jefferson County and one of the lawyers is now President of the corporation which operates the program.  That lawyer also serves as Chair of the Kentucky Public Advocacy Commission which oversees the operation of the public defender program for the entire state.  Most recently, in Lexington, the Fayette County Bar Association named Wyatt the “Outstanding Firm of the Year” at its annual Pro Bono Recognition Luncheon.  In Memphis, one of our Partners, Bob Craddock, served as chair of the annual Memphis Area Legal Services campaign.

Other Civic Activities

In Louisville, our Firm has played a significant role in the development of the nation-wide Blessings in a Backpack organization.  One of our staff suggested such a program for Louisville and told one of our partners about it, who then recruited Stan Curtis (of Kentucky Harvest fame) and the rest is history.  The program now feeds over 10,000 children in seven states.  This past year, we hosted a party to collect donations of backpacks, and with the assistance of singer/entertainer Hilary Duff, we were able to generate 1,000 backpacks at the event.

In Lexington, LaToi Mayo, a Partner in the Firm’s Labor & Employment Service Team, recently received a Young Professional Alumni Award from The UK College of Law Alumni Association Hall of Fame.  The Hall of Fame was established to acknowledge graduates of the College who have achieved “extraordinary professional success, have a high degree of character and integrity, and have made a profound positive impact on the College.”  Ms. Mayo also received the 2008 Outstanding Young Lawyer Award from the Kentucky Bar Association.

In Memphis, Mark Vorder-Bruegge, a Partner and Chair of the Firm’s Intellectual Property Service Team, recently received the 2nd Annual Volunteer of the Year Award from the Tennessee Lawyers Assistance Program (TLAP).  The Tennessee Supreme Court established TLAP as an approved impaired lawyers program to educate the legal profession concerning alcoholism, chemical dependency, stress, depression and other emotional health issues, and to assist and support all bar associations and lawyer assistance programs in developing and maintaining methods of providing effective solutions for recovery.