Chancellor Deborah Gambrell of Hattiesburg was honored Sept. 12 as the recipient of the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Project’s Beacon of Justice Award.
Shakita Taylor of Hattiesburg was also honored.
The awards were presented during the annual Pro Bono Awards Reception held at the Two Mississippi Museums in Jackson.
MVLP provides legal assistance to low-income people through direct legal representation and legal clinics for self-represented litigants who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. MVLP relies on the donated time of attorneys who volunteer.
The Beacon of Justice Award is given annually to a member of the judiciary who provides outstanding leadership in promoting and supporting equal access to justice, said Sam H. Buchanan of Hattiesburg, executive director of the Mississippi Center for Legal Services and a member of the MVLP Board of Directors.
Gambrell is an advocate for ensuring access to justice for all and a leader in organizing programs to provide legal help. As senior chancellor of the 10th Chancery District that includes Forrest, Lamar, Marion, Pearl River and Perry counties, she continues to encourage attorneys to be involved in pro bono representation.
Gambrell worked with Christian Services of Hattiesburg, Legal Services and the South Central Bar to organize extensive pro bono efforts in 2012 and has continued to work with pro se clinics since that time. She assisted in developing templates to assist self-represented litigants to use throughout the 10th Chancery, and has shared the value of templates with her fellow judges across the state.
She is a member of the Access to Justice Commission, which was created by the Supreme Court to develop a unified strategy to improve access to the civil courts for the poor. Gambrell has served almost nine years as a chancellor of the 10th Chancery Court District. Gov. Haley Barbour appointed her to the court on Jan. 4, 2011. Before her appointment to the Chancery Court, she served as a Forrest County Justice Court Judge for 30 years
