Carlton Fields Shareholder and Chair of its firmwide Pro Bono Committee, Kathleen S. McLeroy, received the William Reece Smith Jr. Public Service Award, given by Stetson University College of Law. The award recognizes individuals who have provided outstanding service to the legal profession and community. The award was presented at the Annual Inns of Court Banquet and William Reece Smith Jr. Distinguished Lecture held on Wednesday evening, January 18, 2017, at the Mirror Lake Lyceum in St. Petersburg.
The annual award is named in honor of Carlton Fields’ former Chair Emeritus, William Reece Smith Jr., who served for decades as a distinguished professorial lecturer at Stetson Law in Gulfport, Fla. Mr. Smith dedicated more than 60 years of service to the legal profession. He worked tirelessly to provide legal services to the poor. He founded and served as the first president of Florida Legal Services, served as city attorney of Tampa, chair and trustee of numerous colleges and universities, interim president of the University of South Florida, and as board member of countless religious, charitable, civic and professional organizations.
Stetson established the William Reece Smith Jr. Award in 1990 to honor outstanding contributions to public service, the justice system and the community. William Reece Smith Jr., past president of the International, American, and Florida Bar Associations, was the award’s first recipient and its namesake. Previous William Reece Smith Jr. award recipients include John T. Berry, John P. Cunningham, John R. Blue, Sylvia Walbolt, Michael Bedke, Denis deVlaming, Gregory K. Showers, Edwin Boyer, Bob Dillinger and Maryellen McDonald.
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