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Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP announced today that it will honor Elizabeth Balfour with the firm's second annual SMRH Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award, an award that recognizes the important community service work done by Sheppard Mullin attorneys. As part of the award presentation on May 16, the firm will donate $5,000 to the Children at Risk Committee of the San Diego County Bar Association. The Committee works with schools and children's organizations. It teaches children how the justice system operates, and implements literacy and enrichment programs that rely on volunteers from the legal community, including judges, lawyers, and law students. “Elizabeth has been a perennial pro bono supporter and is a fine lawyer, which includes her tremendous commitment to the Children at Risk Committee, as well as indigent pro bono work on various legal matters,” said Guy Halgren, chair of the Executive Committee of Sheppard Mullin. "She embodies Sheppard Mullin's commitment to the community by providing legal services to those who could otherwise not afford representation." “We are pleased Sheppard Mullin chose Children at Risk as the recipient of this generous donation and congratulate Elizabeth as the firm's Pro Bono Attorney of the Year,” said Dawn Davies, co-chair of the Children at Risk Committee. “This award sends a wonderful message to the community and the volunteers in our programs." Balfour has been co-chair of the Children at Risk Committee since December 2003. Her leadership of the Committee involves coordinating the mock trial video program; creating, with Committee members, a program on peaceful conflict resolution for elementary school students and training volunteer attorneys to take the program into schools; and furthering the Committee's partnership with Kennedy Elementary School by implementing a peer mediation program at the school and supporting literacy programs through volunteer participation and fundraising. "I am honored by the firm's recognition and support," said Balfour. "Pro bono is one of the finest traditions of our profession. It offers an excellent opportunity to serve the community, while achieving personal fulfillment and professional development. I am pleased that Sheppard Mullin's donation will support the vital work performed by the Children at Risk Committee." Balfour is a 1999 graduate of Harvard Law School and a sixth-year associate in the firm’s Del Mar Heights office where she works as a member of Sheppard Mullin's White Collar Defense and Business Trial Practice Groups. Sheppard Mullin's SMRH Pro Bono Attorney of the Year Award is the firm's highest pro bono honor to recognize and reward the important community service work done by Sheppard Mullin attorneys. Sheppard Mullin recognizes its recipient on behalf of all its attorneys that provide high-caliber legal and professional services to persons of limited means and to charitable and civic organizations. About Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP is a full service AmLaw 100 firm with 430 attorneys in nine offices located throughout California and in New York and Washington, D.C. The firm's California offices are located in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Santa Barbara, Century City, Orange County, Del Mar Heights and San Diego. Sheppard Mullin provides legal expertise and counsel to U.S. and international clients in a wide range of practice areas, including Antitrust, Corporate and Securities; Entertainment and Media; Finance and Bankruptcy; Government Contracts; Intellectual Property; Labor and Employment; Litigation; Real Estate/Land Use; Tax, Employee Benefits, Trusts and Estate Planning; and White Collar Defense. The firm was founded in 1927.

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