Madison County Judge Lola P. Maddox of Edwardsville will receive a John C. McAndrews Pro Bono Service Award from the ISBA Committee on Delivery of Legal Services during the Annual Meeting next month at The Abbey on Lake Geneva.

In addition to the individual attorney award to Judge Maddox, the Rock Island law firm of Lane & Waterman and the DuPage County Bar Association will be honored.

Although as a sitting judge, Maddox may not volunteer as a pro bono attorney, she is being honored for her work with the Alton office of Land of Lincoln Legal Assistance Foundation before her appointment to an interim judgeship that will expire in December.

A 3rd Circuit associate judge from 1979 until her retirement on Nov. 30, 2004, Maddox devoted several hours a week with Land of Lincoln from February 2005 until her judicial appointment last March.

In all, she logged more than 250 hours in serving 72 women clients involved in marriage dissolutions, primarily domestic violence victims.

Maddox also “routinely provided guidance and insight on legal matters to attorneys in the Alton office, graciously sharing her wisdom, knowledge and experience on issues of substance and strategy,” said managing attorney Joan A. Spiegel, who submitted the nomination.

“As a judge, she was proactive in ensuring access to the judicial system for victims of domestic violence,” Spiegel added.

Maddox chaired the 3rd Circuit Domestic Violence Coordinating Council from its inception in 1996 until her retirement from the bench. She receive the council's Partners in Peace Award in 1999 and a service award in 2004.

Other honors Maddox has received are a Civic Award from the Alton NAACP in 1998 and a Woman of Distinction Award from the Edwardsville Business and Professional Women in 2004.

Gretchen Martin Farwell, managing attorney of the Rock Island office of Prairie State Legal Services, nominated Lane & Waterman as an avid supporter of volunteering and raising funds for pro bono legal services.

Members of the firm have contributed an average of 260 hours annually during the past four years, and have made five-year pledges of $50,000 to Prairie State and $100,000 to the H.E.L.P. Legal Aid Society in Davenport, Iowa.

Fifteen members of the firm have counseled indigent clients in matters ranging from income taxes and real estate foreclosures to marriage dissolutions, unemployment appeals, landlord disputes and bankruptcies.

Lane & Waterman attorneys have held leadership roles in Prairie State's Campaign for Legal Services since it began in 2002. Diane Reinsch was co-chair of the leadership committee for 2005 and 2006, and she was Volunteer of the Year in 2003 for representation of low-income clients.

Members of the firm also serve on the boards of several not-for-profit organizations, charitable foundations and civic initiatives.

The DuPage Legal Assistance Foundation, founded in 1975 by the county bar association, has an active panel of 400 attorneys who are assigned to about 100 pro bono cases each year.

In addition to providing volunteer services, the DCBA contributes a substantial annual grant – 65,000 in recent years – and association members add about $15,000 annually through a membership dues option program.

The association also earmarks for legal assistance the proceeds from its annual Judges' Nite Show, a musical satire of life in the DuPage County legal and political communities.

Among the pro bono volunteers who have handled complex cases during the past year is William Fenelli. He provided 75 hours of representation in a hotly contest marriage dissolution involving three children, and was able to settle it despite high emotional intensity.

Mary McSwain took on a rigorous case that involved some demanding personalities and residents of foreign countries in a contested visitation and custody dispute.

Joseph Lovelace, who solo practitioner who is bilingual, devoted 125 hours to making possible a full hearing in court for a client.

John Cummings has made a commitment of four hours a week of pro bono, 50 weeks a year, and he has fulfilled it for the past 11 years – a total of 2,200 hours.

The DuPage County Bar received a McAndrews Award honorable mention in 1994, and several of its members have been singled out for recognition during the 15 years that the pro bono service award has been given by the ISBA.