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Kate Payerle, '07, Awarded Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award

CHARLOTTE, NC (September 11, 2012)—University of San Diego alumna Kate Payerle, ’07, was presented the Outstanding Pro Bono Service Award at the first Annual Pro Bono Awards at the Charlotte City Club in Charlotte, N.C. Payerle was recognized for her dedication to serving local families in need with donated legal services.

“I began doing pro bono work to develop courtroom advocacy and case management skills as a young associate,” said Payerle in a press release. “But the habit stuck when I discovered firsthand what Legal Aid of North Carolina has known all along: our remarkable system of justice is a disappointment—sometimes even an enemy—to those with no meaningful access to it. I can only hope my work with Legal Aid gives at least a few people access to and renewed faith in that system.”

Payerle accepted her first pro bono case with Legal Aid of North Carolina in 2009. After two and a half years and 279 hours on the case, she not only achieved a favorable result for her client, but also won her first pro bono jury trial in Mecklenburg County Superior Court. And more than that, the client credits her with helping restore his life.

Payerle is an associate at Robinson Bradshaw & Hinson, PA and focuses on litigation practice on behalf of individual and corporate clients, aggressively litigating financial services industry disputes, personal injury lawsuits, employment litigation, agency proceedings and trade secret claims.