On October 14 and 15 Plews Shadley Racher & Braun is receiving two major pro bono public service awards from the Indiana Bar Foundation ("IBF") and the Heartland Pro Bono Council ("HPBC"). The firm is receiving these two awards in recognition of its donation of pro bono legal services to indigent persons and public service projects.

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun is the only law firm being awarded the 2004 Pro Bono Publico Award from the IBF. The award serves to focus public awareness on the substantial volunteer services rendered by Indiana lawyers and firms. It is being presented at the Randall T. Shepard award and reception dinner on October 15 at the Hyatt Regency in downtown Indianapolis.

"The firm has demonstrated leadership in its pro bono work," said Charles Dunlap, Executive Director of the IBF. "The firm provided pro bono services on a wide variety of matters ranging from defense of a death row inmate in Alabama, a myriad of consumer, insurance and landlord-tenant disputes for poor clients, a trial to restore an indigent student athlete's eligibility that had been wrongfully denied by the Indiana High School Athletic Association, and legal work associated with the construction of the new Catholic high school in Hamilton County."

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun has also been awarded the 2004 Heartland Pro Bono Award from the HPBC. This award will be presented at 4:00 on October 14 at a reception at the Indiana State Bar Association Meeting by Justice Theodore Boehm of the Indiana Supreme Court. The award is given because of the amount of pro bono legal representation the firm has given to the indigent, particularly through the firm's representation of indigent clients of the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic. "All members of our community should have equal access to justice through our legal system, regardless of income, and the lawyers at Plews Shadley Racher & Braun help make that possible," said Laurie Beltz Boyd of the HPBC.

"The firm has always done uncompensated work for people who have a serious need for legal services but cannot pay for them," said managing partner John B. Bridge. "Doing pro bono work is a responsibility that goes with being members of a learned profession. This is a great honor, recognition of good work we are privileged to be able to do."

Plews Shadley Racher & Braun is believed to be the only law firm to receive both these awards in the same year.

In 2003 the firm's attorneys donated nearly 2,000 hours of time in pro bono, civic and charitable work, an average of about 75 hours per lawyer. In addition to their indigent client work, Plews Shadley Racher & Braun lawyers serve on numerous civic and non-for-profit boards.

"We all became lawyers to help people solve problems and overcome conflict or obstacles," said George Plews, one of the firm's founders. "Our work in the community gives our lawyers a chance to strengthen our community, both as lawyers and as citizens."

The Heartland Pro Bono Council is a not-for-profit corporation with a board of directors consisting of local attorneys, former clients, and community representatives. It has recruited more than 1,500 attorneys and referred more than 2,000 indigent civil clients in conjunction with the central Indiana county bar associations and other legal services providers serving the legal needs of the indigent. Heartland also provides legal training, free support services for participating attorneys, and client intake and referral. The Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic is a not-for-profit corporation that provides legal representation and information to indigent persons throughout Indianapolis. The Indiana Bar Foundation is the charitable arm of the Indiana State Bar Association, and supports a variety of legal services and information projects throughout Indiana.

For more information on Plews Shadley Racher & Braun, please visit www.psrb.com or call 317-637-0700. For more information on the Indiana Bar Foundation, please visit www.inbf.org or call 317-269-2415. For more information on the Heartland Pro Bono Council, call 317-614-5304. For more information on the Neighborhood Christian Legal Clinic, call 317-415-5337.