Legal Services Corporation (LSC) Honors a Local Attorney for Pro Bono Service

“Irene Karns, a pro bono attorney for Mid-Missouri Legal Services and a member of the Boone County Bar Association, recently was selected by the Legal Services Corporation of Washington, D.C. to receive a LSC Pro Bono Award. Irene was honored at a Pro Bono Awards Reception on Thursday, January 17, 2019 at Stinson Leonard Street LLP in St. Louis.

Ms. Karns is a retired public defender who has volunteered in MMLS’s Uncontested Divorce Clinic (UDC) for seven years. She has assisted more than 80 clients at the MMLS Columbia office since the Clinic’s inception. The UDC was created by Columbia attorney Brian Taylor, and Ms. Karns has been instrumental in expanding and staffing the Clinic. The UDC is one of the most successful family law clinics in the country, with 90% of participating litigants successfully obtaining their decrees.”

Presenters were from left to right: John Levi, Esq., Chicago, Illinois, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation Irene Karns, Esq., Columbia, MO Victor Maddock of Louisville KY, Member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation Jim Sandman of Washington, D.C., Executive Director of the Legal Services Corporation.