The American Bar Association Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section will honor Jackson, Miss., attorney W. Scott Welch III with its Sen. Edmund S. Muskie Pro Bono Service Award to be presented during the Second Annual ABA TIPS Spring Section Conference in Atlanta, May 11-15.
The award recognizes TIPS members who have the attributes embodied by Muskie: his dedication to justice for all citizens, his public service and his role as a lawyer and distinguished leader of the section. It will be presented on Friday, May 13, at the Leadership in Action Luncheon at the InterContinental Buckhead.
"True pro bono service is performed expecting no recognition or accolade, to earn the satisfaction which comes from providing the kind of help only a lawyer can provide. TIPS honors one of its own every year whose pro bono sacrifices provide leadership by example." said G. Glennon Troublefield, chair of the Tort Trial and Insurance Practice Section. "Mr. Welch has made a career of making a difference, and I am honored to announce that he is the 2016 Edmund S. Muskie Pro Bono Service Award recipient."
Welch, senior counsel in Baker Donelson's Jackson office, is a civil trial and appellate lawyer and mediator with current emphasis on commercial disputes, lawyers' professional liability and disciplinary actions, financial services litigation, insurance coverage issues and first-party disputes, personal injury, and product liability litigation and mediation of all types of cases.
Welch began his commitment to pro bono work as a young attorney, advocating for underrepresented Jackson property owners. Continuing his dedication to others in his home state, Welch has frequently served two Mississippi organizations - the Mississippi Volunteer Lawyers Program (MLVP) and Mission First, both of which focus on legal concerns and assistance to low-income individuals. An active volunteer with MLVP legal clinics, Welch was heavily involved in its divorce mediation pilot program.
In addition to local outreach, Welch also has tackled larger systemic pro bono matters, such as work on an amicus brief for the National Chamber of Commerce addressing a potential threat to the right to trial by jury. In 2014, he devoted significant research and legal analysis to representing the family of a disabled veteran in appealing denial of VA benefits. More recently, Welch represented a case involving international child abduction.
Welch has also shown a commitment to TIPS through his leadership in the section. For nearly 20 years, he has served on the TIPS National Trial Academy Standing Committee. An active member of the ABA, Welch has served on the Board of Governors, the House of Delegates, the Standing Committees on Judicial Independence, Lawyers' Professional Liability; Medical Professional Liability and Membership. He is a fellow of the American College of Trial Lawyers and the American Bar Foundation and a past president of the Mississippi Bar Association.
Published: Fri, Apr 29, 2016
