RALEIGH, N.C. – The leadership of the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University announced the creation of a Senior Law Clinic to serve legal needs of low-income senior citizens in the greater Raleigh region. The clinic, which will offer substantive client experience for students and a valuable community service, is slated to open during Campbell Law School’s 2009-2010 academic year.
Progress Energy has committed $150,000 to Campbell Law School’s Campaign for Raleigh to help launch the Senior Law Clinic. This contribution from Progress Energy is also the first significant match to a million-dollar challenge grant issued by the A. J. Fletcher Foundation, led by Jim and Barbara Goodmon, in September 2008. The Fletcher Foundation pledged $1 million to the Campaign on the condition that an additional million is secured for clinical programs.
“We are extraordinarily grateful for this major commitment from Progress Energy,” said Dean Melissa Essary. “Having the support of one of Raleigh’s bedrock corporations is significant to our efforts. This clinic will make a tremendous difference in the lives of low-income seniors and their families.”
The Campbell Senior Law Clinic, to be led by an attorney who specializes in elder law, will assist low-income seniors who might not otherwise be able to afford the services of a lawyer. The clinic will focus on issues such as simple wills, power of attorney and advanced directives, guardianship, abuse and neglect, housing, consumer fraud and other significant concerns. Cases will likely be generated from direct referrals, as well as through a partnership with Legal Aid of North Carolina.
“We look forward to working with Campbell Law and its students and faculty to serve an important and sometimes overlooked group throughout Raleigh and the Triangle,” said John McArthur, Executive Vice President and General Counsel at Progress Energy. “Our company strives to support organizations and programs in the communities where our employees and customers live and work.”
“A top priority for Campbell Law School in Raleigh will be to develop a robust program of legal clinics,” said Bryan Boyd, Assistant Dean for Academic Affairs. “It will be extremely important for our students to have opportunities to gain practical experience in serving real clients with real needs. Campbell Law plans to be an active member of the Raleigh community by helping the underserved.”
About Progress Energy: Progress Energy, headquartered in Raleigh, N.C., is a Fortune 250 energy company with more than 21,000 megawatts of generation capacity and $9 billion in annual revenues. The company observed its 100th anniversary in 2008. Progress Energy includes two major utilities that serve 3.1 million customers in the Carolinas and Florida. The company is the 2006 recipient of the Edison Electric Institute’s Edison Award, the industry’s highest honor, in recognition of its operational excellence. The company also is the first utility to receive the prestigious J.D. Power and Associates Founder’s Award for customer service. Progress Energy serves two fast-growing areas of the country, and the company is pursuing a balanced strategy for a secure energy future. That balance includes aggressive energy efficiency programs, investments in renewable energy technologies and a state-of-the-art electricity system. For more information about Progress Energy, visit the company’s Web site at http://www.progress-energy.com.
About Campbell Law School: Since its founding in 1976, the Norman Adrian Wiggins School of Law at Campbell University has developed lawyers who possess moral conviction, social compassion and professional competence, and who view the law as a calling to serve others and create a more just society. The School has been recognized by the American Bar Association (ABA) as having the nation’s top Professionalism Program and by the American Academy of Trial Lawyers for having the nation’s best Trial Advocacy Program. In 2008, the Law School’s Moot Court Program was ranked in the top ten nationally by the University of Houston’s Blakely Advocacy Institute among 196 ABA accredited law schools. Campbell Law boasts more than 3,000 alumni, including 2,000 who reside and work in North Carolina. For the past 20 years, Campbell Law’s record of success on the North Carolina bar exam is unsurpassed by any other North Carolina law school. In the fall of 2009, Campbell Law School will relocate from the main Campbell University campus to a new location in downtown Raleigh. For more information, please visit law.campbell.edu.
Media Contact: Ashley Arnold, 910.893.1812, [email protected]/* */