Campbell Law’s Service Animal Project receives NCBA Law School Pro Bono Award

ASHEVILLE — Campbell Law School’s Pro Bono Council Service Animal Project was honored on June 20 at the North Carolina Bar Association (NCBA) Annual Meeting at Biltmore, receiving the bar’s prestigious 2019 Law School Pro Bono Service Award.

Created in 2015, Campbell Law’s Service Animal Project aims to help the community better understand the laws surrounding service animals and the proper etiquette to use around them, while also increasing access to facilities, services and opportunities for persons with disabilities.

Service animals play a critical role in their companion’s daily life.  Federal, state and local laws protecting the rights of persons with disabilities who use service animals can be confusing or misinterpreted, and the Service Animal Project aims to end that confusion, organizers say.

The unique student program, in partnership with Disability Rights North Carolina,  provides education through workshops for local businesses and organizations — including schools, government entities and area restaurants. (Did you know that legally service animals have the same rights as people do to be in a restaurant?).  Participants are trained in relevant disability laws including how best to accommodate service animal users, while also minimizing their own risks arising out of the presence of a service animal

2019 Project Coordinator Derek Dittmar (’19), 2019 Pro Bono Council Director Brooks Barrett (’19) and Project Founder Cody Davis (’18) along with their service dogs and Dean J. Rich Leonard received the award during  the awards dinner.