The law firm of McLane, Graf, Raulerson & Middleton, Professional Association is pleased to honor attorney Christopher M. Dube with the third annual Jack B. Middleton Pro Bono Legal Services Award for his outstanding commitment to serving New Hampshire’s poor and underprivileged citizens.
McLane, New Hampshire’s largest full-service law firm, created the award in support of its efforts to help ensure that all New Hampshire citizens, regardless of resources, have access to the justice system. Since the firm’s inception over eighty-five years ago, McLane has been a consistent leader in supporting the states most vulnerable residents.
Mr. Dube is an attorney in McLane’s Corporate Department, his practice focusing on bankruptcy, corporate governance, and other business law matters.
Jeremy Walker, a fellow McLane attorney who practices in the firm’s Litigation Department and recipient of last year’s Middleton Pro Bono Award, noted the following reasons for the firm’s Pro Bono Committee choosing Mr. Dube as this year’s honoree.
“Since Chris began working at McLane in 1998,” Walker said, “he consistently has been proactive in seeking out cases where he can provide pro bono assistance, largely by counseling clients in personal bankruptcy matters or helping clients avoid eviction in landlord/tenant matters.”
In 2007, Mr. Dube provided more than 100 hours of pro bono legal services in working to help a local dairy farmer defend against an action seeking to evict his herd from his leased farm.
“This is exactly the spirit in which the Jack B. Middleton Pro Bono Award was created,” said Walker. “Jack embodies the best of what many of us in our profession aspire to be, and all of us who serve on the firm’s Pro Bono Committee are very proud to follow in his footsteps.”
Middleton, a senior partner was the first lawyer in private practice to be honored by the New Hampshire Bar Foundation with the Frank Rowe Kenison award for his exemplary work and substantial contributions to the betterment of New Hampshire’s citizens. An esteemed trial lawyer for fifty years, Middleton has also given tirelessly to a number of civic organizations, including holding board positions with the United Way, the Mt. Washington Observatory and New Hampshire Public Television.
Middleton was also among the pioneers of the IOLTA (“Interest on Lawyers’ Trust Accounts”) program in New Hampshire. Under IOLTA, interest earned on certain funds held by attorneys are used by the New Hampshire Bar Foundation to fund legal services for the poor.
In addition to working directly for pro bono clients, Mr. Dube has served as vice chairman of the board of directors of Granite State Independent Living, a statewide non-profit organization that assists persons with disabilities in their effort to live and work in the community as independently as possible.