CHARLOTTE, NC – The North Carolina Bar Association recently presented Charlotte attorney William H. McNair of Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP with its Citizen Lawyer Award. The award recognizes attorneys who have provided exemplary service to their communities through volunteering and civic involvement beyond their law practice.

For more than forty years, Mr. McNair has focused on providing stable, loving homes for children. In the early 1970's, Bill became the first male President of the Board of the Florence Crittenton Home – a facility that provides a safe and supportive environment for unwed mothers. In 1974, he joined the Board of Managers of Thompson Children's home, an organization to which he has remained committed and continues to serve today as a Senior Trustee. Thompson Children's Home provides a myriad of services for children (and their families) who require assistance due to family circumstances, physical abuse, or other special needs. In the time since Mr. McNair joined the board, the operating budget has grown by a factor of ten, and the number of children and families it serves has kept pace.

For many years, Mr. McNair represented the Mecklenburg County Department of Social Services in their efforts to improve the welfare of children in the county. He was a principal draftsman of North Carolina's statute governing the termination of parental rights – one of the first legal steps in successfully placing children for adoption. His statute clarified and strengthened the process for adoptive placement of children and notifying putative fathers of the proceedings.

In addition to his work with children, Mr. McNair has held every position in the Vestry of St. Martin's Episcopal Church, and he serves on the board of the St. Peter's Hospital Foundation, as well as 10,000 Villages, a non-profit, fair trade organization. In the past he served on the Boards of the Children’s Home Society and the Shepherd's Center, was Lt. Governor at Civitan and a bee keeper to boot.

Bill McNair will receive his award on June 24, 2011 at the Grove Park Inn in Asheville, North Carolina.

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Founded in 1925, Shumaker, Loop & Kendrick, LLP is a full service law firm with 215 attorneys practicing in Toledo and Columbus, Ohio; Tampa and Sarasota, Florida; and Charlotte, North Carolina.