Attorney John M. Gasaway Jr. received the 12th annual Bruce E. Friedman Pro Bono Award for his work with survivors of domestic violence during a recent ceremony at the UNH Franklin Pierce School of Law.
John M. Gasaway Jr. receives the 12th Annual Bruce E. Friedman Pro Bono Award.
“I’m deeply honored to be recognized with this. I’m thrilled and excited to be connected with Professor Friedman’s legacy,” said Gasaway, who is a prosecuting attorney at the New Hampshire Department of Safety.
Each year thousands of domestic violence survivors apply for protective orders and fewer than 10% of those survivors are represented at their final protective order hearing, said Maggie Florino, DOVE Project Coordinator and Domestic Violence Specialist at 603 Legal Aid, who was among several speakers at the ceremony.
"And getting a final protective order can often make the difference between life or death,” Florino said. “In his five years of pro-bono service, John has donated over 200 hours to helping these survivors. And so, the number of lives that he’s changed, and perhaps even saved, is just incalculable.”
The Bruce E. Friedman Pro Bono Award honors a University of New Hampshire Franklin Pierce School of Law graduate and member of the New Hampshire bar who exemplifies Bruce Friedman’s commitment to representing the indigent through exemplary pro bono service. Professor Friedman was the founder of the law school's civil practice clinic.
“Be like Bruce Friedman,” said the Hon. Charles S. Temple, who spoke about Friedman's legacy. “Whether you go into private practice whether you go into some sort of public interest law, do good for people. It doesn’t matter what you’re making, what your wealth is, where you’re at in your practice, big firm, small firm, prosecutor, public defender, you really need to be out there and doing good.”
In addition to helping survivors, Gasaway works hard to recruit prosecutors around the state, Florino said. “He gives them advice on how to balance their duties with the impactful service of pro bono work,” Florino said.
“There’s this huge need in New Hampshire so I can’t say enough to encourage people to think about doing DOVE cases and other types of pro bono work," Gasaway said. "I’ve gotten so much out of it personally.”
