Donovan Asmar Receives DMBA Barristers Pro Bono Award
08/01/16
Bodman PLC is pleased to announce that Donovan S. Asmar, an associate attorney in the firm’s Troy office, has been awarded the Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association’s Barristers Pro Bono Award. The award is given annually to an outstanding attorney who has practiced for fewer than ten years and who has made extraordinary accomplishments through his or her participation in pro bono activities.
Asmar is a member of Bodman’s Litigation and Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Group. He represents clients involved in commercial litigation matters. Before joining Bodman, Asmar clerked for Justice Mary Beth Kelly of the Michigan Supreme Court, who has since joined Bodman.
Asmar’s nomination, submitted by fellow Bodman attorney Michael Serra, focused on his pro bono work with a family of Iraqi asylees. The family’s journey to America followed years of persecution, imprisonment, and even torture in their native country. To accomplish permanent residency in the United States for the five family members, Asmar had to learn a new area of law and prepare detailed applications for each family member, including compiling hundreds of pages of supporting documentation.
The Barristers section of the DMBA consists entirely of attorneys who have worked for fewer than ten years in the legal field. The Barristers provide new attorneys with tools and opportunities to exercise their leadership skills, get involved in their communities, and further their education in their practice area.