Jim Volling Honored With Pro Bono Institute’s Esteemed ‘Chesterfield Smith Award’ for Extraordinary Dedication to Legal Advocacy Work

Senior counsel Jim Volling will be honored with the Pro Bono Institute’s (PBI) 2025 “Chesterfield Smith Award,” which recognizes extraordinary courage and commitment to pro bono by a legal leader. The award is not given annually, rather only when warranted by outstanding achievement in the pro bono field. 

Throughout his career, Volling has been a dedicated pro bono advocate. As Supreme Court law clerk to Chief Justice Warren E. Burger, Volling worked on the majority opinion of a Texas death penalty case, Estelle v. Smith, which held unconstitutional the state’s use of psychiatric testimony at the trial’s penalty phase on the issue of the defendant’s future dangerousness. Dismayed at the inadequate and inexperienced defense counsel in that case and others, Volling has dedicated his career to provide legal services to indignant clients, focusing on the areas of children, post-conviction representation, and prisoner reentry.

Last year, Volling received the “Pro Bono Publica” award from the American Bar Association. He serves on and chairs the Board of Directors and the Executive Committee of the Great North Innocence Project. Working with PBI, Jim serves on the Steering Committee of the Minnesota Collaborative Justice Project, which is focused on prisoner reentry, and the Advisory Committee of the PBI Law Firm Pro Bono Project initiative, which supports pro bono work in law firms across the globe. 

Volling will be honored with the award on February 27, 2025 at the 2025 PBI Annual Conference in Washington, D.C.