[Congressional Record Volume 160, Number 139 (Friday, November 14, 2014)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1594]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




  CONGRATULATING HARRISON D. McIVER III FOR RECEIVING THE CHARLES H. 
                              DORSEY AWARD

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. STEVE COHEN

                              of tennessee

                    in the house of representatives

                       Friday, November 14, 2014

  Mr. COHEN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to recognize and congratulate 
Harrison D. McIver III of Memphis, Tennessee for receiving the American 
Bar Association's (ABA) Charles H. Dorsey Award, which is awarded to 
attorneys who work in legal aid or legal service corporations 
representing low-income people. He has been at the helm of legal aid 
organizations from Mississippi to our nation's capital, working to 
ensure that all people have access to legal representation regardless 
of their economic backgrounds.
   McIver received his undergraduate degree from Morehouse College in 
Atlanta, Georgia before earning his doctor of Jurisprudence from 
Rutgers University School of Law in Newark, New Jersey. He began his 
legal career as a Reginald Heber Smith Fellow with North Mississippi 
Rural Legal Services and later became a managing attorney for the 
Southwest Mississippi Legal Services and North Mississippi Rural Legal 
Services. McIver was Executive Director of the Central Mississippi 
Legal Services in Jackson, Mississippi before becoming Executive 
Director of the Project Advisory Group in Washington, DC, which is the 
national organization for legal service programs. He served in this 
position when Charles H. Dorsey, Jr. sat on the organization's board of 
directors.
   In 1998, Harrison joined the Memphis Area Legal Services Inc. (MALS) 
as the Executive Director and gave the program new direction and focus 
as well as expanded the program's outreach potential. He was 
responsible for creating the program's first vision and mission 
statements, and strategic and business plans that were focused around a 
common purpose. McIver also worked to improve access to services by 
streamlining the program's delivery system. Additionally, Harrison 
formed partnerships and collaborations with the private bar to maximize 
resources. Under his leadership, MALS became the first legal aid 
organization participant in the Program for Nonprofit Excellence, which 
is a nationally recognized capacity building program that assists in 
providing high quality legal service. His dedication to client services 
has been outstanding and his 15-year leadership at the Memphis Area 
Legal Services is testament to his work, vision and commitment to 
providing legal aid services to the Memphis community.
   During his 15-year tenure at MALS, Harrison has been involved in 
legal aid work at the local, state, regional and national levels, 
including at the Memphis Bar Association; the Ben F. Jones Chapter of 
the National Bar Association; the Tennessee Alliance for Legal 
Services; the Tennessee Bar Association; the Southeast Project 
Directors Association; the National Legal Aid & Defender Association; 
and the American Bar Association. Harrison has received the Ben F. 
Jones A. A. Latting Award, the Tennessee Alliance for Legal Services' 
B. Riney Green Award, and has been inducted as a Fellow by the 
Tennessee Bar Foundation, the Memphis and Shelby County Bar Foundation 
and the American Bar Foundation.
   Mr. Speaker, Harrison D. McIver has served the Memphis legal 
community well and I ask all of my colleagues to join me in 
congratulating him on receiving the American Bar Association's 2014 
Charles H. Dorsey Award.

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