Retired Statesboro Attorney Wallace Wright was presented one of the 23rd Annual Justice Robert Benham Awards for Community Service in a special ceremony on Thursday, March 2, 2023. Since 1998, these awards have been presented to honor lawyers and judges in Georgia who have made significant contributions to their communities and who demonstrate the positive contributions of members of the Bar beyond their legal or official work.
From 1984 until his retirement in 2008, Wallace H. Wright was the senior partner of Wallace H. Wright, Attorney, P.C., now known as Wright & Edwards, P.C. Wright received his college degree from Emory University in 1963. He graduated from Mercer University School of Law in 1970, and then worked with two other law firms before establishing his own law firm.
Rachel C. Edwards, one of Wright’s endorsers and former law partners shared, “When Wallace retired in 2008, we really were not sure how he would handle retirement life. We expected him to be in the office every day.” To everyone’s surprise, Wright flourished in retirement by increasing his volunteerism in his community. Wright got a Goldendoodle puppy named Tyler. Wallace and Tyler enrolled in obedience school, and Tyler became a certified therapy dog and Wright a certified handler. Now, Wright and Tyler can be found in the local schools, hospitals, and retirement homes in Candler County.
Judge Lovett Bennett, Jr., a previous Benham Award recipient and Wright’s nominator said, “[Wallace’s] way of bringing young children out of their shells, by way of the lovable and huggable Tyler, is absolutely remarkable.” Edwards agreed and observed children who barely speak in school love reading to Wright’s therapy dog, Tyler, knowing that Tyler will never judge them for stumbling over their words or mispronouncing them. Tyler sets the children at ease and Wright sits quietly by, giving each child the opportunity to have his or her turn spending time with Tyler.
In addition, to their work in schools, Wright and Tyler are also well known at local retirement homes. Residents enjoy loving on Tyler while Wright tells stories about the residents or their loved ones from his encounters with them over the years. In an interview published in Candler County Magazine in October 2021, Wright was asked what he hoped he and Tyler could accomplish. Wright responded, “I hope they get kind of a sense of calmness . . . . That’s what therapy does – relieves pain, suffering, anxiety.”
Wright also serves in other ways. He is a board of director’s member for Communities in Schools in Candler County. Regarding his service in schools, Edwards wrote: “Candler County is a small, rural county with a median household income just under $37,000. As a volunteer in the schools, Wallace quickly learned how many children do without. . . . Wallace assumed a mentorship position for an elementary school student whose home life was less than ideal. He . . . spent countless hours over the years, taking the child to medical appointments, school shopping, even out for ice cream to celebrate academic achievements. Any time anything involving the child went on, Wallace was there.”
Wright has also volunteered with Ogeechee Area Hospice, by assisting in its formation, participating in a capital fund drive, providing pro bono legal services and serving on the board of directors. Senior Judge John R. Turner observed, “[Wallace] is an emissary and an example for those of us who worked for years in the local and state bar.”
Wright and his wife, Nancy, have twin sons, Bill and Jim, and three grandchildren. He is a charter member of the Forest Heights Country Club and a member of the Metter Rotary Club.
Additional Awardees
The Lifetime Achievement Award is the highest recognition given by the Chief Justice’s Commission on Professionalism, organizer of the Justice Robert
Benham Awards for Community Service. This year it will be awarded to one outstanding community and public servant: J. Michael Levengood, member,
Law Office of J. Michael Levengood, LLC, Lawrenceville. This award is reserved for a lawyer or judge who, in addition to meeting the criteria for receiving the Justice Robert Benham Award for Community Service, has demonstrated an extraordinarily long and distinguished commitment to volunteer participation in the community throughout his or her legal career.
The Justice Robert Benham Awards for Community Service Awards are presented to selected attorneys in the judicial districts of Georgia from which nominations were received. This year’s other recipients are:
- Mary T. Benton, pro bono partner, Alston & Bird, Atlanta
- Simon H. Bloom, founding partner, Bloom Parham, LLP, Atlanta
- Ronald J. Freeman, Sr., managing member, Johnson & Freeman, LLC, Historic Union City
- Elicia N. Hargrove, assistant district attorney, Henry County District Attorney's Office , McDonough
- Edward H. Lindsey, Jr., partner, Dentons US LLP, Atlanta
- Jason Banks Moon, attorney at law, Moon Law Firm , Valdosta
These awards recognize the commitment of Georgia lawyers and judges to volunteerism, encourage all lawyers and judges to become involved in community service, improve the quality of lawyers’ lives through the satisfaction they derive from helping others and raise the public image of lawyers and judges. All honorees are members of the State Bar of Georgia.