ATLANTA – October 6 – Rick Horder has been selected as a 2006 Angels in AdoptionTM award recipient. Congressman John Lewis nominated Mr. Horder as a 2006 Angels in AdoptionTM for his outstanding advocacy of adoption and foster care. The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI), which oversees the Angels in AdoptionTM program, held a ceremony and gala event in Washington, DC to honor Mr. Horder and his fellow Angels.
Rick Horder is a partner in the Atlanta law firm of Kilpatrick Stockton, LLP. Mr. Horder is also an adoptive parent, active in adoption issues and a member of the American Academy of Adoption Attorneys. He has written and lectured extensively on adoption law and practice and has personally handled and supervised hundreds of adoptions. Mr. Horder has worked with other adoption attorneys on revisions to Georgia’s adoption statute to make it more adoption-friendly.
He is responsible for the creation of Kilpatrick Stockton’s signature Grandparent Adoption Program which assists relative caregivers with pro bono legal assistance to complete the adoption of the children in their care. The Grandparent Adoption Program has provided legal assistance to scores of relative caregivers resulting in the adoption of hundreds of children and leveraging over 6000 hours of representation in relative-caregiver adoption cases at Kilpatrick Stockton, valued at over $1.5 million. Both Mr. Horder and the Grandparent Adoption Program have won numerous awards and recognitions including: the prestigious William B. Spann, Jr. Award, from the Access to Justice Committee and the Pro Bono Project of the State Bar of Georgia, in recognition of exemplary service, dedication, hard work and creativity in fulfilling the legal needs of low-income grandparents and their grandchildren in Georgia; awards from the National Center on Grandparents Raising Children at Georgia State University in recognition of advocacy efforts on behalf of grandparent-headed families and exemplary service to grandparent-headed families; and the 2004 Out-of-State Practitioners Division Pro Bono Award from The Florida Bar in recognition of outstanding pro bono service.
The Angels in AdoptionTM program is CCAI’s signature public awareness campaign and provides an opportunity for all members of the U.S. Congress to honor the good work of their constituents who have enriched the lives of foster children and orphans in the United States and internationally.
“Our goal is to raise awareness of the millions of orphans and foster children in the United States and abroad that are in need of permanent, safe and loving homes, and we congratulate Rick Horder for his role in helping us to achieve this goal,” said Deanna Carlson Stacy, CCAI’s executive director. “Thanks to Congressman John Lewis, Mr. Horder will receive the recognition he deserves for his tireless effort in the mission of helping these children realize their basic right of a family.”
About CCAI
The Congressional Coalition on Adoption Institute (CCAI) is a 501(c)3 nonpartisan organization dedicated to raising awareness about the tens of thousands of orphans and foster children in the United States and the millions of orphans around the world in need of permanent, safe, and loving homes through adoption. CCAI’s goal is the elimination of the barriers that hinder these children from realizing their basic right of a family.
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CCAI was created in 2001 by the active co-chairs of the bicameral, bipartisan Congressional Coalition on Adoption (CCA) to more effectively raise Congressional and public awareness about the issue of adoption.
The Angels in Adoption TM program was established in 1999 as a Congressional press conference to honor outstanding individuals. Since then, the program has developed into a yearlong public awareness campaign culminating in an extraordinary awards Gala and celebration in Washington, D.C. The Angels in Adoption TM program is made possible through the generous support of Founding and Premier Sponsor Freddie Mac Foundation.
About Kilpatrick Stockton
Kilpatrick Stockton LLP is a full-service international law firm with more than 480 attorneys in nine offices across the globe: Atlanta and Augusta, GA.; Charlotte, Raleigh and Winston-Salem, NC.; New York, NY; Washington, D.C.; London, England; and Stockholm, Sweden. Kilpatrick Stockton’s delivery of innovative business solutions provides results-oriented counsel for corporations, from the challenging demands of financial transactions and securities to the disciplines of intellectual property management. Collaboration among Kilpatrick Stockton’s corporate, litigation and intellectual property attorneys provides knowledgeable and proactive guidance for companies at every stage of the business life cycle.
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