May 27, 2009
Press Release from the Muskie Access to Justice Award Dinner
PORTLAND, Maine – The annual Muskie Access to Justice Dinner honored Charlie and Ellie Miller of Portland with the 2009 Muskie Access to Justice Award last night at the Holiday Inn by the Bay. Over 400 people attended the event to recognize the Millers for the profound impact the couple has had on Maine’s civil justice system throughout the last 30 years.
“The combined efforts of Ellie and Charlie have had an incredible effect on the state of legal services in Maine today,” noted Nan Heald, executive director of Pine Tree Legal Assistance. “We are fortunate to have them in our community and invested in our mission of providing access to justice to all people in Maine.”
Ellie Miller began her efforts in legal aid by joining Pine Tree Legal Assistance in the late 1970s. Through the years, Ellie helped form many vital legal aid programs in Maine including the Volunteer Lawyers Project, KIDS LEGAL, and the domestic violence program in Portland.
As a member of the Maine Bar Foundation, Charlie Miller has been essential to the creation and growth of the Volunteer Lawyers Project, Muskie Fund for Legal Services and the Campaign for Justice which funds the legal services providers in Maine. He also formed a program at Bernstein Shur where interns get four weeks paid to work at any of the legal service providers in the state. By the end of 2009, the program will have generated over 1,500 hours of legal service work.
The Muskie Dinner was launched in 1996 as a way to honor Senator Muskie’s commitment to justice issues in Maine. This year, the gala dinner raised over $60,000 to support Maine’s nonprofit legal service providers, including Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project, Legal Services for the Elderly, the Cumberland Legal Aid Clinic, the Volunteer Lawyers Project, Maine Equal Justice Partners and Pine Tree Legal Assistance.
Past Muskie Access to Justice Award honorees have included Senator William S. Cohen, Buzz Fitzgerald, William J. Ryan, UNUM, Donald E. Nicoll, The Hon. George Mitchell, Madeleine Corson, Robert Hirshon, Shepard Lee, The Barber Family, Merton Henry, Vincent Conti, and Roger Putnam.