UM Alumna Adele Stone, JD ’78, left, and 2L Irma Khoja, right, who was awarded the G. Kirk Haas Humanitarian Scholarship.

The Florida Bar has named UM Law alumna Adele Stone the 2009 recipient of the G. Kirk Haas Humanitarian Award, an honor the Bar presents annually to a lawyer who exemplifies professionalism and ethics in their everyday life and the practice of law. The award is paired with G. Kirk Haas Humanitarian Scholarship which goes to the law school of the award recipient’s choosing.

Stone, JD ’78, is a shareholder with the Ft. Lauderdale law firm of Atkinson, Diner, Stone, Mankuta & Ploucha, P.A. She is board certified by The Florida Bar in Real Estate Law, and her practice focuses on the areas of commercial real estate and general business law. Aside from her law practice, Stone is president-elect of the Florida Bar Foundation and an arbitrator with the American Arbitration Association. Legal Aid Service of Broward County honored her earlier this year with the 2009 Russell E. Carlisle Advocacy Award for her commitment to the poor and public interest work. And Florida Trend magazine named her among its list of “Legal Elite” and “Florida Super Lawyers.” Stone was also included in the 2009 edition of The Best Lawyers In America for real estate law.

She selected the University of Miami School of Law to receive this year’s G. Kirk Haas Humanitarian Scholarship, which was awarded to second-year law student Irma Khoja.

“We are deeply appreciative of the Florida Bar’s support and the generosity of Ms. Adele Stone in sharing this scholarship with the University of Miami School of Law,” said Dean Patricia D. White. “Ms. Khoja has deeply impressed her classmates and her professors with her passion and dedication to helping others. We are pleased that we can award her the recognition of the Haas Scholarship.”

Khoja, a HOPE Fellow and vice president of the South Asian Law Students Association at the Law School, earned her Bachelor’s degree in Anthropology and Human Rights from Barnard College. She volunteers with Sahara, a South Asian domestic violence group in South Florida, where she provides support, guidance, and resources to victims. Khoja also volunteers at her local religious center where she educates women on their rights in relation to spousal abuse. In the summer of 2009, she worked with the Florida Immigrant Advocacy Center (FIAC), filing visas for victims of domestic violence. Just before the FIAC internship, Khoja spoke at the 7th Annual Universal Muslim Association of America Conference, where she joined distinguished speakers on a panel about domestic violence in the Muslim community.

Related Links

• UM Law alumna Adele Stone, JD ’78, receives 2009 Russell E. Carlisle Advocacy Award
• UM Law student and HOPE Fellow Irma Khoja during her presentation at the 7th annual UMAA Conference
• 2009 HOPE Fellow Irma Khoja

posted 2-September-2009

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