08 Dec Lawyers’ Committee to Recognize Outstanding Lawyers, Law Firms and Clients During Annual Awards Reception
Lawyers’ Committee to Recognize Outstanding Lawyers, Law Firms and Clients During Annual Awards Reception
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: December 08, 2010
CONTACT:
Stacie B.Royster
202-662-8317
sroyster@lawyerscommittee.org
NEW YORK, NY – The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law will honor the outstanding pro bono service and stellar commitment to equality and justice of lawyers, law firms and clients during its 2010 Annual Awards Reception, hosted by Proskauer Rose LLP. Honorees include renowned former Attorney General Nicholas DeBelleville Katzenbach, social justice and civil rights leaders, prominent law firms, esteemed New York Bar leaders, Election Protection champions, and courageous clients.
“We are grateful for the tremendous devotion and critical contributions that these honorees have made in partnering with the Lawyers’ Committee on significant civil rights matters which has impacted countless lives,” said Lawyers’ Committee Executive Director Barbara Arnwine. “Our nation’s ongoing quest for equal justice has certainly been strengthened by their unyielding perseverance, commitment, bravery and service.”
WHEN: Monday, December 13, 2010, 6-7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Proskauer Rose LLP, 1585 Broadway, New York, NY
This year’s Annual Awards Reception honorees are:
LLOYD N. CUTLER LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD
Nicholas DeBelleville Katzenbach
The Lloyd N. Cutler Award recognizes an individual whose distinguished career of exceptional achievement and service has advanced equal justice under law. Mr. Cutler was a founding Lawyers’ Committee board member and former co-chair.
WHITNEY NORTH SEYMOUR AWARD
Daniel F. Kolb, Davis Polk & Wardwell
This award recognizes a board member whose body of work exemplifies the legacy of service and integrity which characterized the life of Whitney North Seymour. He was a prominent New York trial lawyer, 84th president of the American Bar Association, long-serving managing partner of the law firm of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett and assistant solicitor general in the Justice Department from 1931 to 1933.
SEGAL-TWEED FOUNDERS AWARD
Victoria B. Bjorklund, Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Named in honor of Lawyers’ Committee founding co-chairs Bernard G. Segal and Harrison Tweed, two of this century’s most esteemed jurists, this award is presented to a Lawyers’Committee board member who has displayed outstanding leadership and service in the cause of equal justice under the law.
ROBERT F. MULLEN PRO BONO AWARD
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
The Lawyers’ Committee’s pro bono award is named in memory of Robert F. Mullen, a former Lawyers’ Committee co-chair, staunch advocate for pro bono legal services and partner at the law firm of Cravath, Swaine & Moore in New York. The award honors a law firm that has provided extraordinary pro bono legal services on behalf of Lawyers’ Committee clients or matters.
BROOKS R. BURDETTE BEST NEW BOARD MEMBER AWARD
Jennifer R. Scullion, Proskauer & Rose LLP
The Brooks R. Burdette Best New Board Member Award was established in honor of longtime and dedicated Lawyers’ Committee board member Brooks R. Burdette following his passing in 2009. The inaugural recipients, “best new board members”, will be acknowledged for extraordinary service during the first two years of membership on the board.
EDWIN D. WOLF AWARD
Martha Bergmark, Mississippi Center for Justice
The Wolf Award is named in honor of Edwin D. Wolf who overcame a personal battle with cancer to mobilize the local bar and to establish the Public Interest Law Center of Philadelphia, serving as counsel from 1968 until his death in 1976. This award honors a past or present staff member of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, national office, or one of the independent Local Committees, who has exhibited outstanding service and commitment to civil rights.
FRANK R. PARKER CLIENT AWARD
Evelyn Houser and Census Case Clients
The Client Award is named in memory of the former chief counsel of the Lawyers’ Committee’s Jackson, Mississippi Office and longtime director of the Voting Rights Project, Frank R. Parker. This award recognizes the courage and perseverance of a client of the Lawyers’ Committee.
*Note to Press: Please confirm and coordinate coverage plans by December 11th with Stacie Royster, 202-662-8317 or sroyster@lawyerscommittee.org.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law (LCCRUL), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, was formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination. The principal mission of the Lawyers’ Committee is to secure, through the rule of law, equal justice under law, particularly in the areas of fair housing and fair lending, community development, employment discrimination, voting, education and environmental justice. For more information about the LCCRUL, visit www.lawyerscommittee.org.