Legal Aid Honors Dedication and Skill of its Pro Bono Partners; Chief Judge Janet DiFiore Presents the Awards

 

Chief Judge Janet DiFiore addresses attendees at The Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publico Awards

The Honorable Janet DiFiore, Chief Judge of the State of New York, addressed The Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Award Ceremony on October 26, 2016 at the Prince George Ballroom, and presented awards to New York City’s foremost law firms and corporate law departments which have generously volunteered their time and talent to advocate for equal justice for the marginalized and under-represented. Legal Aid honored the dedication and skill of its pro bono partners. Their work spans all three practices and assists clients with a variety of issues. Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP was recognized with the 2016 Honorable Jonathan Lippman New York Pro Bono & Public Service Law Firm Award for its distinguished pro bono commitment to the Society and our clients. Led by Firm Chair and Legal Aid Board Member Thomas M. Cerabino, Partner and Pro Bono Committee Chair Michael S. Schachter, Director of Attorney Training & Pro Bono Stacey E. Paradise, and Partner Mary Eaton, Willkie Farr’s attorneys, legal assistants and administrative staff have shown a sustained commitment to representing less fortunate New Yorkers. Recent examples of the firm’s outstanding work include litigation to preserve the rights of clients in the criminal justice system and a fight for transgender Medicaid recipients. New York State, in response to the Medicaid litigation, unveiled proposed regulations, which would remove bars to gender-affirming healthcare coverage for Medicaid recipients under age 18 and repeal provisions that improperly designate certain medically necessary procedures as “cosmetic.”

Awards were presented to the following firms for Extraordinary Pro Bono Assistance to The Legal Aid Society and its Clients.

Protecting The Rights of Low Income Clients

Arnold & Porter LLP; Crowell & Moring LLP; Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP; and Kaye Scholer LLP

Innovative Corporate Pro Bono Projects & Partnerships

AIG and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; BNY Mellon; BNP Paribas and Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP; Credit Suisse and Shearman & Sterling LLP; IBM and Goodwin Procter LLP; JPMorgan Chase and Sullivan & Cromwell LLP; and MetLife

Preserving Affordable Housing & The Right to Shelter

Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP; White & Case LLP; and Mayer Brown LLP

Ensuring Access to Affordable Health Care for All New Yorkers

Winston & Strawn LLP

Outstanding Advocacy in Championing the Rights of the Accused

Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP; Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP; Proskauer Rose LLP; and White & Case LLP

Public Interest Law Leadership Award

Brenna DeVaney, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP

Brenna DeVaney, Pro Bono Counsel at Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, was recognized for her extraordinary contributions as a volunteer attorney, as a leader of Skadden’s outstanding pro bono program and for her constant support to The Legal Aid Society and its clients.

Exceptional Pro Bono Assistance to the Leadership of The Legal Aid Society

Jane Hanson, Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP

Outstanding Law Firm Assistance To The Legal Aid Society and its Clients

• Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
• Chadbourne & Parke LLP
• Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
• Cooley LLP
• Covington & Burling LLP
• Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
• Dechert LLP
• DLA Piper LLP (US)
• Fitzpatrick, Cella, Harper & Scinto
• Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
• Friedman Kaplan Seiler & Adelman LLP
• Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
• Jones Day
• Kirkland & Ellis LLP
• Latham & Watkins LLP
• Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP
• Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
• Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
• Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
• Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP
• Ropes & Gray LLP
• Sidley Austin LLP
• Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
• Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
• Susman Godfrey LLP
• Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP

2016 Honorable Jonathan Lippman New York Pro Bono Publico & Public Service Law Firm Award

Willke Farr & Gallagher LLP

Pictured from left to right are Seymour W. James, Jr, Attorney-in-Chief of The Legal Aid Society, Richard J. Davis, Chair of The Legal Aid Society, Stacey E. Paradise, Director of Attorney Training & Pro Bono at Willke Farr & Gallagher, Mary Eaton, Parter at Willke Farr & Gallagher, Chief Judge Janet DiFiore, Wesley Powell, Parter at Willke Farr & Gallagher, Matthew Freimuth, Parter at Willke Farr & Gallagher, Blaine (Fin) V. Fogg, President of The Legal Aid Society, and Lou Sartori, Director of the Pro Bono Practice at The Legal Aid Society.