Justice Impact Awards

Annually, Washington Council of Lawyers is thrilled to celebrate us! – the hundreds of public-interest and pro bono professionals who dedicate time, expertise, finances, and compassion to helping their neighbors. That is why we are pleased to announce our annual Awards Ceremony will now be known as the Justice Impact Awards – a time for us to come together, recharge our collective batteries, celebrate our accomplishments, commiserate on our challenges, and be inspired. It will continue to be our annual pro bono and public interest celebration.

Further, each year there are a few exceptional individuals who go above and beyond and deserve special recognition. As we have for many years, we will recognize the outstanding advocates who make exceptional contributions to the pro bono and public-interest community while bringing our larger community together.

NOMINATIONS ARE NOW OPEN!

Our legal services recipient is a dynamic legal services lawyer who represents low-income clients or thinks creatively to solve difficult legal problems. Our government recipient is a dedicated government lawyer who also volunteers time to organize pro bono efforts or represent low-income clients. Our law firm recipient is a law firm lawyer who has made significant contributions to pro bono service. Our corporate pro bono recipient is a legal department lawyer who is committed to increasing pro bono representation by corporate counsel. All our award recipients work hard to improve access to justice.

Nomination materials are due by 5:00 pm ET on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.

Nomination Criteria

Legal Services Lawyers
Selection Criteria:

The legal services award recipient will display qualities such as:

An advocate who has not previously been widely, publicly recognized for her or his work, and whose work benefits low-income or otherwise marginalized clients in the Greater DC Metro Region;
An individual who supports the DC public-interest community in improving access to justice for those who cannot afford an attorney;
An advocate who has endeavored to bring together the public-interest, pro bono, and government legal communities to improve the quality and availability of free legal services for those in need; and
Someone who has gone above and beyond the normal requirements of their job to assist persons in need or has demonstrated outside-the-box thinking about how to resolve difficult legal issues.

Government Lawyers
Selection Criteria:

The government award recipient will be a government attorney who has made significant pro bono contributions. The pro bono work performed may include, but is not limited to activities such as:

Participating regularly in pro bono clinics, pro bono client representation, or other pro bono efforts;
Involvement in establishing or implementing an agency pro bono program;
Increasing the level of pro bono service by agency attorneys through promotion or facilitation of pro bono opportunities;
Mentoring or training agency lawyers handling pro bono matters, litigating cases, or providing non-litigation legal services to low-income people or entities; or

Law Firm Lawyers
Selection Criteria:

The law firm Award recipient will be a law firm attorney who has made significant pro bono contributions. The recipient will display qualities such as:

An advocate who has not previously been widely, publicly recognized for her or his work, and whose work benefits low-income or otherwise marginalized clients in the Greater DC Metro Region;
An individual who supports the DC public-interest community in improving access to justice for those who cannot afford an attorney;

Addressing a critical legal need and/or particularly vulnerable community/target group;
Mentoring or training law firm lawyers handling pro bono matters, litigating cases, or providing non-litigation legal services to low-income people or entities; or
Participating regularly in pro bono clinics, pro bono client representation, or other pro bono efforts.

Corporate/In-House Lawyers
Selection Criteria:

The corporate legal department award recipient will be committed to increasing pro bono representation by corporate counsel. The pro bono work performed may include, but is not limited to activities such as:

Participating regularly in pro bono clinics, pro bono client representation, or other pro bono efforts;
Involvement in establishing or implementing a legal department pro bono program;
Increasing the level of pro bono service by legal department attorneys through promotion or facilitation of pro bono opportunities;
Creating or expanding collaboration with legal services and/or law firms to improve the quality and availability of free legal services for those in need; or
Demonstrating outside-the-box thinking about how to resolve difficult access to justice issues through pro bono.

Please note that the above lists of pro bono activities are not exhaustive. We gladly will consider nominations of attorneys who have performed other kinds of pro bono service.

Nomination Instructions

Nominations should describe the nominee’s relevant professional activities, including (1) a description of the legal services and/or other efforts upon which the nomination is based, (2) an explanation of the impact of that work on clients, other advocates, and/or others and (3) the time period covered by the activities.

Nomination materials should be no longer than 6 pages in length, including the nomination, resume, and any other supporting documents, such as letters of recommendation. Nomination materials should be submitted to info@wclawyers.org. If you have any questions, please contact our Executive Director Christina Jackson at cjackson@wclawyers.org or 202.451.8129.

Deadline

All nominations must be received by 5:00 pm ET on Wednesday, October 11, 2023.

Then mark your calendars for Wednesday, December 6 at 6:30 pm and purchase your tickets. We are looking forward to an inspiring evening.

If you weren’t able to attend our 2022 celebration, check out the inspiring remarks from our award recipients on our Instagram Reels @wash_lawyers.

Thank you to our 2022 annual Awards Celebration Sponsors!
Your support means we can continue our mission of ensuring that our legal system treats everyone fairly, regardless of money, position, or power

Champion

Arnold & Porter
Compass Lexecon
Kirkland & Ellis

Trailblazer

Latham & Watkins

Benefactor

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman

Defender

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld
Buckley
Covington & Burling
DLA Piper
Fried Frank Harris Shriver & Jacobson
Hogan Lovells
Morgan Lewis & Bockius
Sidley Austin
Steptoe Foundation
TM Financial Forensics
Zuckerman Spaeder

Pioneer

Alix Partners
ArentFox Schiff
Cleary Gottlieb
Cooley
Crowell & Moring
Dechert
Relman Colfax
Wiley

Sponsors help make our work possible. If you would like to become a sponsor for our 2023 Justice Impact Awards and Pro Bono & Public Interest Celebration, please contact our Executive Director, Christina Jackson, at cjackson@wclawyers.org or 202.451.8129.

Thank you to our 2022 Virtual Auction donors!
Your generosity made our auction a smashing success.

11:44 Studios
Artechouse
Barcelona Wine Bar
Blackwall Hitch
Call Your Mother
Compass Coffee
Deplane Cellars
District Made Spirits
Eaton Hotel
Five Guys
George Mason Center for the Arts
Grand Cata
Howl at the Moon
Jennifer Miller
Kelly Voss
Logan 14 Aveeda Spa
Magnolia Vineyards
Mark Kovner
Martin’s Tavern
Narmada Winery
Quièvremont Winery
Ritz Carlton
Shakespeare Theatre Company
Shouk
Signature Theater
South Block
Spirit Airlines
Spy Museum
SSMG Concierge
Taffer’s Tavern
The Doyle Collection
Truluck’s
Virtue Feed & Grain
Washington Improv Theater
Washington Nationals