The AALS Section on Pro Bono and Public Service Opportunities will present two awards at the AALS Annual Meeting in January 2009. The purpose of these awards is to honor those who have dedicated significant efforts towards increasing access to justice through the law school environment and to inspire similar efforts from others. The intent is to honor those who personally design and manage pro bono programs, those leaders in legal education who promote these programs, and those who personally give of their time and talents in pro bono service.
The Deborah L. Rhode Award will be awarded to a full-time faculty member or Dean who has made an outside contribution to increasing pro bono and public service opportunities in law school through scholarship, leadership, or service. The Father Robert Drinan Award will be presented to a professional faculty or staff member at a law school who has forwarded the ethic of pro bono service through personal service, program design or management.
Nomination Procedure: Nominations of others or oneself may be made by any member of AALS, and will be accepted until Friday, October 31, 2008, 5 p.m. EST. Nomination letters should be no longer than five pages. Up to three letters of support are encouraged, but not required. If submitted, the letters should be from a diverse group of supporters (i.e., a student, a faculty member and a member of the public interest community) or should address different facets of the nominee's achievements. Brochures and other outside materials will not be accepted. Re-nominations of persons who have been previously nominated but not selected for the Award are encouraged. Please indicate if you are nominating the person for any other AALS awards.
Please email your submissions to Deb Ellis, Assistant Dean for Public Interest Law at NYU School of Law, at [email protected]. Letters of support can be emailed separately from the nomination letter but must be received by the deadline if they are to be considered. If submissions cannot be emailed, or if you have any questions, please contact Deb Ellis at 212-998-6668.
The Selection Committee will be made up of law school public interest and pro bono professionals from a range of law schools throughout the country.
Prior recipients of the Rhode and Drinan Awards are, respectively:
2008: Philip G. Schrag and Michael Millemann
2007: David Kairys and Anthony Alfieri
2006: Efren Rivera Ramos and Wally Mlyniec
2005: Mark Sargent and Ellen Chapnick, Sandy Buhai (shared)
2004: Howard Lesnick and Sudha Shetty
2003: John Feericrick and Thomas Maligno
2002: Vanessa Merton and John Kramer
2001: Deborah Rhode and Father Robert Drinan
Sande L. Buhai
Clinical Professor,
Director Public Interest Law Dept.
Loyola Law School
919 Albany St., LA, CA 90015
(213) 736-1156
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