Nominations for the 2022 National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) Annual Conference Awards are now open.

You, or the organization for which you work, must be an NLADA member to submit a nomination. Nominations will be reviewed and award decisions made by the NLADA Strategic Issues Committee. All decisions of the committee are final. The Committee may bestow more than one award in a particular category, or it may elect not to confer an award in a particular category.

Each award has its own eligibility requirements and criteria. Letters of nomination must explain why the nominee meets the specific criteria of the award. Current members of the NLADA Board of Directors; Civil, Defender, or Client Councils; Strategic Issues Committee; and NLADA staff are ineligible to make nominations or receive awards. The Nominations Deadline is July 29, 2022.

Award Descriptions:

Arthur von Briesen Award

The Arthur von Briesen Award honors a private attorney who has made substantial volunteer contributions in support of the delivery of civil legal aid or indigent defense representation. The award is named for Arthur von Briesen, the first and very accomplished president of NLADA.

Denison Ray Award

The Denison Ray Award honors an individual who has provided exceptional service to the civil legal aid community as a staff member, client board member, or volunteer of a provider program. Nominees may be, but do not have to be, attorneys. The “Denny” is named for a career legal aid activist who served as executive director of legal services programs in Missouri, Maine, North Carolina, and New York and was a long-time leader of the Project Advisory Group.

Emery A. Brownell Award

The Emery A. Brownell Award gives national recognition to newspapers, magazines, online/digital publications, filmmakers, and television and radio stations that have informed the public about the crucial role played by civil legal aid or defender organizations in advancing equal justice for those who cannot afford counsel. This award is named for Emery Brownell, who served as NLADA’s executive director from 1940 until his death in 1961.

Mary Ellen Hamilton Award

The Mary Ellen Hamilton Award honors a legal services client or client community advocate who, on a volunteer basis or receiving a stipend for their services, has provided extraordinary support to the delivery of legal assistance to low-income people, to increase involvement of low-income people in the fight for equal justice, or to enhance the involvement of low-income people in their cases. The award commemorates Mary Ellen Hamilton, one of the founders of the National Clients Council and the Alliance for Legal Rights, who served on NLADA’s Board of Directors and remained an active Alliance member until her death in 1985.

New Leaders in Advocacy Award

The New Leaders in Advocacy Award honors rising attorneys who exhibit extraordinary leadership early in their careers as civil legal aid or indigent defense advocates. Recipients will also be invited to participate in NLADA’s Beacon of Justice selection process in the following year.

Reginald Heber Smith Award

The Reginald Heber Smith Award recognizes the dedicated service and outstanding achievements of a civil legal aid or indigent defense attorney while employed by an organization supporting such services. This award is for an attorney, either civil or defender, who provides direct services to clients. The “Reggie” is named for a former counsel at the Boston Legal Aid Society who was author of Justice and the Poor, published by the Carnegie Foundation in 1919.

For more information about Award Eligibility and Criteria, and how to submit a nomination, visit the 2022 NLADA Annual Conference Awards webpage.