Public Counsel eNews

A Very Special Night
Celebrating 35 Years of Equal Justice

At this year’s William O. Douglas Award Dinner, Public Counsel will be celebrating its 35th Anniversary and 35 years of equal justice! The Dinner will be held on Thursday, June 8, 2006 at The Beverly Hilton. Join us as we look back on 35 years of ground-breaking legal services and 30 years honoring the equal justice heroes at the William O. Douglas Award Dinner.

Through its six nationally recognized legal projects, Public Counsel provides legal and social services to the most vulnerable members of our community. Through direct services, impact litigation and advocacy, Public Counsel works to strengthen the programs and services that form the critical safety net that millions of children, families, senior citizens and others rely upon for survival.

Today, Public Counsel is the largest pro bono public interest law firm in the world. Since it was founded in 1970, Public Counsel has recruited and trained over 25,000 pro bono attorneys and volunteers and provided more than a quarter of a billion dollars in free assistance.

"This is a seminal year in the history of Public Counsel" says David Johnson, Public Counsel's current board chairperson. "We look back over the 35 years since our founding and we also see the need for the type of services we provide continue to grow. This year's Douglas Dinner will focus on our accomplishments for those most in need and on the people who have made that happen--- and to the future as we plan new initiatives to meet the growing need. We remain firm in our commitment to continue to do our part to make equal justice for all a reality."

BEST BUY – CORPORATE ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

This year’s Corporate Achievement Award will be presented to Best Buy Co., Inc. for their exemplary corporate citizenship and commitment to corporate social responsibility. Accepting the Award will be Susan Hoff, senior vice president of Corporate Communications and chief communications officer.

The Award recognizes Best Buy for the generous philanthropy of the Best Buy Children’s Foundation, strong support for employee volunteerism and a broad array of programs and policies designed to promote sound and sustainable environmental stewardship. In all these ways, Best Buy is helping to strengthen the fabric of our society in ways that benefit children, families, schools and communities where Best Buy does business throughout the United States and Canada.

The Corporate Achievement Award was established in 1992 to recognize exemplary corporate citizenship and corporate social responsibility. Last year, the Award was presented to the Microsoft Corporation and past honorees include AT&T, Xerox, Deloitte & Touche, Univision, Westfield, Mattel and Kaiser Permanente. Last years recepient, Brad Smith (Microsoft's General Counsel), will present the award to Best Buy.

LAW FIRM PRO BONO AWARD

Public Counsel is pleased to honor the extraordinary pro bono accomplishments of Sonnenschein Nath & Rosenthal LLP with its Law Firm Pro Bono Award. The firm has represented pro bono clients in a wide array of matters, including complex asylum cases, large-scale community development projects, consumer scams, and public interest advocacy, all with supreme skill, tenacity, and professionalism and an exceptional willingness to take on the most complex and difficult matters. The firm’s abiding commitment to make "Justice for All" a reality extends from its most senior partners to its least experienced associates and summer clerks. In 2005 and 2006, Public Counsel honored a Sonnenschein lawyer in each year with its "Advocate of the Year" award.

STEVE LOPEZ – COMMUNITY LEADERSHIP AWARD

Nowhere in America is the problem of homelessness more pronounced than in Los Angeles. Approximately 88,000 are homeless on any given night, with the largest population living on downtown’s Skid Row, where it is estimated that more than 10,000 people sleep underneath cardboard boxes, plastic tents and in sleeping bags that line the sidewalks.

In his gripping five-part series, Los Angeles Times columnist Steve Lopez held up a mirror to this humanitarian crisis in our midst. His graphic, first-hand accounts of life on the streets of Skid Row attracted national attention and served as a call-to-action for elected officials to address the problem of homelessness. Lopez promises to continue his coverage of homelessness and to keep us updated on the progress of his friend, Nathaniel Anthony Ayers, a homeless musician with schizophrenia, who inspired Lopez’s coverage of Skid Row.

VIRGIE AYALA – COLLEAGUE OF THE YEAR

Each year, Public Counsel also recognizes one of its own. This year, the Colleague of the Year Award will be presented to Virginia “Virgie” Ayala, a Senior Paralegal in the Children’s Rights Project.

Virgie first came to Public Counsel in 1992 as a volunteer and she’s been helping ever since. Virgie has since become a certified paralegal. In addition to her paralegal duties, Virgie staffs the Pro Per Guardianship Clinic and she is attending the School of Interpretation to become a State Certified Interpreter. Virgie was promoted to senior paralegal status in 2005. Moreover, according to Dan Grunfeld, Public Counsel’s president and CEO, Virgie she is Public Counsel’s official "mom." Congratulations from all of us, Virgie!