On Thursday, May 9, The Legal Aid Society community came together to celebrate our shared commitment to strengthening communities at the 47th Annual Servant of Justice Awards. 

The evening began with Chairman of the Board, Zachary Carter, sharing a letter from Mayor Eric Adams honoring the critical role The Legal Aid Society plays in New York and welcoming lawmakers and members of the City administration.  

Then, the room watched a video highlighting Legal Aid’s work in the courtroom, learning about a housing client and our landmark Medicaid dental settlement. Judith Goldiner, Attorney-in-Charge of Legal Aid’s Civil Law Reform Unit introduced the first honoree, Mary Eaton, Partner, Co-head of Securities & Shareholder Litigation at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP for her commitment to Legal Aid’s mission and pro bono work. 

Our honorees are joined on stage by the Legal Aid Leadership Team and special guests Jason Flom, Khaliah Ali, Jeffrey Kessler and NFL Players Zak DeOssie, Don Davis, and Tony Richardson. Photo credit: Adrienne Nicole Productions

Following dinner, guests learned more about Legal Aid’s work in the community in a video highlighting the Takeasha Newton, Lead Community Organizer of the Community Justice Unit (CJU), two community partners that work with CJU, and Faith Ornstein, Captain of the Juvenile Rights Practice’s Youth Leadership Board (YLB). The video focused on how both CJU and YLB know how important it is to be proximate to the communities they serve. 

Zak DeOssie, Director of Business Development at LO3 Capital, former New York Giants player and 2 time Super Bowl Champion, introduced the second honoree, DeMaurice Smith, former Executive Director of the NFL Players Association. De gave his remarks and then several former NFL players in attendance joined De on stage to close out the silent auction before Legal Aid’s President, Alan Levine, closed the program. 

Guests at the 47th annual Servant of Justice Awards, including co-chair Sandra Hannah.

We are deeply thankful to all those who make this event possible, especially our committed law firm and corporate partners, and our staff whose tireless dedication to those we serve continues to be an inspiration to so many. We extended an additional thank you to this year’s event Co-Chairs: Jeffrey Kessler, Sandra Hanna, Aon, and Cornerstone Research. 

Our Generous Sponsors

Leader
Cleary Gottlieb
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP
Debevoise & Plimpton LLP
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP
Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP
Kirkland & Ellis LLP
Latham & Watkins LLP
Milbank LLP
Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP
Proskauer Rose LLP
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
Sullivan & Cromwell LLP 
Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz
Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP
Winston & Strawn LLP

Pillar
A&O Shearman
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
Cooley LLP
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
White & Case LLP

Champion
FANATICS FOUNDATION™
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Morgan Stanley
National Football League
Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
Pfizer Inc
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Reed Smith LLP
Ropes & Gray LLP
Sidley Austin LLP
Willis Towers Watson
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

Partner
Aon
Arnold & Porter
BNY Mellon
BNY Mellon Wealth Management
Cornerstone Research
Dechert LLP
Desmarais LLP
Goodwin Procter LLP
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
Regina and Jeffrey Kessler
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
Mastercard
Mayer Brown LLP
National Basketball Association
New York Life Insurance Company
NFL Players Association
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Paramount Global
RAIOLA/Co.
Steptoe LLP

Platinum
GFP Real Estate, LLC

Gold
Patricia M. Hynes, Esq.

Silver
ADP
Buck
Gallagher
Petrillo Klein & Boxer LLP
Rower LLC
UnitedHealthCare/Oxford
Vincent Family Fund

Friend
Jeffrey E. Glen and Rosina Abramson Glen
Seyfarth Shaw LLP