Our staff is our greatest asset at The Legal Aid Society.

Dechert LLP

The Legal Aid Society is proud to recognize Dechert LLP for its exceptional pro bono commitment to our organization and clients. Under the leadership of Legal Aid Board Member and New York Managing Partner Mauricio España along with Pro Bono Partner Suzanne (Suzie) Turner, the attorneys, legal assistants, and administrative staff at Dechert have been a committed partner with our staff in meeting the legal needs of the less fortunate in New York City. In the past two years Dechert has contributed nearly 7,000 hours of legal services to the clients of The Legal Aid Society. Scores of Dechert staff provided critical assistance to clients in every area of Legal Aid’s practice including public benefits with the Civil Practice, child welfare with the Juvenile Rights Practice and appellate advocacy with the Criminal Defense Practice. Below are just a few examples that demonstrate the breadth of Dechert’s commitment to our work.

Earlier this year, Dechert, along with Legal Aid’s Civil Law Reform Unit and NYLAG filed Forest v. NYC – a class action lawsuit brought alleging the City was failing to process applications and recertifications for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and cash assistance (CA) within the 30-day timeframe required by federal and state law. These federal and state benefits are essential for low-income people to purchase food and other basic needs. The processing delays have caused tens of thousands of families to face food instability and unnecessary hardships. On July 30th the court issued a preliminary injunction requiring the City to come in full compliance and eliminate the backlog of applications. 

For many years NYC and NYS have denied children a foster care placement with suitable kin as foster or adoptive parents. In November of 2021 Dechert, along with the Juvenile Rights Practice Special Litigation and Law Reform Unit, filed B.B. v. Hochul, a class action lawsuit seeking to change the policy and allowing children to placed with family rather than in stranger foster care. Despite an unfavorable District Court ruling, Dechert continues to work with JRP to explore ways to address this important issue. 

Legal Aid’s Criminal Appeals Bureau has long relied on law firm pro bono assistance to protect the rights of clients who wish to challenge convictions in Criminal and Supreme Court. Most recently, a team of Dechert attorneys led by Partner Douglas Dunham, secured a vacated sentence for a Legal Aid client who had been sentenced to a term of life imprisonment. The team argued that the trial justice should have recused himself because his principal law clerk had previously served as a prosecutor on the case. The Appellate Division agreed.

The Legal Aid Society is proud to present Dechert with its 2023 Honorable Jonathan Lippman New York Pro Bono Publico & Public Service Law Firm Award. Through its extraordinary pro bono commitment to The Legal Aid Society and its clients, the attorneys, legal assistants and administrative staff of Dechert LLP has clearly demonstrated that the firm shares Judge Lippman’s goal of “making equal justice for all not just an ideal, but a reality.”

Wesley R. Powell of Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Wesley R. Powell is recognized for his extraordinary contributions as a volunteer attorney, for his constant support of The Legal Aid Society and its clients, and as a leader of Willkie’s outstanding pro bono program and Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee.  Wes’ work alongside the staff of the Health Law Unit, LGBTQ Law & Policy Initiative, and Law Reform Unit has impacted thousands of disempowered New Yorkers.

In 2018, Legal Aid and a Willkie team led by Wes filed Ciaramella v. Zucker, a challenge to New York’s restrictions on Medicaid coverage for medically necessary dental care for root canals, crowns, replacement dentures, and dental implants. In 2020, Freshfields joined as co-counsel on the case. In 2023 the NYS Department of Health agreed to a Stipulation of Settlement which will provide over 5 million New Yorkers access to dental care previously not covered by Medicaid.

This was not Wes’ first litigation impacting access to appropriate treatment for Medicaid recipients in New York.  Wes and Willkie were also co-counsel with The Legal Aid Society and the Sylvia Rivera Law Project on Cruz v. Zucker, a groundbreaking case that resulted in the provision of gender affirming care to transgender Medicaid recipients in New York state in 2016. Wes has led Willkie pro bono teams on similar litigation which has helped secure similar coverage in several additional states.

Wes has recently been honored with a Chambers Diversity & Inclusion Award and the New York State Bar Association Justice for All Award, and he has led teams recognized for pro bono excellence by the Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund and Immigration Equality. Wes has previously been honored with Legal Aid’s Pro Bono Publico Award six times. 

We are proud to recognize Wes with the 2023 Public Interest Law Leadership Award and salute his dedication to Legal Aid’s mission that no person should be denied the right to equal justice.