On Thursday, May 11, The Legal Aid Society community came together to celebrate our shared commitment to advancing justice at the 46th Annual Servant of Justice Awards Dinner.

The evening began with Chairman of Board, Zachary Carter, sharing a letter from Mayor Eric Adams honoring the critical role The Legal Aid Society plays in New York. Next followed a conversation between Adriene Holder, Chief Attorney of our Civil Practice and honoree Richard Buery, Jr., the Chief Executive Officer of Robin Hood, focusing on his work in service of the New York Community.

We were moved by the stories of three of our clients: tenants from a Bronx building destroyed by a fire who are still fighting to get back in their home 7 months later; a young man who grew up in foster care and is determined to change his trajectory; a transwoman who was a trafficking victim who enlisted our help to have her previous convictions vacated and sealed.

Jason Flom, Founder and CEO of Lava Records then recognized The AIG Pro Bono Program for their broad and deep commitment to The Legal Aid Society. Lucy Fato, the Executive Vice President, General Counsel, and Global Head of Communications and Government Affairs of AIG, accepted the award on behalf of the Pro Bono Program team.

And, finally, we recognized the leadership of Mark P. Goodman, Partner at Debevoise & Plimpton and Vice Chair of the Board of Directors of Legal Aid, for his commitment to our work and those we serve.

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.

Adriene Holder Chief Attorney Civil Practice, Mark P. Goodman, Tina Luongo Chief Attorney Criminal Defense Practice, Twyla Carter Attorney-in-Chief/CEO LAS

Alan Levine, President LAS

Jason Flom, Twyla Carter

Lucy Fato, Lou Sartori Chief Counsel of the Pro Bono Practice, Erica Blau Pro-Bono Director, AIG

Event Co-Chairs

Kermitt J. Brooks
Chief Legal Officer, The Guardian Life Insurance Company

Todd Freed
Partner, Mergers and Acquisitions; Private Equity; Financial Institutions, Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom LLP

The Honorable John Gleeson
Partner at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP and former United States District Judge for the Eastern District of New York

Donald J. Gogel
Chairman, Clayton, Dubilier & Rice

Stasia Kelly
Senior Advisor to the Chair and Executive Director of Client Relations, DLA Piper

Our Generous Sponsors

Cornerstone
Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP

Leader
Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Debevoise & Plimpton 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
White & Case LLP
Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP

Pillar
American International Group, Inc.
Arnold & Porter LLP
Cadwalader, Wickersham & Taft LLP
Cooley LLP
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP
Shearman & Sterling LLP
Sidley Austin LLP
Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP
Winston & Strawn LLP

Champion
Allegaert Berger & Vogel LLP
BNY Mellon Wealth Management
Cahill Gordon & Reindel LLP
Clayton, Dubilier & Rice
Dechert LLP
Dentons US LLP
DLA Piper LLP (US)
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP
Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP
Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP
Kelley Drye & Warren LLP
Morgan Stanley
Sara Moss and Michael Gould
National Basketball Association
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
Patterson Belknap Webb & Tyler LLP
Pfizer Inc.
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP
Reed Smith LLP
Ropes & Gray LLP
The Travelers Companies
Willis Towers Watson
Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP

Partner
BNY Mellon
Desmarais LLP
Equitable Holdings, Inc.
Goodwin Procter LLP
Guardian Life Insurance Company of America
The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc.
Kramer Levin Naftalis & Frankel LLP
Marsh & McLennan Companies, Inc.
Mayer Brown LLP
National Football League
New York Life Insurance Co.
Norton Rose Fulbright
Paramount Global
William U. Parfet
Saul Ewing LLP
TRGP Capital Partners
Weitz & Luxenberg P.C.
White and Williams LLP

Friend
Chubb
City National Bank
Lucy Fato
Diane A. Fogg
Judith Hecker & Matthew Furman
Patricia M. Hynes
Charles L. Kerr
Morvillo Abramowitz Grand Iason & Anello PC
Northwestern Mutual Life Insurance Co.
Tracey and Robert Pruzan
Spears & Imes LLP
Lise Strickler and Mark Gallogly Charitable Fund

Vendor Council

Platinum
CBRE
GFP Real Estate, LLC

Silver
EvensonBest
Gallagher 
UnitedHealthcare/Oxford