Thomas H. Morsch Public Service Award

2026 – Lawrence Wood

 Lawrence Wood is a nationwide leader in housing law, renowned for his commitment to housing justice and the decades of positive influence he has had on the legal aid community. Larry has spent over 30 years representing Chicago-area tenants facing eviction, discrimination, and unsafe housing conditions. In 2021, he shifted his focus from direct representation at Legal Aid Chicago to high-impact class action lawsuits and policy advocacy at Legal Action Chicago, pursuing systemic solutions to housing inequality in Chicago and beyond.

2025 – Cynthia Cornelius

Cynthia Cornelius left behind a successful career in the private sector to dedicate herself to serving others, making the decision to attend law school at age 54 to pursue a career in legal aid. Cynthia has gone on to dedicate her entire 17-year legal career to helping some of the most vulnerable people in the Chicago area and beyond through her work at Cabrini Green Legal Aid (CGLA), and she has made an amazing impact on her clients, her colleagues, and our community.

2024 – Lisa Palumbo

Lisa Palumbo has dedicated her entire 35-year career to serving low-income people in our community, particularly immigrants.  Lisa currently serves as the Director of the Immigrants and Workers Rights Practice Group at Legal Aid Chicago, where she has dedicated 32 years of her career and now leads a team of 30 attorneys and paralegals in four core areas: immigration, employment, migrant workers, and human trafficking survivors. Throughout her tenure, she has been instrumental in expanding the organization’s impact on immigration reform and shaping critical policy discussions at the national level. Alongside her advocacy work, Lisa maintains an active caseload, defending and protecting immigrants in various legal matters.

2023 – Julie Elena Brown

Julie Elena Brown’s nearly forty-year legal career has been singularly dedicated to environmental justice, racial equity and increasing access to housing for those living in underserved communities of Chicago. After beginning her legal career at the City of Chicago law department, Julie has served in several leadership roles for Impact for Equity (formerly known as BPI) since 1989. Her career has been filled with passionate, groundbreaking work as she advocates for marginalized groups and neighborhoods across the city.

2022 – Pat Wrona

Pat Wrona is the embodiment of CARPLS’ core mission: that no one should face a legal problem alone.

In 1995, Pat joined CARPLS as a part-time attorney and later became a supervisor. Since 2007, Pat has been CARPLS’ Director of Legal Services. Pat supports a 50-person staff that delivers services in thirteen practice areas through CARPLS’ hotlines, advice desks, and statewide projects and collectively provides over 80,000 legal consultations a year. Over the past 15 years, with Pat’s quiet leadership and guidance, CARPLS has become a national leader in legal service delivery innovation.