Nearly 600 people came together last week to honor seven amazing lawyers and celebrate the 25th anniversary of the CBA/CBF Pro Bono & Public Service Awards Luncheon, which has become a signature event in our legal community.
Since the first edition of this event in 1999, it has been our great privilege to honor more than 150 unsung heroes of our Chicago legal community for their inspiring pro bono and public service commitment, and this year’s seven award recipients were no exception:
Kimball R. Anderson and Karen Gatsis Anderson Public Interest Law Fellowship
Andy Froelich, James B. Moran Center for Youth Advocacy
Justice Thomas L. Kilbride Public Service Award
Carina M.C. Segalini, Circuit Court of Cook County, Office of the Chief Judge
Leonard Jay Schrager Award of Excellence
Susan J. Curry, The University of Chicago Law School
Edward J. Lewis II Pro Bono Service Award
Steven P. Blonder, Much Shelist P.C.
Maurice Weigle Exceptional Young Lawyer Award
Whitney K. Siehl, Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro LLP
Exelon Outstanding Corporate Counsel Award
Melvin Flowers, Accenture LLP
Thomas H. Morsch Public Service Award
Julie Elena Brown, Impact for Equity
We are all inspired by the dedication of these amazing lawyers to ensuring the most vulnerable in our community have access to the justice they deserve, not just what they can afford. We were also humbled that in addition to this year’s honorees, dozens of lawyers who received these awards in past years were able to attend and celebrate this milestone year for the event.
You can find photos from the event and more information on this year’s honorees on the CBF Luncheon web page.