The LAAC Awards of Merit are the California legal services community’s opportunity to recognize the importance of legal services and to honor a few of the many who have made contributions to the field during the past year.
We are happy to re-start our Awards of Merit again in 2024 at the Pathways to Justice Conference in San Francisco, October 29-30, 2024. We had the awards on hold throughout most of COVID and are eager to celebrate with our community again.
Nominations are due midnight, Monday, September 16, 2024.
Click here to nominate your colleagues, clients, and volunteers!
2021 LAAC Awards of Merit
Paralegal: Andrea Garcia, Central California Legal Services
Client: Vernon Price, Legal Services of Northern California
Legal Services Attorney: Hilda Chan, Bay Area Legal Aid
Board Member: Rosette Nsonga, Community Legal Aid SoCal
Paralegal: Mary Rios, Disability Rights California
Legal Services Attorney: Neela Chakravartula, Center for Gender and Refugee Studies – UC Hastings
Volunteer Attorney: Kirsa Phillips, Contra Costa Senior Legal Services
2019 LAAC Awards of Merit
Volunteer Attorney: Martin Kohan, Los Angeles Center for Law & Justice
Paralegal: Linda Petite, Inland Counties Legal Services, Inc.
Legal Services Attorney: Bob Capistrano, Bay Area Legal Aid
Client: Jonathan Reader, Veterans Legal Institute
2017 LAAC Awards of Merit
Attorney: Christine Lin, Center for Gender and Refugees Studies
Paralegal: Anna Moore-Goodwin, Central California Legal Services, Inc.
Board Member: Martha Tamayo, Central California Legal Services, Inc.
Volunteer: Leticia Toledo, Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County
More details and press release.
2016 LAAC Awards of Merit
Joint Award of Merit with California Commission on Access to Justice: Lollie Roberts, Sacramento Superior Court
Attorneys: Fernando Gaytan, Legal Aid Foundation of Los Angeles
Non-Attorney Staff: Gloria Ho, Asian Americans Advancing Justice – LA
Volunteer: Rita H. Smith, Inland Empire Latino Lawyers’ Association, Inc.
More details and press release.
2015 LAAC Awards of Merit
Joint Award of Merit with California Commission on Access to Justice: Gary Slossberg, Superior Court of California, County of El Dorado
Attorneys: Joanna Shalleck-Klein, Legal Aid of Marin; James Grow, National Housing Law Project
Non-Attorney Staff: Ana Flores, Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center; Serina Rankins, East Bay Community Law Center
Clients: Francisca and Elias Perez, Bet Tzedek; Javanni Munguia-Brown, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto
Volunteer: Mirissa McMurray, Legal Aid Society of San Mateo
2013 LAAC Awards of Merit
Attorney: Gerald McIntyre, Justice in Aging
Non-Attorney Staff: Adriana Melgoza, Watsonville Law Center
Special 2013 Joint Award of Merit recipient: Deborah Chase, senior attorney, Judicial Council of California, Administrative Office of the Courts
More details and press release
2012 LAAC Awards of Merit
Legal Secretary: Ethel Louise Oden-Brown, National Center for Youth Law
Awards of Merit for Extraordinary Service: Stephanie Choy, State Bar of California, Legal Services Trust Fund
Volunteer and Board Member: Dr. Jim Meeker, Legal Aid Society of Orange County; Public Law Center
Paralegal/ Community Worker: Julio Edrosolan, Bay Area Legal Aid
Attorney: Catherine Bishop, National Housing Law Project
2011 LAAC Awards of Merit
Attorney: Tiela Chalmers, Executive Director, Volunteer Legal Services Program of the San Francisco Bar Association
Paralegal: Steve Cuellar, Disability Rights Legal Center
Board Member: Miye Goishi, The Public Interest Law Project and Child Care Law Center
Client: Leslie Napper, Napper v. County of Sacramento
LAAC/Access to Justice Commission Joint Court-Based Award: Linda Daeley, Family Law Unit Manager, Superior Court of California, County of Orange
2010 LAAC Awards of Merit
Law Firm: Tom McMorrow, Fred Main, and Michael Martinez of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP for their work in support of the passage of AB590
Legal Services Attorney: Richard Marcantonio of Public Advocates
Paralegal: Bertha Sanchez of Bet Tzedek and Maria Aguila of Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice
Individual Volunteer: Alexis Moody of Pro Bono Project
Board Member: Luis Jaramillo of California Rural Legal Assistance for his service on the boards of the Legal Aid Association of California and the Public Interest Clearinghouse
Client: Rosa Martinez, lead plaintiff of Martinez v. Astrue, nominated by National Senior Citizens Law Center, Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County and Disability Rights California
2009 LAAC Awards of Merit
Paralegal/Community Worker: Martha Valles, Legal Services of Northern California
Client: Greg Curatolo, AIDS Legal Referral Panel
Volunteer: Timothy Wright, Legal Aid Society of San Mateo
Board: Charles Siegal, Disability Rights Legal Center
Support Staff: Esmeralda Izarra, Centro Legal de la Raza
Attorney: Gideon Anders, National Housing Law Project
LAAC / Access to Justice Commission Joint Court Based Award: Antonia Bowles, Santa Clara County Superior Court – Family Resource Division & Luis Alejo, Monterey County Superior Court – Self-Help Center
2008 LAAC Awards of Merit
Paralegal/Community Worker: Gracie Jones, East Bay Community Law Center
Client: Rick Kneeshaw, Disability Rights Legal Center
Volunteer: Susan Solomon, Community Legal Services in East Palo Alto
Board: Alicia Miñana de Lovelace, Learning Rights Law Center
Support Staff: Naomi Arakawa, Disability Rights Legal Center
Attorney: Jodie Berger, Legal Services of Northern California
LAAC / Access to Justice Commission Joint Court Based Award: Bonnie Hough, Judicial Council, Administrative Office of the Court
2007 LAAC Awards of Merit
Attorney: Paula Pearlman, Disability Rights Legal Center
Paralegal/Community Worker: Carolyn Honda, Legal Services of Northern California
Board Member: Richard W. Odgers, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP (The Legal Aid Society – Employment Law Center Board Member)
Client: Charles Adams, AIDS Legal Services, Law Foundation of Silicon Valley
Support Staff: Elizabeth Rodriguez, Central California Legal Services
Volunteer: Alan Weiss, Centro Legal de la Raza
LAAC / Access to Justice Commission Joint Court Based Award: Judith Beck, Marin County Superior Court
2006 LAAC Awards of Merit
LAAC/Access to Justice Commission Court-Based Award: Martha Espinosa McLaughlin Ventura County Superior Court
Community Worker: King Szeto, The Legal Aid Society-Employment Law Center
Board Member: Kathleen Meehan, Baker, Manock & Jensen
Client: Deborah Miles, Disability Rights Legal Center
Admin/Support Staff: Rosa Horton, Bay Area Legal Aid
Volunteer: Jay White, Legal Aid Society of San Mateo
Advocate: Richard Rothschild, Western Center on Law and Poverty
2005 LAAC Awards of Merit
Board Member: John Hodik, Elder Law and Advocacy
Client: Cecilia Mejia Western, Law Center for Disability Rights
Administrative Support: Angelica Marin, Western Law Center for Disability Rights
Individual Volunteer: James Kaspar, Legal Aid Society of San Mateo County
Community Worker: Doreen Wong, Western Law Center for Disability Rights
Direct Advocate: Mona Tawatao, LSNC
Court-Based Award: Kathleen Dixon, Managing Attorney, Self-Help Collaboration Project, LA Superior Court
Court-Based Award: Cristina Llop, ACCESS Center, San Francisco Superior Court
2004 LAAC Awards of Merit
Community Worker: Ignacio Musino CRLA, Inc.
Volunteer: Benjamin Hagan, Jr., Legal Services of Northern California
Advocate: Cynthia L. Rice, CRLA, Inc.
Client: Lee Meyerzove
Board Member: Ramon Arias, CRLA, Inc.
Administration: Jose Padilla, CRLA, Inc.
Special Award: Toby Rothschild, LAFLA, LAAC Board Member
Special Award: Clint Lyons, President and CEO, NLADA
Special Award: The California Endowment
2002 LAAC Awards of Merit
Administrative Staff Cheryl Martinez, San Diego Volunteer Lawyer Program
Attorney Ramona Holguin, Homeless Advocacy Project
Board Member, Legal Services Program Randall Kaplan, Bet Tzedek
Client: Dale Walls, LAAC Client Board Member
Community Worker Bertha Alicia Garza, CRLA, Inc.
2001 LAAC Awards of Merit
Daniel Mahoney, Legal Aid Society of San Francisco Employment Law Center
Edgar Coronado, Managing Attorney of the Domestic Violence and Consumer Fraud Units of the Los Angeles Center for Law and Justice
Juanita Polendo, Ontiveros California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Mamie Yee, Youth Law Center