David Stern Receives Opening Doors to Justice Award

July 14, 2010

On Tuesday, July 13, Equal Justice Works' Executive Director, David Stern, was honored by the Public Interest Clearinghouse (PIC) for his commitment to advance the cause of access to justice. PIC has been a long time supporter of Equal Justice Works, hosting 12 AmeriCorps Legal Fellows since 2003 PIC. Those 12 fellows have recruited 1,100 volunteers, and together with those volunteers have served more than 11,000 clients.

PIC's Executive Director, Julia Wilson, is also an Equal Justice Works alum. One of PIC's programs is the "Justice Bus" – a bus that takes law students and volunteer lawyers from San Francisco into the Central Valley where they conduct intake and represent farm workers and low-income clients in their various claims. The idea and was developed by another Equal Justice Works alum, Salena Copeland, who was a fellow at PIC in 2008. This video highlights PIC's mission and works.

Equal Justice Works mourns the death of Eldon “Took” Crowell

May 24, 2010

It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Eldon “Took” Crowell, former Equal Justice Works Board member and longtime friend and supporter.

Took served on our Board of Directors from 1993 to 2003 and his leadership as Chairman was transformational. With Took’s guidance, we overhauled our governance structure and grew our annual budget from $1 million to $6 million in just five years. Took’s law firm, Crowell & Moring, was the first firm in the country to sponsor an Equal Justice Works fellowship, and he used that as a motivator to attract others to do the same. With his help, our fellowship program grew from seven fellowships in 1993 to more than 100 in 1998.

Took was passionate about eradicating injustice and he made sure that every lawyer at Crowell & Moring understood their responsibility to do pro bono work on behalf of the least advantaged citizens in Washington, DC. He created the “Took Tour,” an annual bus ride for all of his firm’s summer associates to visit at least four nonprofit legal aid organizations in the region working on behalf of homeless and low income communities. It was his goal to expose the problems in the community and make a clear commitment that his firm would do something to help.

We will miss Took’s sage advice, his passion for helping others, and his incredible sense of humor. Our condolences go out to his family and the employees of Crowell & Moring.

Elena Kagan’s commitment to public interest law

May 17, 2010

In 2008, Equal Justice Works proudly named Elena Kagan as the recipient of our John R. Kramer Outstanding Law School Dean award. In recognizing Elena Kagan with this award, we paid tribute to her commitment to public interest law and to expanding opportunities for law students interested in pursuing careers in public service.

When she became Dean of Harvard Law School (HLS) in 2003, Elena Kagan promised that encouraging public service would be one of her highest priorities. In her inaugural remarks, she stated her desire that every Harvard Law School student graduate with a commitment to public service work. She expected this commitment not just of those who would pursue public services as a full-time job, but also of those who planned to spend their careers in the private sector.

She didn’t just talk about the importance of public service – she immediately put words into action. She established the new position of “Dean’s Special Advisor for Public Service”, and created a committee of faculty, staff and students to study and make recommendations about ways that the school could further promote a public service ethos. She dramatically grew the school’s clinical program and increased its staff, more than doubling the number of students who could obtain exposure to real world problems and practical skill-building while helping indigent or middle-income clients who otherwise could not afford legal services. She increased the opportunity and funding for a unique winter term during which students could pursue an internship or clinical work, and the result was an increase from 19 students doing clinical work in 2005 to 166 in 2008.

As Dean, Elena Kagan continually provided financial and other support for students who were pursuing public interest initiatives. She provided funding to students who wanted to do pro bono “caravan” trips during winter and spring breaks, and improved HLS’s guaranteed summer funding for public service work as a way to ensure that all students have an opportunity to pursue public service internships. The result was 70% increase in the number of students participating in just three years. She gave recognition for student pro bono work by creating the Andrew L. Kaufman Award for the student who performed the most pro bono hours during their law school career, and gave recognition to all students who performed more than 1000 hours of pro bon service during law school at class day and in the graduation program.

Finally, Dean Kagan helped support those who want to pursue careers in public interest by putting programs in place that would alleviate the financial barriers to doing so. Under her guidance, HLS announced plans to waive tuition for third-year students who pledged to spend five years working for nonprofit organizations or for the government. In addition to the third-year tuition waiver, Dean Kagan also expanded the school-loan repayment program and provided summer funding to students doing public interest work.

By setting the tone from the top, Dean Kagan created a culture of public service at HLS that is still going strong. We were proud to honor Elena Kagan with our Outstanding Law School Dean award two years ago, and continue to be proud of our association with a visionary leader who has done so much to further the goals of public interest law.