STUDENT HURRICANE NETWORK HONORED FOR EXEMPLARY PUBLIC SERVICE

WASHINGTON, D.C. (October 19, 2006) – Gulf Coast legal aid organization Student Hurricane Network will be honored by Equal Justice Works during the organization's 2006 Awards Dinner on Thursday, October 19, 2006 in Washington, D.C.

The Student Hurricane Network is a national organization dedicated to providing long-term assistance to communities affected by Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. The organization has worked in Louisiana and Mississippi, but also with evacuees in Florida, Texas and Georgia. The organization is being honored with the "LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell Exemplary Public Service Award" for mobilizing over 1,000 students from more than 70 law schools to bring critical support to over 30 legal service organizations working in the Gulf Coast region.

The $5,000 award is funded by LexisNexis Martindale-Hubbell and is designed to financially support law students who have done an exceptional job practicing public interest law. The award is part of a $60,000 grant the company has given Equal Justice Works to support the work the organization does in 47 states nationwide.

Equal Justice Works creates and supports public interest law opportunities for law students and lawyers. The 2006 Equal Justice Works Awards Dinner is the nation's largest gathering of public interest law supporters and recognizes extraordinary achievements in this field. The dinner will take place at 6:00 p.m. at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C. Media representatives interested in attending should contact James Greif at (571) 228-6932 or jgreif@equaljusticeworks.org.

Equal Justice Works, a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization, was founded in 1986 by law students dedicated to working for equal justice on behalf of underserved communities and causes. Today, Equal Justice Works is the national leader in creating summer and postgraduate public interest opportunities for law students and lawyers as well as in urging more public interest programming at law schools. For more information about Equal Justice Works, visit www.equaljusticeworks.org.

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