O'Melveny Receives The National Legal Aid and Defender Association's 2014 Beacon of Justice Award

June 02, 2014

 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Contact:
Amber Burke
O’Melveny & Myers LLP
415.984.8891 (office)
415.676.1052 (cell)
aburke@omm.com
 
LOS ANGELES — June 2, 2014 — O’Melveny & Myers LLP has been selected to receive the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) 2014 Beacon of Justice Award honoring law firms that have created and implemented innovative strategies to improve life outcomes for those unable to afford counsel. As one of the recipients of this year’s award, O’Melveny will be honored at the NLADA Exemplar Awards Dinner on June 26, 2014, at the Mayflower Renaissance Hotel in Washington, DC.

O’Melveny is being recognized for its work on the APBCo IMPACT (Involving More Pro Bono Attorneys in our Communities Together) Project, a long-term project to seed and launch a series of new collaborations across the country designed to expand national law firm efforts to increase access to justice. In late 2012 the Association of Pro Bono Counsel (APBCo), a membership organization of full-time pro bono counsel and coordinators at major commercial law firms, was invited to meet with Vice President Joe Biden in Washington, DC, to discuss issues of access to justice. O’Melveny lawyers were leaders in this initiative and helped organize this historic meeting. As a result of the discussion with Vice President Biden, the APBCo IMPACT Project has launched projects in eight urban centers around the country, including in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and New York, where O’Melveny lawyers are deeply involved in these unique and closely watched efforts.

In Los Angeles, the IMPACT Project is providing a series of domestic violence “wrap-around” legal clinics. In an effort to provide currently unavailable services to the survivors of domestic violence in Los Angeles, O’Melveny lawyers have helped create a program to conduct intake at a local, leading domestic violence shelter. The group has conducted a legal needs assessment and, based on the data collected, has crafted a clinic program that provides “wrap around” legal advice and representation focused on housing, immigration, public benefits, and economic stability issues. Through this visionary approach, domestic violence survivors’ urgent entry into the judicial system can be utilized to assess other legal needs that may be contributing to the poverty and instability that has led to their current situation.

Founded in 1911, NLADA is America’s oldest and largest nonprofit association devoted to ensuring excellence in the delivery of legal services to those who cannot afford counsel. For 100 years, NLADA has pioneered access to justice at the national, state, and local levels through the creation of many of the first public defense systems in the country, creation of the concept of a national center to protect the right to counsel, development of nationally applicable standards for legal representation, and ground-breaking legal legislation. NLADA serves as the collective voice for our country’s civil legal aid and public defender services and provides advocacy, training, and technical assistance.

About O’Melveny & Myers LLP
With approximately 800 lawyers in 16 offices worldwide, O’Melveny & Myers LLP helps industry leaders across a broad array of sectors manage the complex challenges of succeeding in the global economy. We are a values-driven law firm, guided by the principles of excellence, leadership, and citizenship. Our commitment to these values is reflected in our dedication to improving access to justice through pro bono work and championing initiatives that increase the diversity of the legal profession. For more information, please visit www.omm.com.