CHICAGO, August 18, 2006 — LAWFUEL – Law News Network – Winston & Strawn LLP has been honored as the first law firm to receive the Ann Liechty Child Custody Pro Bono award from the American Bar Association (ABA), recognizing the firm’s volunteer work on behalf of children in child custody cases. The award is named in memory of Ann Liechty, a dedicated child law advocate and former recipient of the ABA’s Pro Bono Publico award.
“We are very pleased by the American Bar Association’s recognition of the volunteer work being done in child custody cases,” said Kimball Anderson, general counsel of Winston & Strawn and chair of the firm’s pro bono committee, and a previous individual winner of the ABA’s Pro Bono Publico award.
Anderson noted that the award-winning work by Winston & Strawn originated from a partnership formed in 2002 between the law firm and the Chicago Volunteer Legal Services Foundation (CVLS). “In the 1990s, CVLS was appointed as guardian ad litem in problematic guardianship cases, but by early 2002, the growing number of appointments exceeded the resources of CVLS. The partnership formed later that year with Winston & Strawn benefited both parties, providing the firm with a continuing pro bono opportunity and giving CVLS a larger staff base to handle the growing number of appointments assigned from the minor guardianship courtroom.
“Furthermore, Winston & Strawn’s work has two significant aspects — first, it is being done by partners and second, attorneys from practice areas other than litigation are providing representation,” noted Anderson. More than 40 Winston & Strawn attorneys donated more than 2,300 hours as guardian ad litem in more than 74 cases between February 2003 and January 2006.
Winston & Strawn LLP is a national commercial law firm with more than 900 attorneys in nine offices including Chicago, New York, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, San Francisco, London, Paris, Geneva and Moscow.
