To Lead is To Serve: NLADA's Exemplar Awards Honor Tom Gottschalk and Esther Lardent

With the theme "To Lead is To Serve," the NLADA Exemplar Awards Dinner was held on Thursday, May 30, in Washington, DC. The event was held at the Renaissance Mayflower Hotel, with a reception beginning at 6:00 pm, followed by the dinner and awards program at 7:00 pm. NLADA presented its "Exemplar Awards" to Thomas A. Gottschalk, executive vice president for law and public policy of General Motors Corporation, and Esther F. Lardent, president and chief operating officer of The Pro Bono Institute, for their commitment to equal justice and outstanding contributions to pro bono legal services for the poor and disadvantaged. Kenneth C. Frazier of Merck & Co., Inc. and Thomas D. Yannucci of Kirkland & Ellis served as co-chairs of this year's event.

Also at the dinner, NLADA presented the 2002 Kutak-Dodds Prizes. These prestigious awards annually honor the accomplishments of civil legal aid attorneys, public defenders or public interest advocates who, through the practice of law, are contributing in a significant way to the enhancement of human dignity and quality of life of those persons unable to afford legal representation, and each prize carries a cash award of $10,000. The 2002 Prize winners are: Fred Fuchs of Legal Aid of Central Texas and Harry J. Fulton of the Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia Mental Health Division. Click here to read a press release on the prize winners.

For more information, contact Mizue Suito, director of development, at (202) 452-0620 ext. 217 or via e-mail at m.suito@nlada.org.