Microsoft General Counsel Gets Equal Justice Works Award

New York Gov. Eliot Spitzer presented the Scales of Justice Award to Microsoft general counsel and senior vice president Brad Smith last night at the Equal Justice Works awards dinner. The two men were classmates at Princeton. Spitzer joked about the early days of his friendship with Smith: “I wish I’d listened more back in our freshman year of college. He was muttering something about an operating system.”

Smith was being recognized for his pro bono efforts at Microsoft. By securing partnerships with Seattle area law firms, Microsoft pioneered Volunteer Advocates for Immigrant Justice, an initiative that provides legal representation for refugees. At last night’s dinner, held at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center, Smith said the initiative’s youngest client is a three-year-old who was separated from her family while they were fleeing from Central America. Pro bono work, he said, is “about lawyers giving voice to people who otherwise would not be heard.”