D.C. Lawyers Honored for Civil Rights Work

The Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs held its annual Wiley A. Branton Awards Luncheon today, honoring Washington-area attorneys committed to civil rights.

Now in its 22nd year, the ceremony brings together pro bono counsel from the city’s biggest law firms and other civil rights lawyers to recognize recent achievements in civil rights litigation as well as careers dedicated to advocacy work.

This year’s honorees included NAACP General Counsel Kim Keenan and Crowell & Moring partner George Ruttinger, who received the Wiley A. Branton Award. The award is named after the long-time civil rights lawyer and former dean of Howard Law School, and recognizes a career of civil rights advocacy.

“It was so humbling to know that we could make a difference in someone’s life,” Keenan said, addressing the packed ballroom at the Grand Hyatt downtown. “What could be better than making justice more just?”

Ruttinger, who also serves as general counsel at the Equal Rights Center, called on his colleagues to get involved.

“To the young attorneys out there, when you get the call, take it,” he said. “We have an obligation to give back to the community.”

Rabbi Bruce Kahn, a longtime board member of the Equal Rights Center and social justice advocate, received the Alfred McKenzie Award for his many civil rights litigation victories. In a fiery call to action, Kahn spoke about the many people who still face discrimination today when they try to find a home or get a job.

“Discrimination, destructive, dehumanizing, dream-destroying, opportunity-crushing discrimination… should no longer happen,” Kahn said.

Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld partners Stanley Samorajczyk and Charles Johnson IV received the Vincent E. Reed Award for running the firm’s longstanding partnership with Tyler Elementary School.

Speaking after the event, Washington Lawyers’ Committee Executive Director Roderic Boggs said he is amazed by how much the event has grown over the years, a reflection of the fact that the need “only seems to increase.”

More on the honored law firms and photos from the event after the jump.

Other firms honored for their pro bono work and handling of victorious civil rights cases this year included Covington & Burling; Latham & Watkins; Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman; Patton Boggs; Crowell & Moring; Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson; Jones Day; Arnold & Porter; Gilbert; McDermott Will & Emery; Sutherland Asbill & Brennan; Morgan Lewis & Bockius; Reed Smith; Steptoe & Johnson; Winston & Strawn; Paul, Hastings, Janofsky & Walker; Perkins Coie; Hogan Lovells; and Venable.