2022 Annual Conference Awards

Arthur von Briesen Award

The Arthur von Briesen Award honors a private attorney who has made substantial volunteer contributions in support of the delivery of civil legal aid or indigent defense representation. The award is named for Arthur von Briesen, the first and very accomplished president of NLADA.

The 2022 Arthur von Briesen Award recipient is Timothy Moran.

Attorney Tim Moran has lived in Oviedo for over 20 years and the firm prides itself as being a part of the community. He graduated from Jackson Heights Middle School and from Oviedo High School. Tim graduated from the University of Central Florida, Cum Laude, receiving his Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science with a Double Major in Legal Studies.

Tim received his Juris Doctor from the University of Florida Levin College of Law, where he graduated Cum Laude. While at Law School. He received The Book Award for two classes: Mediation as well as Police Practices & Criminal Procedure.

Since 2007, Tim has been a member in good standing of the Florida Bar. He is a member of the Seminole County Bar Association.

Tim’s volunteer work includes working extensively on Foreclosures and Loan Modification with Community Legal Services of Mid-Florida, Inc. This enabled him to be at the forefront of the foreclosure crisis, so that he is familiar with HAMP, HARP, HAFA AND UP programs which assist clients. Tim presented at numerous Out Reach Programs, helping people whose houses were in foreclosure. He also coordinated and supervised Interns from the FAMU Law School Housing Clinic, providing important instruction and practical skills to students.

Click here to see a list of past winners of the Arthur von Briesen Award.

Denison Ray Award

The Denison Ray Award honors an individual who has provided exceptional service to the civil legal aid community as a staff member, client board member, or volunteer of a provider program. Nominees may be, but do not have to be, attorneys. The “Denny” is named for a career legal aid activist who served as executive director of legal services programs in Missouri, Maine, North Carolina, and New York and was a long-time leader of the Project Advisory Group.

The 2022 Denison Ray Award recipient is Paul Furrh.

Paul Furrh serves as CEO of Lone Star Legal Aid, one of the nation’s largest LSC-funded programs, headquartered in Houston, Texas. Lone Star Legal Aid serves a client community of over two million in seventy-two (72) counties in the eastern third of Texas, and along the Gulf Coast with a staff of over 175 attorneys. In 2021, LSLA closed over 25,000 individual cases providing a full range of legal services, while representing over 60,000 clients before administrative agencies, J.P. and County Courts, and State and Federal Courts, and is known nationally for its litigation regarding children, consumers, disaster relief, education, health, housing, and public benefits.

He is a member of the Legal Services Corporation Disaster Relief Task Force. He served three terms as a Commissioner on the Texas Access to Justice Commission; former Chair and member of the Supreme Court of Texas Task Force on the Expansion of Legal Services; former Chair and member of the State Bar of Texas Legal Services to the Poor in Civil Matters Committee; former President of the Nacogdoches County Bar Association; 2022 University of Houston Law Center Alumni Association Award for Public/Non-Profit Achievement; Stanford University Graduate School of Business Center for Social Innovation Fellow; and Peter Drucker Foundation Hesselbein Community Innovation Fellow. He has published articles regarding children’s rights and legal aid in Child Welfare, Clearinghouse Review, Journal of Poverty Law and Policy, and Management Information Exchange Journal for Legal Services.

Mr. Furrh earned a B.A. from the University of Texas and a J.D. from the University of Houston. He also completed the Executive Program for Nonprofit Leaders at Stanford University Graduate School of Business.

Click here to see a list of past winners of the Denison Ray Award.

Emery A. Brownell Award

The Emery A. Brownell Award gives national recognition to newspapers, magazines, online/digital publications, filmmakers, and television and radio stations that have informed the public about the crucial role played by civil legal aid or defender organizations in advancing equal justice for those who cannot afford counsel. This award is named for Emery Brownell, who served as NLADA’s executive director from 1940 until his death in 1961.

The 2022 Emery A. Brownell Award recipient is Shannon Heffernan.

Shannon Heffernan is a criminal justice reporter at WBEZ and host of season 4 of the Motive podcast which investigates the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Heffernan's work has been heard on This American Life, Criminal, You're Wrong About, Snap Judgement, and Reveal.  

In addition to criminal justice, she’s also reported on mental health, poverty, labor and climate change. Heffernan also writes short fictional stories and won The Columbia Review's 2016 prize for fiction.

She lives in Chicago with her partner and their brand-new baby girl.

Click here to see a list of past winners of the Emery A. Brownell Award.

Mary Ellen Hamilton Award

The Mary Ellen Hamilton Award honors a legal services client or client community advocate who, on a volunteer basis or receiving a stipend for their services, has provided extraordinary support to the delivery of legal assistance to low-income people, to increase involvement of low-income people in the fight for equal justice, or to enhance the involvement of low-income people in their cases. The award commemorates Mary Ellen Hamilton, one of the founders of the National Clients Council and the Alliance for Legal Rights, who served on NLADA’s Board of Directors and remained an active Alliance member until her death in 1985.

The 2022 Mary Ellen Hamilton Award recipient is Patricia Vining.

Ms. Vining is a multi-generational advocate serving vital and underserved communities and populations for more than 15 years. As a Great Grandmother, Grandmother and mother, Pat has served in many capacities. This has included, but is not limited to partnering with federal, state, and local agencies, private and public sector organizations in the effort address the needs of clients in poverty, and many vulnerable populations, especially those trying to re-enter the community after periods of incarceration.  

Under the mentorship, encouragement and support of Lillian Mobley, Pat became a client board member of Los Angeles Legal Aid Association (LAFLA). Pat paved the way for LAFLA to begin a defined recruiting process that ensured the diversity and reflection of the communities LAFLA serves. She works to ensure that each distinct community has a client voice at the decision-making table. Pat works tirelessly to model and reflect the voice of the underserved by ensuring there is always two-way communication, transparency and understanding of the legal landscape that at times leaves certain populations behind. Pat currently services as the Chairperson of the Client Advisory Committee of LAFLA and as Vice Chairperson of the African American Advisory Committee. Pat is instrumental in building capacity, providing learning opportunities in the efforts to ensure clients have resources and support to engage and be involved in their communities.  

Throughout this difficult two years Pat has been a beacon of hope. The NLADA client community is a resilient and amazing group of people. At each meeting people were processing deep loss in their personal lives and in their communities. Sadly, we lost several members of our group during these two years. Pat’s presence and style at our meetings and in our community in general has been instrumental in helping us all focus on the enormous task ahead of us to build back better. She is able to help people focus on the community we know we all deserve and not get lost in our grief or anger about how often our communities continue to be left out. She is able to do this with grace and without telling us our anger and grief do not belong—because our anger and grief are part of us and she helps us all channel these real and valid feelings in a productive way.

 Click here to see a list of past winners of the Mary Ellen Hamilton Award.

Reginald Heber Smith Award

The Reginald Heber Smith Award recognizes the dedicated service and outstanding achievements of a civil legal aid or indigent defense attorney while employed by an organization supporting such services. This award is for an attorney, either civil or defender, who provides direct services to clients. The “Reggie” is named for a former counsel at the Boston Legal Aid Society who was author of Justice and the Poor, published by the Carnegie Foundation in 1919.

The 2022 Reginald Heber Smith Award recipient is Lillian M. Moy.

Lillian M. Moy has been the Executive Director of the Legal Aid Society of Northeastern New York since 1995. She is a 1974 graduate of Hunter College of the City University of New York and a 1981 graduate of Boston University School of Law. She is a member of the Board of Directors of the Albany Medical Center.

Ms. Moy is a nationally recognized leader, writer, and trainer in the civil legal aid community. Her particular areas of expertise are leadership development and diversity. Ms. Moy currently serves on the ABA’s Commission on Racial and Ethnic Diversity in the Profession.

Ms. Moy is past Chair of the Civil Policy Group and a past member of the Board of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association. She is co-chair of the New York State Bar Association’s Task Force on Racism, Social Equity and the Law and serves on NYSBA’s President’s Committee on Access to Justice, Committee on Legal Aid, and Committee on Diversity and Inclusion. Ms. Moy is also co-convener of the New York Diversity Coalition, a group of legal services staff and managers dedicated to raising and resolving diversity issues in the legal aid community.

Ms. Moy has been honored by the National Organization of Legal Services Workers, the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce, the Asian American Bar Association of New York, the Schenectady County Bar Association, Lifepath, Albany County,  the Catholic Charities Housing Office and New  York’s Franklin H. Williams Judicial Commission. She was also honored with the New York State Bar Association’s Diversity Trailblazer Award in 2013. Lillian lives in Albany, New York, and has two daughters and a beautiful, tall granddaughter.  

Click here to see a list of past winners of the Reginald Heber Smith Award.