Awards

NACC presents the Promoting Excellence Awards annually to individuals and organizations making significant contributions to the rights and well-being of children and families through excellence in legal representation.

The National Association of Counsel for Children honors the champions who raise the bar and set the standard for excellence in child welfare legal advocacy. NACC presents the Promoting Excellence Awards annually to individuals and organizations making significant contributions to the rights and well-being of children and families through excellence in legal representation.

Award History

YearAwardRecipient
2024Outstanding Legal AdvocateAubrey Edwards-Luce
2024Outstanding New LawyerAdreain Reynolds
2024Outstanding Law StudentMichelle Pappas
2024Outstanding Children’s Law OfficeLegal Counsel for Youth and Children
2024President’s AwardNYU Law Family Defense Clinic
2023Outstanding Legal AdvocateShereen White
2023Outstanding New LawyerKaveh Landsverk
2023Outstanding Law StudentRose Wehrman
2023Distinguished AchievementFrank Cervone
2023Outstanding Children’s Law Office/AgencyColorado Office of the Child’s Representative
2023Outstanding Pro Bono PartnerRobert Gutierrez, Of Counsel
Ballard Spahr LLP
2022Outstanding Legal AdvocateBrenda Robinson
2022Outstanding New LawyerAshley Williams
2022Outstanding Law StudentAlex Cinney
2022Outstanding Children’s Law OfficeLawyers for Children (New York)
2022 Distinguished AchievementRichard Cozzola
2022President’s AwardACLU of Texas, Equality Texas, and Lambda Legal
2021Outstanding Legal AdvocateLeslie Lacy
2021Outstanding Children’s Law OfficeFoster Children’s Project of The Legal Aid Society of Palm Beach County
2020Outstanding Legal AdvocateMichael Dsida
2020Outstanding New LawyerElisabeth Mering
2020Outstanding Children’s Law OfficeChildren’s Law Center of California
2020President’s AwardThe Young Center for Immigrant Children’s Rights
2019Distinguished AchievementDavid Kelly
2019Outstanding Children’s Law OfficeChildrens Attorneys Project, Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada
2018Outstanding Legal AdvocateBarbara Elias-Perciful
2018Outstanding Young LawyerTara Grigg Garlinghouse
2017Outstanding Legal AdvocateJill Johnson
2017Outstanding Young LawyerJane Hogan
2016Outstanding Legal AdvocateCatherine Krebs
2016Outstanding Young LawyerMargaret Lois Riley
2015Distinguished AchievementDonald N. Duquette
2015Outstanding Young LawyerStephanie Klitsch
2014Lifetime Achievement AwardJohn Ciccolella
2014Outstanding Young LawyerDaniel Senter
2013Outstanding Legal AdvocateAngela Vigil
2013Outstanding Young LawyerRegina Quaynor
2012Outstanding Legal AdvocateKaren J. Freedman
2012Outstanding Young LawyerNancy Goodman, Jenna Statfeld
2011Outstanding Young LawyerBetsy Fordyce
2010Outstanding Legal AdvocateJack Sampson
2010Outstanding Young LawyerDiana Rugh Johnson
2009Outstanding Legal AdvocateKaren L. Worthington
2007Outstanding Legal AdvocateKatherine Mullen and the Disability Rights Legal Center
2006Outstanding Legal AdvocateSheila L. Brogna
2005Outstanding Legal AdvocateAngela H. Orkin
2004Outstanding Legal AdvocateShannan Wilber
2004Cahn AwardRobert Schwartz
2003Outstanding Legal AdvocateTeresa Spahn and University of Miami Children and Youth Law Clinic
2002Career Achievement AwardJohn B. Ciccolella
2002Outstanding Legal AdvocateHon. Nina R. Hickson and Suzin M. Bartley
2001Outstanding Legal AdvocateRita Swan
2000Outstanding Legal AdvocateHon. Zinora M. Mitchell-Rankin
1999Outstanding Legal AdvocateHon Patricia Macias, Dianne Nunn and Sarah Hawxby
1998Outstanding Legal AdvocateRobert E. Shepherd, and Stephen A. Dixon and The Children’s Law Center, Inc.
1997Outstanding Legal AdvocateDebra Y. Lulf, Mark Hardin and Juvenile Rights Project, Inc., and Ellen Jones
1996Outstanding Legal AdvocateLinda Mallory Berry, Donald N. Duquette, Seth Grob, Tina M. Talarchyk and the CIVITAS ChildLaw Center
1995Outstanding Legal AdvocateHon. Patricia Macke Dick, Mary Ann Edmund, Sue Hathorn and Alan Mishaek
2024 award honorees

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