2021 awards Luncheon 

On October 21, 2021, over 400 lawyers and community leaders gathered to celebrate the accomplishments of Colorado Lawyers Committee volunteer attorneys and law firms, many of which were honored at the CLC annual Awards Luncheon. During 2019 and 2020, more than 2,000 volunteers donated more than 15,000 hours and over $6 million worth of time through the Colorado Lawyers Committee’s 29 active projects in the areas of Children’s Rights & Education, Civil & Criminal Law, Poverty & Public Benefits, Community Development, and Immigration.

Keynote speaker Lee Gelernt, Deputy Director of the American Civil Liberties Union Immigrants’ Rights Project and Director of the project’s Access to the Courts Program, inspired the luncheon audience. He is currently litigating a national class action involving the Trump administration’s unprecedented practice of separating immigrant families at the border. On June 26, 2018, a federal court in San Diego issued an injunction holding the practice unconstitutional and requiring the administration to reunite the approximately 2,600 separated families. Lee’s work on this case is featured in the 2020 documentary film “The Fight” and in a July 2018 New York Times Magazine cover story about the ACLU. Mr. Gelernt is also currently litigating a number of other nationally significant civil rights cases, and has argued dozens of other notable civil rights cases. To learn more about Mr. Gelernt’s impressive achievements, please visit the ACLU’s website.

Another highlight of the luncheon was the announcement of this year’s award recipients:

• Law Firm of the Year Award. The Board of Directors selected The Harris Law Firm as the Colorado Lawyers Committee Law Firm of the Year. Other nominees for 2021 Law Firm of the Year were Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP, Polsinelli PC and Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP. The CLC appreciates the strong dedication of all these attorneys.

• Outstanding Sustained Contribution Award. Peter Schwartz, Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP, received the Outstanding Sustained Contribution Award for his longstanding support and extensive contributions to the work of the Colorado Lawyers Committee.

• Team of the Year Award. This year’s Team of the Year Award was awarded to the Hate Crimes National Team which includes the following volunteers: Elizabeth Froehlke (Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti, LLP), Beth Ann Lennon (Sherman & Howard L.L.C.), John M. McHugh (Fennemore.; formerly Reilly LLP), Tarek F. M. Saad (Crowell & Moring LLP), Christine Snider (Ballard Spahr LLP), Valeria Spencer (U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado), Phyllis V. Wan (Holland & Hart LLP) and Mark D. Wilding (Fortis Law Partners LLC). The following teams were also nominated for Team of the Year and were honored at the luncheon: the Immigration Task Force-Probation Disclosure Subcommittee of Nancy B. Elkind (Elkind Alterman Harston PC, retired), Christine M. Hernandez (CHBA; Hernandez & Associates, P.C.), Arash Jahanian (Denver Public Schools, formerly The Meyer Law Office, P.C.), Christopher N. Lasch (University of Denver Sturm College of Law, Deceased), Hans C. Meyer (The Meyer Law Office, P.C.), Mark Silverstein (ACLU of Colorado) and Steven Williams (Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart, P.C.); the Young Lawyers Division CLE Series Planning Committee of Annika K. Adams (Highlands Law Firm), Adrienne D. Boyd (Arnold & Porter), Jonathan M. Goldstein (Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP), Abigail Moss Hinchcliff (Office of the CO Attorney General, formerly Bartlit Beck LLP), Caitlin McHugh (Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP), Ryan B. Thurber (Polsinelli PC) and Miles Williams (MW Legal Group); and the Preparing Asylum Seekers for Success (PASS) Pilot Program of Mentors: Nancy B. Elkind (Elkind Alterman Harston PC, retired), Koby L. Polaski (Elkind Alterman Harston PC), Pascal C. Schunk (Schunk Law Firm P.C.) and Emily L. Smith (Emily L. Smith Esq); Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP: William A. Bianco, Michelle DeVoe (DeVoe Law, LLC), Thomas P. Johnson, Shalyn Kettering (Office of the Colorado Attorney General), Ellen Mueller (interpreter; Ricks Center for Gifted Children), R. Kirk Mueller, Patricia Peterson, Jacqueline V. Roeder, Courtney Shephard (Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck, LLP) and Hayden Weaver (Procopio); Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher LLP: Josiah J. Clarke, Yamini Grema (Colorado Supreme Court), Patricia Herold, Eva Michaels, Jeremy S. Ochsenbein and Laura Sturges; Kilpatrick Townsend & Stockton LLP: Darin L. Brown, David D. Hsu, Richard B. Johnson (Ball Corporation), Lana N. Kuchinski, Nicholas Kuchinski (Faegre Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP), Brian L. Olion (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP) and Karam J. Saab; and, Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP: Ravi Deol, Mairead Dolan (US District Court for the District of Colorado), Michelle L. Keast-Nachtrab, Kate Paterson (interpreter), Nancy Lynn Reynolds (Western Union), Heidi K. Ruckriegle, Lillie Shobe and Bryan Wallace (interpreter).

• Pandemic Heroes Award. This year, as a tribute to the hard work and dedication to helping those in need during the pandemic, we created a special award to honor those volunteers. This year’s Pandemic Heroes Award was awarded to the Colorado COVID Legal Relief Steering Committee & Frequent Volunteers which includes the following volunteers: Roger C. Adams (Adams Law, LLC), China Califf (Denver Metro Chamber of Commerce), Katayoun A. Donnelly (Azizpour Donnelly LLC), Howard M. Haenel (Antonio Bates Bernard PC), Brad Hamilton (Jones & Keller, P.C.), Michelle L. Harden (Messner Reeves LLP), Cynthia T. Kennedy (Kennedy Law Firm), Nikki Maloney (CO Office of Economic Development and International Trade), Nathan J. Moore (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP), David Padrino (formerly the Office of the Colorado Attorney General), Hester M. Parrot (Ballard Spahr LLP), Carolyn S. Powell (MCR Development), Chalyse Robinson (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP), Chris Rodgers (Colorado SEO Pros), Peter H. Schwartz (Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP), Rodney W. Stieger (Stinson LLP), Lorri Strizich (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP), Keith Trammell (Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP), Samuel D. Walker (Office of the Colorado Attorney General) and Kristin R.B. White (Fisher & Phillips LLP). The following teams were also nominated for the Pandemic Heroes Award and were honored at the luncheon: Denver Legal Night Steering Committee & Frequent Volunteers: Edgar Barraza (Fox Rothschild LLP), Lauren P. Carboni (Foley & Lardner LLP), Erika E. Carter (The Harris Law Firm), Quinn Stover Girrens (Ogborn Mihm, LLP), Alfonso Lara (Centro San Juan Diego), Won Lee (Cooley, LLP), Joshua Mitson (The Meyer Law Office, P.C.), Carolyn S. Powell (MCR Development), Angela Reyes, Erin Scherer (Centro San Juan Diego), Pascal C. Schunk (Schunk Law Firm P.C.), Claudia P. Shadler (Colorado Court of Appeals) and Whitney W. Wolfe (The Harris Law Firm); Hate Crimes Education Task Force: Jessica Allen (Denver City Attorney’s Office), Elizabeth Froehlke (Berg Hill Greenleaf Ruscitti, LLP), Beth Ann Lennon (Sherman & Howard L.L.C.), John M. McHugh (Fennemore.; formerly Reilly LLP), Tarek F.M. Saad (Crowell & Moring LLP), Christine Snider (Ballard Spahr LLP), Valeria N. Spencer (U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado), Phyllis V. Wan (Holland & Hart LLP), Mark D. Wilding (Fortis Law Partners LLC) and Anjie Zhi (Ballard Spahr LLP); Immigration Habeas TRO Litigation Team: R. Reeves Anderson (Arnold & Porter), Mark R. Barr (Lichter Immigration), Adrienne D. Boyd (Arnold & Porter), Colleen Cowgill (Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network), Kathleen Kramer Custer (Arnold & Porter), Mekela Goehring (Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network), Sarah Grey (Arnold & Porter), Arash Jahanian (Denver Public Schools, formerly The Meyer Law Office, P.C.), Laura Lunn (Rocky Mountain Immigrant Advocacy Network), Timothy R. Macdonald (Arnold & Porter), Catherine McCarthy (Arnold & Porter - DC Office), Hans C. Meyer (The Meyer Law Office, P.C.), Colin M. O’Brien (Arnold & Porter) and Rachel L. Ryan (Arnold & Porter); and, YLD Lunches with Legends Planning Committee: Annika K. Adams (Highlands Law Firm), Adrienne D. Boyd (Arnold & Porter), Jonathan M. Goldstein (Davis Graham & Stubbs LLP), Alexis L. Hailpern (Jackson Kelly PLLC), Abigail Moss Hinchcliff (Office of the CO Attorney General, formerly Bartlit Beck LLP), Caitlin McHugh (Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP), Ryan B. Thurber (Polsinelli PC) and Anjie Zhi (Ballard Spahr LLP).

• Special Recognition Awards. Special Recognition Awards were presented to: Michelle Berge (Denver Public Schools) for her coordination and administration of Greeley Legal Night Clinic, and to Paul Hartmann (Hartmannphoto, LLC) for his photography contributions during the last ten years. His beautiful photos are displayed in our Annual Report and on our website.

2021 Annual Luncheon Photos

Photos courtesy of Hartmannphoto, LLC

2021 Annual Luncheon VIDEOS

2021 Sponsors

Thank you to our many sponsors and partners who support our Awards Luncheon and help us further our mission to increase opportunities for children, the poor and other disadvantaged communities through pro bono legal advocacy, negotiation and litigation.

OTHER CONTRIBUTORS 

Alyn-Weiss & Associates, Inc.                                           
Aponte & Busam, Inc.                                                      
Asian Pacific American Bar Association                           
Center for Legal Inclusiveness                                         
Colorado Hispanic Bar Association                                
Colorado LGBT Bar Association

A Special Thanks To 

Hartmannphoto, LLC for providing pro bono photography service for the Colorado Lawyers Committee 
Brave Knight Media for preparing the special video presentation for today’s event 
Cuttlefish Arts for layout and design of the 2021 Awards Luncheon program and Annual Report

CLC’s Annual Awards Luncheon

See Videos From All Past Annual Luncheons

See Photos From All Past Annual Luncheons