ZSR Community Involvement: Jerrold Scoutt Prize

Community Involvement

Jerrold Scoutt
Prize

DC Bar
Foundation

The Scoutt Prize was created in 1993 through a grant from the law firm of Zuckert Scoutt & Rasenberger in honor of its partner, Jerrold Scoutt, Jr., who has long supported legal assistance to the disadvantaged. The D.C. Bar Foundation administers the prize.

The recipients of the Scoutt prize are chosen annually by the Scoutt Prize Committee from among those lawyers nominated by community organizations and individuals. Nominees must be attorneys employed by organizations that provide direct, hands-on legal services to poor or disadvantaged persons in the Washington area and should be nominated because they have demonstrated a high degree of compassionate concern for their clients while exhibiting a high degree of skill on their behalf.

2007 Scoutt Prize Awarded to Diane Weinroth

The District of Columbia Bar Foundation awarded Diane Weinroth, special counsel at the Children’s Law Center and adjunct professor at the American University Washington College of Law, the winner of the 2007 Jerrold Scoutt Prize.

2006 Scoutt Prize Awarded to Edward Allen

The District of Columbia Bar Foundation named Edward Allen, professor of law at the University of the District of Columbia (UDC), the winner of the 2006 Jerrold Scoutt Prize. Allen teaches civil procedure at the UDC David A. Clarke School of Law and directs the school’s Housing and Consumer Law Clinic, where students provide legal representation to individuals in housing-related matters.

2005 Scoutt Prize Awarded to Jeannine Sanford

The District of Columbia Bar Foundation has selected Jeannine Sanford, deputy director of Bread for the City, to receive the 2005 Jerrold Scoutt Prize. In addition to her work with Bread for the City, she served as cochair of the Consortium of Legal Service Providers for two years and has worked with the Bar Foundation and the courts on the Access to Justice project.

2004 Scoutt Prize Awarded to R. Scott McNeilly

Mr. McNeilly is senior staff attorney at the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. He is a leading expert on local and federal public benefits and is a mentor to his colleagues throughout the legal and social services communities.

The prize will be presented at the judicial reception concluding the 2004 Joint Judicial and Bar Conference on Friday, March 19, 2004, 6 p.m., at the International Trade Center, 1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW.

2003 Jerrold Scoutt Prize Awarded to Anya Sykes

On March 28, 2003, the Jerrold Scoutt Prize was awarded to Anya Sykes, Managing Attorney for the Immigration Program at Ayuda, Inc. Ms. Sykes has represented low-income immigrants in the Washington area for more than seventeen years. For the last thirteen years she has been at Ayuda, providing immigration services for low income Latino and foreign-born families in the Washington metropolitan area.

2002 Jerrold Scoutt Prize Awarded to Rhonda Dahlman

The 2002 Jerrold Scoutt Prize was awarded to Rhonda Dahlman. Ms. Dahlman is a staff attorney at Legal Counsel for the Elderly. She was honored for her commitment to providing legal services to low-income elderly.

2001 Jerrold Scoutt Prize Awarded to Joseph B. Tulman

The 2001 Jerrold Scoutt Prize was awarded to Joseph B. Tulman, director of clinical affairs at the University of the District of Columbia David A. Clarke School of Law. For 20 years he has represented children at risk, including victims of abuse and neglect, youths with special education needs, and individuals with mental impairment.

Mr. Tulman was lead counsel in Evans v. Williams, a landmark case that resulted in the creation of an organization with funding of $29.5 million to monitor city programs and advocate on behalf of people with developmental disabilities in the District.

1999-2000 Jerrold Scoutt Prize Awarded to Jan May

This year’s Jerrold Scoutt Prize was awarded to Jan May, the managing attorney of Legal Counsel for the Elderly. Jan May has worked for over 20 years developing new ways to make legal services available to low-income seniors in the District of Columbia. Program coordinators have used Mr. May’s legal services model in formulating local legal service programs to seniors nationwide.

1998 Jerrold Scoutt Prize Awarded to Patricia Mullahy Fugere*

The Jerrold Scoutt Prize for 1998 was presented by the District of Columbia Bar Foundation to Patricia Mullahy Fugere, director of the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless. Fugere was one of the founders of the clinic and has served as its director since 1986.

Under Fugere's stewardship, the Washington Legal Clinic for the Homeless has become the principal provider of legal services to the homeless in the District of Columbia and has provided help to thousands of individuals and families in the community's soup kitchens, shelters and day programs. Additionally, Fugere's leadership of the clinic and her coalition building in the community have resulted in many important legal reforms, legislation, and court rulings protecting the homeless. Fugere has become a leading spokesperson for the homeless and the needy in the District of Columbia. Her tireless advocacy and dedication have greatly increased public awareness of the problems of our most disadvantaged residents and have elicited widespread help for those residents from the Bar, government agencies, and the general public.

*The above excerpt from an article originally published in the Nov/Dec1998 issue of The Washington Lawyer Magazine is reprinted here with permission by the D.C. Bar Foundation.