WASHINGTON, DC, June 6 — In honor of their extraordinary commitment to providing pro bono representation to people on death row, the National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) is pleased to announce that 17 law firms have been named to receive the 2008 Beacon of Justice Award. The award will be presented at the NLADA Exemplar Awards Dinner on June 11 at the Fairmont Washington, DC.

Since capital punishment was reinstated by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1976, the need for just, fair and adequate representation for those facing the ultimate punishment has been paramount. The legal rights of those facing capital punishment have been curtailed by inadequate indigent defense resources. For some, the only hope they have left is the goodwill and dedication of attorneys and firms across this country that provide pro bono representation, allowing them access to legal counsel they would otherwise not have. It is in recognition of this work that the firms of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld LLP; Alston & Bird LLP; Covington & Burling LLP; Dechert LLP; Dorsey & Whitney LLP; Drinker Biddle & Reath LLP; Fredrikson & Byron, P.A.; Gibbons P.C.; Jenner & Block LLP; Jones Day; Kaye Scholer LLP; Morrison & Foerster LLP; Perkins Coie LLP; Schnader Harrison Segal & Lewis LLP; Sidley Austin LLP; Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP and Zuckerman Spaeder LLP have been chosen to receive the 2008 Beacon of Justice Award.

The bar for this award was set high in order to recognize those firms whose commitment to pro bono death penalty representation goes above and beyond the already remarkable work of so many law firms across the country.

“Hundreds of inmates in this country face the death penalty without legal counsel that would ensure that they receive the constitutional protections guaranteed by law. The law firms represented here have spent countless hours to ensure that our legal system is fair and equal to everyone, even when the cause may be unpopular. NLADA President & CEO Jo-Ann Wallace said. Through their dedication, they offer their clients hope by providing a basic level of dignity as their client faces their sentence.”

For more information on the 2008 Beacon of Justice Award, contact Deborah Dubois, vice president of marketing, communications and development, at (202) 452-0620, ext. 223, or via e-mail at d.dubois@nlada.org.

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The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), founded in 1911, is the oldest and largest national, nonprofit membership organization devoting all of its resources to advocating for equal access to justice for all Americans. NLADA champions effective legal assistance for people who cannot afford counsel, serves as a collective voice for both civil legal services and public defense services throughout the nation and provides a wide range of services and benefits to its individual and organizational members.