WASHINGTON —The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) is pleased to announce that Natalie P. Epps, Deputy Chief, Parole Division at Public Defender Service for the District of Columbia and Michael G. Figgins, Executive Director of Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma will be honored with the 2025 Kutak-Dodds Prizes.
“I am thrilled to be able to highlight and showcase two important members of our civil and public defense community with the 2025 Kutak-Dodds Prizes,” said April Frazier Camara, NLADA President & CEO. “Natalie and Michael demonstrate an incredible commitment to a fair, equitable legal system for those in need of legal assistance. Their efforts are an inspiration.”
The Kutak-Dodds prizes recognize extraordinary contributions to advancing access to justice and racial equity in both civil legal aid and public defense.
Natalie P. Epps is an accomplished public defender, visionary leader, and tireless advocate for racial justice. With an 18-year tenure at the Public Defender Service (PDS) for the District of Columbia (PDS), she has devoted her legal career to defending the rights and dignity of clients. She currently serves as Deputy Chief of the Parole Division, where she leads with a commitment to transforming parole advocacy, challenging systemic inequities, and promoting community-based alternatives to incarceration.
A proud Baltimore native and first-generation lawyer, Epps earned her B.S. in History and Government from Bowie State University and her J.D. from Howard University School of Law. Beyond her work, she has dedicated herself to developing the next generation of defenders. She has trained and mentored countless attorneys, law students, and investigators, and has played a key role in PDS’s Trial Practice Institute — a program aimed at empowering aspiring defenders from marginalized communities. In 2021, she joined the faculty at CUNY School of Law as an Adjunct Professor where she taught Criminal Procedure, further expanding her impact as an educator and advocate.
“It is an honor to receive this recognition from the Robert J. Kutak Foundation and the NLADA, and I am so grateful for this recognition,” Epps said. “The dedication to justice shown by these two organizations makes this an especially meaningful award, and I am thrilled to accept it.”
In 2012, Michael Figgins became the Executive Director of Legal Aid Services of Oklahoma (LASO). In the 13 years since Figgins arrived, LASO has grown from a program with a staff of 80 attorneys and a budget of $6 million, to a program with an attorney staff of almost 300 and a budget that now exceeds $40 million.
Previously, he received his B.A. from Arizona State University in 1977, and his J.D. from the School of Law at Gonzaga University in 1980. While at Gonzaga, Figgins interned with Spokane Legal Services for two years as an administrative law advocate. Figgin’s administrative law experience led him directly to a position with Dakota Plains Legal Services in the Rosebud Sioux Nation office.
After four years with Dakota Plains, Figgins relocated to Phoenix, Arizona to help his family. Once in Phoenix, Figgins joined the Arizona bar and accepted a position as Managing Attorney of the Community Legal Services’ office in Yuma, Arizona. After 4 years in Yuma and working with and learning from Lillian Johnson, Figgins was chosen to be the Executive Director of Western Nebraska Legal Services (WNLS), with headquarters in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. In 1995, Figgins joined Jacksonville Area Legal Aid (JALA) in Jacksonville, Florida as Executive Director. Figgins joined the Florida bar and enjoyed 17 successful years with JALA.
“I am so appreciative to be recognized by the Robert J. Kutak Foundation and the NLADA,” Figgins said. “Ours is a challenging field of work, and I am so grateful to receive this recognition from organizations so dedicated to the fight for equal justice.”
Both winners will be honored at the NLADA Exemplar Award Gala on Wednesday, September 24, in Washington, D.C.
Since 1989, the Kutak-Dodds Prizes have been awarded to attorneys who have significantly contributed to the human dignity and quality of life of individuals unable to afford legal representation. The prizes are jointly sponsored by The Robert J. Kutak Foundation and NLADA in memory of Robert J. Kutak and Kenneth R. Dodds.
Each prize carries a cash award of $10,000.
For more information about the Kutak-Dodds prizes, please contact Rabiah Burks at [email protected].
###
The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA), founded in 1911, is America’s oldest and largest nonprofit association devoted to excellence in the delivery of legal services to those who cannot afford counsel. NLADA has pioneered access to justice at the national, state and local levels, playing a leadership role in the creation of public defender systems and other important institutions from The Sentencing Project to the Legal Services Corporation. A leader in the development of national standards for civil legal aid and public defense, NLADA also provides advocacy, training and technical assistance for equal justice advocates across the country.
NLADA Mutual Insurance Co., RRG
