Mintz has been named a recipient of the National Legal Aid and Defender Association (NLADA)’s 2021 Beacon of Justice Award, which is bestowed on law firms for their work to promote equal justice. This year’s awardees, including Mintz, were chosen because of their work to address systemic racial disparities in 2020. The firm will be honored at the 2021 NLADA Exemplar Virtual Awards Gala on June 9.

Over the past year, Mintz has doubled down on its longstanding commitment to addressing racism and injustice in the United States, increasing diversity and inclusion at the firm and in the legal community, and driving greater civic engagement at all levels. In particular, the firm has taken greater action to further racial equity by providing pro bono legal assistance to marginalized individuals and groups, and by supporting civil rights-focused nonprofits, among many other initiatives. For example:

• As part of its comprehensive diversity and inclusion plan, Mintz donated $150,000 among three nonprofits focused on civil rights – Lawyers for Civil Rights (LCR), Legal Outreach, and The Marshall Project;
• Mintz volunteered with LCR and its national organization, the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, to assist in nonpartisan Election Day pro bono activities leading up to the 2020 election. Mintz was also among the first law firms and businesses to provide a paid day off for attorneys and professional staff to vote and engage in related activities;
• Mintz’s innovative and impactful racial equity-focused pro bono work has included partnerships with LCR, Lawyers Clearinghouse, Medical-Legal Partnership Boston, the Black Chamber of Commerce, and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, among other organizations; and
• Through its leadership role on the Massachusetts Access to Justice Commission, Mintz is focused on responding to the particular challenges of accessing justice and connecting those in need, including those in communities of color, with resources during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It is wonderful to receive this recognition from NLADA for our pro bono work to address systemic racial disparities over the past year, which was a long-overdue moment of reckoning for many across the country,” said Susan M. Finegan, Mintz Member and Chair of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee. “In 2021 and beyond, we remain committed to taking even greater action to further racial equity by providing pro bono legal assistance to marginalized individuals and groups, promoting access to justice in communities of color, and supporting civil rights-focused nonprofits, among many other initiatives.”

Mintz received NLADA’s 2020 Beacon of Justice Award for its robust response to the country’s immigration and humanitarian crisis, which included engaging in pro bono impact litigation, staffing clinics to assist legal permanent residents in their applications for U.S. citizenship, and representing many unaccompanied children seeking Special Immigrant Juvenile Status, among other efforts.

To learn more about Mintz’s pro bono program, please click here.