Fraser Award Winners 2025

Each year, the Fraser Award honors Goodwin lawyers for exceptional pro bono service to our clients, measured by overall impact and contributions to expanding pro bono engagement across the firm. Watch our latest video announcing this year’s Fraser Award winners — Elaine Herrmann Blais, Ce (Charles) Li, and Kimberly L. Rodriguez — as they reflect on their pro bono work, what this recognition means to them, and why giving back to their communities remains such an important part of their practice.

See below for a transcript of the video.

Transcript: Fraser Awards

Kimberly L. Rodriguez: When I got the call, that my client was getting out of jail. That was, one of the best moments of my life, actually. Sorry, I'm getting emotional.

[Onscreen Question] What inspired you to get involved in pro bono work?

Elaine Herrmann Blais: Common theme of the work that I have done is representing someone who could not navigate the system without our help.

Kimberly L. Rodriguez: I grew up in New York City in Queens. Low income kid, immigrant background. My parents were undocumented, and they also were incarcerated for a majority of my childhood. So these issues are extremely important and near to my heart, because I've seen how it impacts families, how families are separated, and the effects that that can have. In fact, my family members have been deported, so I know what that feels like. So that's why I think it's so crucial to have, to be able to do this work, but also to have somebody in the room who can understand what some of the clients are going through.

Elaine Herrmann Blais: There are so many people navigating our system without counsel and when we help them, it changes everything.

[Onscreen Question] Is there a pro bono matter that has had a significant impact on you?

Kimberly L. Rodriguez: I've been working on the same immigration case for the past like four years, I think. And my client is this trans woman immigrant who's been through unimaginable difficulties. But she is the funniest person ever. Just extremely positive all the time. Her case is going in a good direction, which makes me feel good.

Elaine Herrmann Blais: The most impactful case I ever worked on was a case for KIND. So that was incredibly impactful to meet this little girl who had a really difficult time telling us what had happened to her. And we were only able to get that story because of the time we put in and the trust we built with her. But that one still sticks with me. And not just in memory, in the fact that all of us that worked on that case will get texts from her every once in a while, with just photos of whatever great development is happening in her life.

[Onscreen Question] How have you engaged others and built relationships through your pro bono practice?

Kimberly L. Rodriguez: One of my pro bono matter is an immigration case. I was able to work with a supervising attorney that I hadn't worked with before. And she was so cool. And she was amazing with the client. And she was one of the most kind people I've ever met. So I kind of said to her, can you be my mentor? Obviously, unofficially. And also, can I work on your matters? And she staffed me on several of her matters.

I would tell a lawyer, considering pro bono work that it's really impactful work. That it won't negatively affect their billable work. And in fact, it will enhance that because they will meet people, they will gain skills and they'll feel personal satisfaction.

Elaine Herrmann Blais: One of the things I'm really proud of in the last year is the formation of the immigration task force within the firm. We started the task force in order to enable us to continue to do immigration cases in an environment in which the organizations with whom we usually partner have lost their funding. In the absence of full support from the organizations, what do we need? We need some expertise. We need some organization. We need some commitment. And so those are the things we're focused on.

And I think that we've made a change already. We've made differences already.

[Onscreen Question] What pro bono moment or experience makes you most proud or fulfilled?

Elaine Herrmann Blais: One of the things that I am really proud of in our pro bono cases is that we attack them with the same level of commitment and excellence as we do our paid work, and I think we have achieved unbelievable results for clients who wouldn't otherwise have legal help, because we just come at them with a sense of excellence, which is probably the main tenet of the Goodwin way.

Kimberly L. Rodriguez: When I got the call, that my client was getting out of jail. That was, one of the best moments of my life, actually. Sorry, I'm getting emotional. But as somebody who was separated from their family because the family members were incarcerated, being able to hear that something I did had an impact such that my client was able to be reunited with his family. That's the absolute top best thing that could ever happen.