BOSTON, August 8, 2005 — Goodwin Procter LLP, a leading national law firm with offices in Boston, New York, New Jersey and Washington, DC, today announced that Jeffrey Simes has been selected as one of the American Bar Association's winners of the 2005 Pro Bono Publico Award.
The American Bar Association presents the Pro Bono Publico Award annually to individual lawyers and institutions in the legal profession that have demonstrated outstanding commitment to volunteer legal services for the poor and disadvantaged.
Simes, who is based in Goodwin Procter's New York office, was selected for this honor because of his tireless pro bono efforts, with particular emphasis on his work on behalf of the National Law Center for Homelessness and Poverty (NLCHP).
Simes was the lead trial attorney in a class action lawsuit, filed by NLCHP, on behalf of homeless children and their parents living in Suffolk County, NY. The lawsuit alleged that state and county agencies and school districts responsible for educating and providing social services to homeless children in Suffolk County had, by their neglect or in some instances malfeasance, added to the tragedy of homeless children by denying them appropriate access to a basic public school education. By submitting to a consent order, a settlement was reached by State and County agencies, along with 13 school districts named in the lawsuit. As a result, hundreds of homeless children in Suffolk County and elsewhere in New York State are getting the support they need to attend school.