Pro Bono

    Jean Crowe Pro Bono Award

    Prior to the Section's Spring Conference, the Section of Family Law Jean Crowe Pro Bono Award Committee selects an attorney to receive the Section's Jean Crowe Pro Bono Award.

    This award honors the legacy of former ABA Family Law Section Council member, Jean Crowe, a founder of the Nashville Coalition Against Domestic Violence, and longtime attorney with the Legal Aid Society of Middle Tennessee and the Cumberlands.

    The recipient of the Family Law Section Jean Crowe Pro Bono Award shall be a person who has made a difference by offering services on a pro bono basis, or promotes organization(s) that provide legal services to low income and/or underrepresented populations. The recipient shall be a person who goes "above and beyond." The recipient does not have to work for a legal services entity, but must show commitment and dedication to the above. If a potential recipient works for a legal services entity, that person must rise above the normal call of employment.

    The award is presented during the Section’s Spring Conference. A $1,500 cash prize will be given to the pro bono or public service organization of the recipient’s choice.

    For more information on the Section of Family Law Jean Crowe Pro Bono Award Committee, contact The ABA Section of Family Law.

    2021 Nomination Information

    Nomination information for the 2021 Award will be available in fall 2020.

    Potential recipients shall be nominated by others or can be self-nominated. Criteria for selection includes the following:

    • The total number of pro bono hours spent (yearly) and complexity of cases handled by a nominee;
    •  The impact of the nominee's pro bono work and/or benefit to low income or underrepresented populations;
    • Particular expertise provided or particular need satisfied by the nominee;
    • Successful recruitment by the nominee of other attorneys for pro bono representation (if applicable); and
    • Proven commitment by the nominee to the delivery of quality legal services to low income and/or underrepresented populations, and commitment to equal access to legal services.

    2019 Winner
    Pamela Wexler

    Pam joined NYLAG as a volunteer attorney in 2014, after retiring from corporate law practice. Pam was eager to utilize the expertise she developed over her career to provide representation to survivors of intimate partner violence who otherwise may not have access to legal counsel. Pam found this in Project Eden, a project through NYLAG that provides free legal representation to survivors within the Orthodox Jewish community.

    Through her work, Pam has represented Orthodox survivors in contested matrimonial actions, conducting advocacy in both civil and religious tribunals: filing motions, conducting oral argument, and engaging in intensive discovery to obtain the full rights afforded to her clients under State law, and speaking with religious leaders, religious tribunals, and members within the community to ensure that her clients are able to obtain religious divorces so they are not “Agunah” and chained to their abuser forever.

    It is Pam’s compassion that enables her to do this work successfully. Her kindness, willingness to listen, and capacity for empathy makes her an extraordinary advocate: enabling her to connect and build trusting relationships with her clients, who come from communities in which engagement with outside civil systems, reporting to the police, and separating from an abusive partner, is often stigmatized.

    Pam’s enthusiasm and passion are without measure. She uplifts her colleagues, serving as a constant source of positivity and support to all those who work with her. Pam is a champion for her clients and for her colleagues, and a very worthy recipient of the 2019 ABA Section of Family Law Jean Crow Pro Bono Award recipient.