Three distinct award categories honor the dedication of volunteer services provided by Hennepin County lawyers. The Distinguished Service Award recognizes an individual for career-long work on behalf of the community and the two Excellence Awards recognize current or recent excellence in service by individuals – one from the Private Sector and one from the Public/Government/Judicial Sector.

J. Marquis Eastwood, recipient of the Distinguished Service Award, has been a pro bono leader for over 25 years. He is a senior partner and former chair of the Dorsey & Whitney LLP Trial Department in Minneapolis. In 1995, in partnership with the Law Department of Honeywell, Eastwood started the legal clinic at New Vistas, which was a Minneapolis public high school for unwed teenage mothers. This innovative clinic for high school age mothers assists students with a wide range of matters dealing with child support, housing, paternity, foster care issues, employment, consumer problems, immigration, tax, and medical assistance matters.

Eastwood was recognized as a model for how to be a successful lawyer and integrate pro bono into one’s practice. He has had a positive impact on the lives of young mothers who are thrust into the adult world without the tools to tackle difficult situations that arise in their lives.

Judge Stephen C. Aldrich, recipient of the Excellence by a Public/Government/Judicial Sector Attorney award has been an active member of Volunteer Lawyers Network (VLN), both as an attorney in private practice and as a judge. During his 14 years in private practice, he provided direct representation to many poor clients with family law problems and also served as a mentor and consultant to volunteers who were new to the area of family law. Since his election to the Hennepin County District Court bench in 1997, Aldrich has continued to advocate on behalf of VLN by actively and enthusiastically recruiting volunteer attorneys. His nominators note that Aldrich never lets pass any opportunity when he can publicize the efforts of pro bono work in general.

Currently, Aldrich is exploring a "Collaborative Law Project" as a further resource for volunteer opportunities and as an avenue to make the divorce process less antagonistic for families. His long term and ongoing contributions assure delivery of legal services to the disadvantaged.

Charles J. Lloyd and Steven M. Pincus, recipients of the Excellence by a Private Sector Attorney, have demonstrated a commitment to pro bono work. Lloyd and Pincus were the primary attorneys responsible for the exoneration and release in January 2001 of Albert Ronnie Burrell, who had been sitting on Louisiana’s death row for thirteen years, wrongfully convicted of the murder of an elderly Louisiana couple. Burrell’s case was undertaken pro bono by the Lindquist & Vennum law firm in 1991. Burrell’s alleged accomplice, Michael Graham, Jr., also facing death, was freed a week before Burrell as a direct result of the definitive investigative work done by Lloyd and Pincus.

Pincus is a partner with the law firm of Lindquist and Vennum practicing primarily in commercial and antitrust litigation. Lloyd recently joined the law firm of Livgard & Rabuse, where he is engaged in a general litigation practice.

These four attorneys have evidenced extensive commitment to providing legal services to the public, and are worthy recipients of this year’s HCBA awards for public service.

# # # # #