ABA Honors LSC Board Member

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Washington, DC--Sarah M. Singleton, a member of the Board of Directors of the Legal Services Corporation, will be honored with a 2008 Pro Bono Publico Award at the American Bar Association's annual meeting.

Singleton, an attorney with the Santa Fe, N.M., law firm of Montgomery & Andrews, will be one of five award winners recognized by the ABA Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service at an awards luncheon on Aug.11.

"Sarah is an extraordinary champion of equal access to justice, through her own volunteer work and her efforts to make more Americans aware of the need for legal assistance to the poor," Helaine M. Barnett, president of the Legal Services Corporation, said. "Her dedication to legal aid and pro bono makes Sarah a most deserving recipient of this award."

The Pro Bono Publico Awards honor individuals and organizations that enhance the dignity of others by improving or delivering volunteer legal services to the poor and disadvantaged.

Singleton has served on the LSC board since 2006. She is a past president of the New Mexico State Bar and serves as co-chair of the state's Commission on Access to Justice. Singleton helped form the New Mexico Task Force on Legal Services to the Poor, on which she served. She has served on the ABA Standing Committee on Legal Aid and Indigent Defendants and on the ABA Ad Hoc Committee on State Justice Initiatives.

LSC, which is funded by Congress, was created in 1974 with the mission to promote equal access to justice in our nation and to provide high-quality civil legal assistance to low-income persons. LSC, with a budget of approximately $350 million for fiscal year 2008, funds 137 civil legal aid programs with more than 920 offices across the country.