Sandman to Receive Washington Council of Lawyers' Award

Washington, DC — Legal Services Corporation President James J. Sandman will receive the 2012 Washington Council of Lawyers’ Presidents’ Award, which recognizes exceptional commitment to public service, pro bono, and the public interest community.

The award will be among those presented Dec. 4 at a reception in Washington. Harold Koh, legal adviser for the Department of State, will deliver keynote remarks.

Sandman was appointed president of the Legal Services Corporation in January 2011, bringing more than three decades of legal experience to the organization.  He practiced with Arnold & Porter LLP from 1977 to 2007 and served as the firm’s managing partner from 1995 to 2005.

During Sandman’s tenure as managing partner, Arnold & Porter received a number of awards recognizing the firm’s commitment to pro bono, including the American Bar Association’s Pro Bono Publico Award.  It was also honored by the Minority Corporate Counsel Association for its commitment to diversity.

From 2007 to 2011, Sandman served as general counsel for the District of Columbia Public Schools.

Sandman was president of the District of Columbia Bar from 2006-2007 and served on its board of governors from 2003-2008. He is currently chair of the Bar’s Pro Bono Committee, co-chair of the District of Columbia Circuit Judicial Conference Committee on Pro Bono Legal Services, and a member of the Pro Bono Institute’s Law Firm Pro Bono Project Advisory Committee. From 2007-2008, he served on the American Bar Association’s Standing Committee on Pro Bono and Public Service.

Sandman was named one of the “90 Greatest Washington Lawyers of the Last 30 Years” by the Legal Times in 2008. The University of Pennsylvania Law School has honored him with its Alumni Award of Merit and its Howard Lesnick Pro Bono Award.  He has also received the Women’s Bar Association of the District of Columbia’s “Star of the Bar” Award, D.C. Law Students in Court’s Celebration of Service Award, and the Tahirih Justice Center’s Wings of Justice Award.

Sandman is a graduate of Boston College and the University of Pennsylvania Law School.  He began his legal career as a law clerk to Judge Max Rosenn of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit.

Read about the Washington Council of Lawyers and the 2012 awards.

###