Jones, the former Kings County Supreme Court administrative judge and a Brooklyn native, presented the awards yesterday afternoon at the City Bar Association on 44th Street in Midtown Manhattan.  The legal services community was invited to attend and support their colleagues, friends and fellow alumni.

One of the honorees, Leah Margulies, is a Brooklyn Law School graduate and has been the director of the City Bar’s Justice Center’s LawHelp program since 2006. 

This year’s recipients are:

Tracey Bing, Family Law/Domestic Violence Unit, Manhattan Legal Services

Jane Sujen Bock, Homeless Rights Project, The Legal Aid Society     

Nelson Gutierrez, Elderly Project, Volunteers of Legal Service

Leah Margulies, Law Help/NY Project

Ivy Suriyopas, Anti-Trafficking Initiative, Asian American Legal Defense & Education Fund

This year, the City Bar will also present a special recognition to the late Michael Rothenberg, of Brooklyn, for his outstanding work as executive director of the New York Lawyers for the Public Interest. Rothenberg tragically committed suicide earlier this year by jumping from a high-rise building in DUMBO.

The awards are administered by the Special Committee on the Legal Services Awards, chaired by William T. Russell Jr., and sponsored by the Committee on Pro Bono and Legal Services, chaired by Stacey O’Haire Fahey.  The awards have been endowed by a generous contribution from the Horace W. Goldsmith Foundation.

—Ryan Thompson

Brooklyn Daily Eagle