Kutak-Dodds Prizes Recognizes Significant Work of an ‘Equal Justice Advocate’
Washington – The National Legal Aid & Defender Association (NLADA) will present its Kutak-Dodds Prize to National Health Law Program (NHeLP) Legal Director Jane Perkins at its 2016 Exemplar Award Dinner in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 29.
Established in 1989, the Kutak-Dodds award is jointly sponsored by NLADA and the Robert J. Kutak Foundation and includes a cash prize of $10,000. The Kutak-Dodds Prize honors an “equal justice advocate who, through the practice of law, has contributed in a significant way to the enhancement of the human dignity and quality of life of those persons unable to afford legal representation.” NLADA is the nation’s oldest nonprofit group dedicated to providing legal services to those who cannot afford counsel.
NLADA, in its press statement announcing the honor, states that Perkins is being recognized, in part, “for engaging in litigation and advocacy on behalf of low-income people with disabilities, and children in all 50 states.”
“We are thrilled that NLADA, a tireless advocate on behalf of the nation’s most vulnerable, is honoring Jane with its Kutak-Dodds Prize,” said NHeLP Executive Director Elizabeth G. Taylor. “For more than three decades Jane has led NHeLP’s legal efforts to protect and advance the health rights of low-income individuals and underserved communities. Her stellar and widely admired legal work has improved health care for scores of people from coast to coast.”
Perkins said she was humbled by the honor.
“I’m a great admirer of NLADA, led by Jo-Ann Wallace, a champion for so many who need, but cannot afford legal services, and where Don Saunders has driven the group’s civil rights division for more than two decades, contributing tirelessly to delivering legal help to underserved communities,” Perkins said. “To have this wonderful organization acknowledge the vitally important work of NHeLP is a moving experience.”
Perkins has served as counsel in more than 30 high-profile lawsuits across the country to protect and advance health rights of low-income persons. Perkins is also a senior attorney with the Southeast Region of the Network for Public Health Law. Read her bio here.
Founded in 1969 NHeLP advocates for the rights of low-income and underserved people to access quality health care.
